Hey, same! I meant it when I said I had to work hard to try to love Fred, as my character. The best we can do is to understand why someone has the motivations they do to perform acts that are morally questionable. Understanding does not excuse those acts, of course, but understanding and fellow feeling can remind us that the person we’re dealing with is human.
I miss these characters, too. I spent a lot of time with them, to be sure. But as soon as I had the final shape of the story in mind – knew exactly where it would end, what would happen with Fran and Wendy, what would happen to Baker-Taylor’s – I was at peace with reaching the finish line and letting the story go. These characters went as far as they could in a novel that is, well, over four hundred pages. R&E is a big book! As soon as I wrote the Birdie scene, near the book’s end, I knew I was done. The arc of the story clicked into place. I knew the remainder of my work was going to be fine-tuning the story that was already there.
Kayla, I find the concept that as some authors further develop characters, these characters might take over and “surprise (me) with their decisions.” Can you explain this mysterious phenomena? Is it that the character becomes “real” in your mind and so leads? Other writers have mentioned this happening as they write the story. This creative mental ability fascinates me.
Oh yes. (And thank you for reminding me to update my events page on my website!)
I’ll be doing a reading in Louisville, Kentucky on July 21 at Carmichael’s Bookstore. And I’ll also be at the Brooklyn Book Festival in September, as well as Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books in October (I’ll be teaching a class there in addition to doing a panel). I believe there will be a North Carolina event in September as well, in addition to another NC visit in Spring 2027. I’m bouncing around doing things until mid-2027. I’ll keep you posted.
Hi Nan. This is a great question. This does, in fact, happen – the experience of writing a character and being wonderfully surprised by what they do, say, instigate. I’ve talked about it with students, too. That “it just seemed to write itself” phenomenon is the addictive element of writing. It’s what keeps us coming back to the desk, this idea of a piece of art completing itself. Doesn’t happen every day, but when it does, it’s a fantastic day. It’s like a magic trick.
My theory is that it is not, in fact, magic, but the power of the unconscious mind becoming a central player in your work. The more you practice writing, or any other craft, the more quickly you can elicit that unconscious sense for your characters and what they want and the lengths they’ll go to in order to get it, and let them take the wheel, so to speak. I believe that reading also helps. Knowing your way around conflict, character desire, stakes on a level below the conscious mind almost feels like driving stick shift, once you truly master it – you’ll feel it in your body when you need to press the clutch, shift gears, and pick up speed. Reading + writing practice + knowing your character = these automatic moments.
Thank you for the thoughtful response. It would also seem that below all those creative layers, your intuition might have a sense of the forward pathway a character ought to take. P.S. your students are most fortunate!
They’re pretty fun, those reactions. One time, a kid brought me a copy of The Animators to sign. I wrote, “(Name), you are too young to be reading this book.”
I think the kids appreciate that a lot of the same topics we discuss in class – syntax, structure, imagery, et cetera – are questions that I confront and address in my writing process every day. It always comes through if someone cares about what they are doing enough to reflect on it. Kids pick up on what’s genuine, and I genuinely care about what we discuss in class. I tend to not bring up my books in any specific terms. I’d rather talk about their work.
I’ve been lucky enough to have excellent beta readers along the way. They’re the first to see what I write (though I typically wait until I have a whole book to share it with folks). These tend to be writers and readers I trust. I cannot overstate this: a good beta reader is worth their weight in gold.
I feel the same way about them that I do about those who read the final product: time is a commodity that you never get back. The older I get, the more I realize how true that is. When someone gives you their time, they are giving you an incredible gift. So I always feel humbled to have readers who are taking time out of their lives to read what I wrote. And I am even more humbled by the reader who is giving the story an early diagnostic exam. They’re superheroes.
I will keep you posted! The Animators has been optioned a few different times, with plans for a TV show in all cases (though folks have pitched a movie adaptation, as well). R&E would make for a fantastic TV series. The arc of four to five seasons is right there in the book.
PRH has always invited my input and sent me snippets of voice actors reading samples from the works in question before we record the audiobook. And in the case of both books, we lucked out and had superb actresses who took on the book’s voice. For The Animators, the actress Alex McKenna read the audiobook, and her voice is so wonderful and distinct – it was an amazing choice. (Alex also voices Sadie in Red Dead Redemption, for anyone in the room who is a gamer.) For R&E, the voice actress Amanda Stribling read for the audiobook, and she is incredible. She’s also from Tennessee, and the way she read some of the book’s phrases were just perfection. It was the way Amanda read the phrase “quieten down” on my first listen that hooked me – I was just like, man, that’s perfect.
Audiobooks are extremely important to a publication’s overall health, and I am so happy that we had such great people collaborating with us on these recordings.
I’m working on a romcom! It’s been a lot of fun so far – and a big shift from R&E. Every project is different, and because R&E covers so much time and so many characters, I lived and worked in that story for years. Family epic, 400+ pages. It’s a slow burn. To be expected.
The new story will be shorter, something along the lines of 300 pages. Three acts, big character focus (as always – I tend to start stories character-first).
It’s fun to try a new structure and to seep over into a new genre. It’s a good way to spend a summer.
We’ve covered a lot of ground! Kim, thank you so much. It’s been fun to spend time with everyone here on BookBrowse.
One thing to add: I know a lot of readers are on BookBrowse to look for titles that would be good fits for their book club. R&E is a great pick for a vibrant book club discussion, and I love to visit with book clubs via Zoom – I’ve done many, and would be happy to pop in on your book club to chat, answer questions, or just talk good books in general. If you and your book club are interested, feel free to reach out via my author contact site.
Thank you so very much for being here, Kayla! Your answers were awesome, and I really enjoyed chatting with you. Good luck with your next novel! We’ll be looking for it.
