Many of you said you were interested in learning more about my writing process, so I thought I’d share a little bit about my journey for writing Seducing the Ice Queen. If you’ve read To Love a Prince, you’ve heard about Lady Daniella Spencer, Prince Eli’s jilted fiancée.
I had originally started writing To Love a Prince as Daniella’s story, and Prince Eli was supposed to be the villain in it.
Then he started developing as a character. He revealed some of the events in his life that shaped him into the person he was. And how hard that person would fight to be king. Not for the power, but because he wouldn’t see the kingdom his mother died for torn apart by civil war.
Yeah, he still wasn’t entirely good, but he was interesting. And that led to me writing To Love a Prince as it is today.
But Daniella was not treated well in that book. She still needed her story, even if it was a different story than the one I’d originally planned. You’ve read about some of my issues with this story, but in the end, I feel like I’ve been true to characters.
I allowed myself to go where the characters took me. And yes, it was messy. Yes, it took nine revisions before I finally accepted I had to let go and release it into the world. Yes an editor and I had differences of opinion on the story.
But I still enjoyed Daniella and Callen’s story. They went through a lot, but they earned their happily-ever-after (that’s not a spoiler. It’s my book. You know I always give my readers a happily-ever-after.)
Interestingly, the character I created to be the villain in their story completely rejected the role. *face palm* No, they didn’t want to do those things, thank you very much. It wasn’t in their nature. Wasn’t who they were.
Yeah, this is why I am so awful at plotting. Characters get in the way of my plots on every book!
So, I let the character be themself and reworked the story around them. The book is better for it, and now the character who was supposed to be the villain wants their own happily-ever-after!
And as it is prone to doing, my brain has been ignoring editing as it starts thinking through this new story.
Two things about this post that I enjoy. Like you, my characters develop and get in the way of the plot. I enjoy it when they take over and point me in a new direction. I also enjoy learning about other writers’ processes, challenges, and obstacles. Thanks for sharing. Cheers
Characters do get in the way! If only the6 listened to their author-god!!
I’m the same, my books are character led and from there the plot develops. It makes for an interesting journey for them and me the author.
Absolutely – so true for me, too. I enjoy its spontaneity and surprise. Thanks for sharing.