Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Juggling life and characters...

As most of you know, my life lately has been crazy busy. I'm still working on juggling everything. And now my characters have added yet another element to it all. I have three stories on the go right now, all in various stages. For so long my historical characters have generally won the battle for my attention, but lately my contemporary characters, Emma and Ian, have been dominating my thoughts. It's very strange - the drive to finish their story is now extremely strong. Whenever I have a spare moment I think about them, their problems and how they'll find their HEA.

Even writing in a modern voice was difficult for me at first, so I'm very confused as to why it's now becoming more natural. And why the historical is receeding a bit.

For those of you who write both historical and contemporary - do you have this issue? If so, how do you deal with it?

It's not that I mind writing for Emma and Ian, it's just I'm not used to living so much in this world when I write.

Any advice is welcome :)

Teresa

6 comments:

Rene said...

I write both. While the contemporary world you are writing about is similar to yours, it isn't the same. Just keep that in mind. And as for switching between the two, it can be done and in fact I think my "historical" voice is better now than it was when I was writing strictly in one genre. I translate in my head what I write. After awhile it comes pretty easy. And you will gain a new appreciation for your historicals. My suggestion is that you go with the contemporary right now since it feels right, get it finished or at least closer to the end before switching back to a historical.

Tess said...

Thanks, Rene :) For years I ONLY wrote historical, but a Jann Arden song triggered a contemp story that just won't let me go. Appreciate your advice!!

Rohan said...

I feel that it really doesnt matter- people are the same everywhere and everywhen, you might see them differently but what's important (at least when I write) is how they see themselves.

Tess said...

Orange Cat - thanks for your thoughts :)

Cindy Procter-King said...

Very cool. I don't write historicals, but I would imagine jumping back and forth between the genres would keep your writing fresh.

Tess said...

Cindy - yes, I have noticed that switching voices is helpful in many ways :)