Something to Believe In

I have found religion.

Okay, well, not me, but my character. Andrea. I had all these little bits and pieces about her, and they suddenly all made sense when I gave her a Christian upbringing. Like, there was something in her backstory that, well, technically didn't happen, but it almost did, and she'd just as soon forget about the whole thing. I was never quite sure why. Whether it happened or didn't, it wasn't wrong. Unless you've got some traditional values. Also, this kind of explains why she is one of six children. Not to say that Christians have the monopoly on large families, it just seems like it's more common.

This is a new thing for me. I've been writing NaNo novels since 2010, and a good handful of short stories before and after that. And I don't think I've ever had a main character (or a character who was in more than a scene or two) who was religious. It's going to be an interesting thing to write. I'll try not to offend anybody, but I make no promises.

This revelation has made me realize that my three characters fall on a spectrum of Purity vs. Corruption. Andrea is more on the pure end, Tony is way down on the other end, and Jesse falls somewhere in between. This actually helps me develop a voice for each one, with things like whether or not they swear, and how much.

Up until now, I'd been struggling to find music for Andrea. Because she had no personality, you know. But now I can focus my efforts on the wide world of Christian rock. Now, I tried for weeks before to find music that suited her. I got it in my head that it should be chick music because, you know, she's a chick. But screw that. That's a pointless constraint. Anyway, I break out the 12 Stones and the Scarlet White and all that and already, fitting songs start jumping out at me.

If I'd know it would make my life so much easier, I'd have turned to religion a long time ago. Story-wise, I mean.

Beyond figuring out characters, I'm still trying to scrounge up some semblance of a plot. I think I actually have a central antagonist now, as opposed to just an endless stream of misfortunes. Yes, there is still an endless stream of misfortunes, but maybe someone is behind it all. This was a thought I had literally a second ago, as I was typing it, so it's nowhere near coherent. Kind of like my "Revision Notes." A lot of rambling and questions, and a lot of swearing.

I should probably get back to that.

The revision notes, not the swearing. But I can multitask.

I'll see you Saturday.