The story that I’m writing is taking on a life of it’s own.  Does that ever happen to you?

This book has a mind of it’s own, and won’t be told what to do.  It’s dictating the way it wants to be told.

I wanted this to be a novel, third person, past tense.

But no, those things were not what this story wanted.

First off, it became abundantly clear that this story was meant to be told in parts.  I’ve got at least 5 stories, all with main characters and their own things that they deal with.  I’m going to tie most of it together in the end.  But, definitely not a novel.  It’s a series of short stories.

Next, I was going to write it in third person.  But I didn’t like the way it was feeling.  Sometimes, when I write third person, I find it to be rigid.  My strengths lie in characterization and dialogue, so first person gives this relaxed style to my stories that I really like.  I was thinking, okay, I’ll write it first person, get it the style that I like, then go back and redo it third person, preserving the ‘feel’ that I like.  Not exactly sure how to do that.  Or if I even want to any more.  I sort of like the way it sounds in first person.  This might just stay.

Then, today, I was cramming in a writing session between dropping boyfriend off at work, and having to work myself.  I was a couple hundred words in, when I realized that I was writing in present tense!  I never write in present tense.  Not once.  And yet, here it was.  Everything was: “lights fill my vision” and “I hear voices speaking” and “I shiver“… It’s random, and strange, but I kind of like it.  I’m thinking I might just go with it.

So, this story has run away.  It has a mind of it’s own and won’t be bent to my will.  I’ll just have to go with it and see what happens.  Hopefully good things.