My current work in progress is the second book in my historical series, "As It Could Be". All of my books start out as an idea. Then the idea becomes a story. The story gets populated by characters. I know where my story begins and ends, but I'm never sure of the exact path the story will take to get from beginning to end.
Every once in a while, a character that I imagined as tangential becomes important. That has happened to me with my current book, "Broken Road". There is a character that I have come to love that will be very sad by the necessary path the story takes. I don't want her to suffer, but suffering is inevitable in life, so my little Giselle will have a rough time.
I'm trying to figure out how to stay true to the story, not invest too much time in a character that is not essential to the story, and yet not just abandon Giselle as if she is not important.
Because one of my guiding beliefs in life and in my writing is everyone is important. We are all God's children. He loves all of us. In order to stay true to myself and my writing, I have to figure out how to navigate this, and frankly, it is tying me in knots right now.
