The people that you meet

Every once in a while, I have an idea for a blog post that I'm not sure I should write.  This is one of those posts.

Let me explain.  As a writer, I spend an enormous amount of time in my imagination, in the worlds that I create inside my stories.  When I am in those worlds, I find the things that happen as surprising as the things that happen in the real world.

I am often thinking about a character, who they are, where they come from, what made them who and what they are, and I meet another character who was pivotal in their lives.   Sometimes these characters appear only as a memory, but sometimes, they demand a place in the story for themselves.

I'm afraid that to the non-storyteller, that last paragraph may have sounded delusional.  I don't actually believe the people I imagine are real, but I do believe that sometimes my stories will be incomplete without including one of the imaginary people I had not originally included in my story.

This happened to me yesterday when I met Frere Arthur in France.  He is one of the missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart that will move to Louisiana to provide secondary education to the young men of Belle Terre.  He is the only son of a widowed mother, Genevieve.  I had not planned for Genevieve, but now that I have "met" her, she is demanding to be included in my story.

She is one of those characters that sprung fully formed into my imagination, and now I know my story would be incomplete without her.  I don't know how it is for formally trained writers, but for me, all of my stories are fluid.  I know how they begin and end, but the everyday details evolve as my characters navigate through each situation.

This constant sense of discovery is one of the reasons I find writing so enjoyable.  Each time I sit down to tell my stories, it is as if I am experiencing the same surprises we all do when going somewhere new.  Because the world I'm creating is new every day.    I can't wait to see what today has in store.