jack's back

...and he feels good.

he wouldn't let me blog this am though.... he kept distracting me, whispering to me, demanding my attention. i don't know if other writers experience this - the siren seduction of a truly insistent character. not all characters are like this, you see.

some demand to be wooed. some require cajoling and some must be made to try on all sorts of abuse before something touches the place that makes the character sing. some must be conjured, and some step out of the grayish mists i think of as "central casting" fully enfleshed and real.

uwen in silver's edge was like that. he leapt off his horse and into the story with his crooked grin, his arms spread wide, his sparse red-hair scraped back off his face. "i'm uwen," he announced, and there he was. he was so Real, i realized he deserved to be a Hero.

jack, on the other hand, doesn't know he's a Hero. jack doesn't know a lot of things about himself and that is what makes him so fascinating to write, i think. even i don't know what he's up to next. the first scene is finished... or at least, as finished as it's going to be. i'll keep you posted... ten pages down, 285 more to go :).