Who are you and What are you doing on page 60?

MENTAL STATUS: "Anxious." Trying to do a lot today to get things ready for my daughter's birthday parties (that's right TWO parties) this weekend. I need food. Having the little girl party Saturday and the family over on Sunday. Yikes.

I, too, watched the results of American Idol last night, so let's not even go there. We all know how I feel.

Let's talk writing instead. Oh joy.

I'm starting another ROUGH chapter and I kind of know what I want to happen but it's not really working out. I've been racking my head trying to figure out why and all I have now is a headache.

Kidding.

Well, actually I do have a little nagging one, but it's always there when I'm constantly thinking. My brain apparently doesn't like being used for long periods at a time. But I don't think I have a handle on my characters.

Oops. Oh well. There. I said it. I don't have a handle on my characters.

Who are they and why are they there? I don't know what's really driving them to do what they're doing. Sure I did the GMC handouts before I started and I thought I understood their motivations, but I still don't feel as if I KNOW them. Oh, and I think their motivations are changing on me, too. Wah!

I'm toying with the idea of a character interview sheet now. Ugh! More work. I thought that could be avoided. We'll see. Going to go through what I have so far and see what makes sense and what doesn't.

Do you do anything special to get to know your characters better or do you just write and see what happens?