Wow… One of my characters in this superhero steampunk story has been lying to me this whole time!!!

But first, my writing recap for yesterday: I have reached the point of totally exhaustion. I’ve been up against the wire trying to finish a short story. Basically I wrote thought the night but took a 4 hour “nap” that turned into a 4 hours of sleep from 1:00 to 5:00. (My alarm was set for 4:00 but I snagged another hour.) Yesterday, I spoke to the 7th graders at the community school. It was a lot of fun, but I needed up giving about 6 presentations total, which took lots of energy. I have no idea how teachers do it…

Anyway, last night’s writing session: finished up with the 2nd draft, and I was in the process of polishing and adding sensory details when I basically had to get some sleep…

That’s when I discovered that my first mate is actually the superhero…

That’s a pretty good disguise when a character can fool me. I should have known, though. I mean, I wrote him as very strong and hulking, and his legs were so muscular they were too tight for his pants. When he throws the kid against the wall, the kid even mentions how strong it was. And then the character disappears below deck when the action starts…

Here’s when writing turns itself in its head. We think, as the writers, that it’s our story, but sometimes it’s not. The reality is that I have not been able to figure this character out. I’ve had him be the secret bad guy; then I realized that would work. I’ve jostled back and forth with that idea more than once. Then I figured I would kill him, but that never made sense.

Now it makes sense. I knew the character was hiding something but I didn’t know what it was. Now I know: he’s a superhero. I was just seeing him in his alter ego and couldn’t place it.

Okay, on now to re-work this thing and finish it up…

What about you? Have you ever had a revelation about a character that you weren’t expecting?

Toodles!