I am writing the third book in my Alexander Templeman series of old fashioned espionage thrillers and something happened this week which, when it occurs, always leaves me with a bit of conundrum. You see, I’ve created a supporting character who I like so much I don’t want to let him go. What am I to do?
I’ve mentioned many times before that I’m an intuitive writer, in other words I make my stories up as I go along. That’s a bit simplistic, but you get the idea. This means I also tend to make up the majority of the characters for a new story as I go along. After all, how could I know who I’m going to bump into if I haven’t drafted the story beforehand?
This can occasionally be a bit of a nuisance when I’m in full flow and suddenly come to a grinding halt because I need to start working on fleshing out a new character. But it is what it is.
Anyway, I’d reached the point in my new story where Templeman and his partner for this adventure go to meet a contact of fascinating but dubious character. I knew right away what sort of person I wanted this individual to be. I could see them and hear them as they quickly began to take shape in my head, which is always a sign that you are on to a good thing.
Sure enough, I quickly had my two protagonists in a fabulous setting with this new character who, with barely any effort from me, began to take centre stage, keen to enjoy his moment in the limelight to the absolute maximum. It was and continues to be a wonderful experience writing this part of the story and I’m confident that, if I am enjoying writing it, then readers will enjoy reading it.
However, I’m loving this character so much that I’m already trying to come up with excuses as to why I will need to bring him back into the story later on, preferably more than once. That really wasn’t the intention at the outset and now I’m torn. I never do like making compromises with the story for reasons like this but, on the other hand, I’m totally confident that readers are going to love this new character. What’s more, I like him so much that I also want to bring him back for my enjoyment, if I’m being honest.
So, what to do? I’ve not yet quite finished the scene where we meet this new character, so I still have some time to enjoy his company a little longer yet, but then what? Right now I have no answers, but what I can say is that the lure that runs before me, the temptation to bring him back for a second helping, is exerting a strong pull.
Perhaps all I need to do is leave things be for a bit and allow my subconscious to work on it while I get on with the next few chapters. That approach is often effective in sorting out a challenge with my writing. I suspect, though, that if I don’t get the answer I’m hoping for then I might just resort to some conscious creativity. Hey, who knows, maybe I could even bring this character back with a story all of his own. Now there’s an idea.
All the best,
Ben
The House of Spies, a high stakes game of espionage in the best traditions of The Thirty-Nine Steps.