 |
| Colette Caddle |
Every Time I Say Goodbye....
For me, getting to know the characters in
my story is a bit like falling in love.
The
first meeting:
When I first came up with the characters
for Every Time We Say Goodbye I had a
loose idea of what they would be like but at that stage they were flat and
two-dimensional and if you asked me to describe them you would have got a blank
look.
The
first time you feel the ‘spark’:
You know that moment! You get talking and
suddenly you start to notice things: He has a lovely laugh, everything he says
is interesting, or funny, or clever. His
smile gives you goose-bumps and you realise you want to know more about this
man. Well, that’s the way I feel the moment I’m able to ‘see’ my characters,
the moment they seem real to me. There’s nothing quite like it.
The
first date:
These can often be disastrous but
sometimes, just sometimes you look across at someone and think he could be ‘the
one’. As the characters take shape and personalities develop I feel that same
sense of wonder and excitement. Full of enthusiasm and on an absolute high, I
can’t wait to open my laptop in the morning, dying to find out more about these
people, longing to spend time with them.
Going
steady:
Those first few weeks or months, you want
your new love to think you’re perfect. You wouldn’t dream of going out without
washing your hair, or being seen wearing a face. But as you grow more comfortable
with each other and real life intervenes, the guards come down. This is when
it’s easy to fall into a boring routine and stop appreciating each other and it’s
the same for me when I’m writing. The ‘going steady’ stage is the hardest and
most dangerous. I’ve set the scene, introduced my readers to all the characters
and it’s all too easy to slip into a rut or lose interest. It’s especially
worrying if doing household chores is more appealing than sitting down to write.
At times like this I become disillusioned and that’s when it’s important to
stay focussed or my story, my love, will suffer.
The
doubts:
Everyone’s been there. The day you say to
yourself ‘Is this really what I want? Is it going anywhere? Do I want it to?
Does he?’ I ask myself similar questions every time I write a book. Is it any
good? Should I give up and start again? Should I throw in the towel completely
and take up knitting instead? It’s soul-destroying but that’s when you need a
firm but kindly friend to remind you that you suffer the same doubts with every
book and just…get on with it!
The
happy ending:
By the time I’ve written 100,000 words it’s
fair to say that I’m immersed in my characters’ lives and, good or bad, I love
them all. I get quite emotional when I have to say goodbye but if I’m lucky,
really lucky, there is usually a new cast waiting in the wings and it’s time to
start all over again...
