Becoming Part of Theirs

Someone asked me if I know before I write a story if I know what it is going to happen. If I have it all planned out beginning to end. It really got me thinking about my writing process. I have written three different stories and most of them come to me in dreams. Yes, I said dreams. I dream about random things, for example, with Moments Before I dreamt about a girl on a bridge with a boy. When I woke up I started thinking about how dangerous that would be if a train came. I also thought about how amazingly beautiful the site was and why they would be up there. All of these thoughts were just racing through my head. I started writing them down, this is how Moments Before was introduced.

Though the idea was proposed, it was not written yet. It had only been a girl and a boy standing on a bridge after all. As I write down the thoughts that are in my head, about the characters. At some point, they stop becoming ideas, and I actually start writing the story, it happens abruptly. Things just start to transpire, and all of a sudden, I am writing a story.

 The more I write about the characters, the more they became real. I was able to see things differently; I started putting names with the faces. Not only do the characters become factual, but the story does as well. It almost turns into me watching a movie as I am writing; I see it all playing out. That is why I get stuck at certain points because I think about how that character wouldn't really say or do certain things. I become invested, losing time in my own life, becoming part of theirs. Hours go by as I write down every detail, even though it feels like minutes.

I fall in love with the characters I feel their hurt, their passions, their desires.  It makes it all that much more real to me. I love every part of creating them. So, no I do not plan out my stories like some writers do. I have a plot and I know what I want it to be about. However, it is just as much a suspense for me to write it and find the ending, as I hope it is for my readers.