The Magic Character

 I'm within a gnat's whisker of finishing the new book and am in the process of making a few changes as per my writing group's suggestions. My original plan was to have the book completely finished by last August.

Oh, foolish woman.

Once I got into the rewrites, I realized that it isn't quite that easy. As I was pondering ways to expand one character's part and add a bit more legerdemain and misdirection, it came to me in one of those lightning strikes authors are so familiar with that if I add an extra character I'll be able to kill all my birds with one stone. In fact, the new character is tying up threads and making story connections that I  hadn't even considered before she came on scene.

It's interesting to see how her very presence affects the tale, just as the sudden insertion of a real person into a group changes its entire chemistry and dynamic. Adding a new character into a book that is to all intents and proposes finished gives the writer a jolt of energy right at the end of the process that is unusual, for the normal feeling for an author (at least this author) has as the end seems to get farther and farther away is a combination of weariness, loss of perspective, and and inability to let it go even though it's really done.

I don't expect that I'll have to make huge additions or alterations in order to accommodate the new woman, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to take some time. I foresee a couple of new scenes, at least one major rewrite of an existing scene, and a careful re-read to make sure she's mentioned wherever she needs to be mentioned. You have to be careful not to overdo it if you're going to try something like this. It's amazing how little it takes to make big changes.

This is not the first time I've gone back and added a character after the manuscript is almost finished. Whenever I've done such a thing, it's been as though the character was on the sidelines the whole time, like a relief quarterback, just waiting to jump into the game and throw the winning pass. For one of my earlier book, The Sky Took Him, it was Ike the cat. I don't know how he did it, but that cat dies the action together with a big red bow. He was a magic character. I can only hope my new gal has the same juju.

p.s. sometimes you have to take a character out. But that's a whole other entry.