She's right! I should be able to....why won't they act right?!
It got me thinking about the story line I had intended to pursue when I had thought about Old House and Jackson and Brynn way back in the beginning. People say that to make an outline of your book and then write by the outline is a good way to create. Makes total sense. Doesn't work for me.
I had decided, back in the day, that Jackson and Brynn would be sort of a reflection of Roger and me. They would take in kids and make Old House into an orphanage of sorts. I would write about all the different kids as they came along and weave their stories in to the fabric of the McKennas. All nice and respectable.
Problem was that Jackson Flynn had other ideas. He's just not the respectable type...well, he is but he isn't. Those of you who have read the books know what I mean. The Old House orphanage didn't pan out.
To write about it not only bored me, it paralyzed me! I couldn't do it. It was a great idea that just wouldn't go down on paper. And I have found that to be the case over and over. Just when I have my characters all settled in to their comfortable lives, right where they should be, all hell starts to break loose! Sorry; I know it's Sunday. But that's what happens.
Folks are upset about "Unfinished" and I knew they would be. I was upset too, believe me! I seriously considered not writing it at all; just tossing it and going off on another tangent for the group. But what happens in "Unfinished" is absolutely essential to the story line of what comes next.
And, it's like life, too. Things happen out of a clear blue sky that we have no idea they are coming. And we have to pick up and deal with it, whether we're ready to or think we can or not.
But, it keeps the story going; keeps us on our toes, I guess. Much as it keeps trying to shift our focus, those nasty unexpected things sometimes get our focus back where it should be. I'm starting to preach, aren't I? Well, it is Sunday.
Anyway, I had thought for a long time that I was a little insane because I couldn't get my imaginary characters to do what I told them, but awhile ago I heard a writer say that he had had the same problem. So, it seems to be common to writers. Maybe because we write a certain personality into our characters and they can't act out of character.
Maybe that's why Jordan eventually cleans up his act. He had been a sweet, sensitive little boy who had had good parents, so when all is said and done, he comes back to his raising. Maybe that's also why Jackson Flynn continues to struggle with himself, even though he acquired a life that gave him the opportunity to do otherwise.
Maybe that gives us hope for Stephen, then. Is he really settled, or is he not? I'm waiting for him to make up his mind.
We'll have to wait and see, I guess.