Rosaline

Following on from the last post, I've been deeply ensconced for the last 24 hours or so with writing the part of Rosaline for The Juliet Inquiry.  It's interesting to see what happens to a character as you start writing the words.  I don't think any writer really knows how they do it.  We all have different ideas about process, about structure and ideas, but we don't know how see sit down and produce a stream of words.  The process of creation has to be a kind of magic.  If you consciously think about it, the words start to fall apart in your mind, it becomes forced.  You may have very fixed ideas about how you intend to write or about how you will re-write (which is not the same thing) but the moment of creation is best left alone.  You don't want to kill it.
So, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted Rosaline to sound like, I had written notes and guidelines.  She was what I thought she would be.  Until I started writing and a different character emerged.  Stronger, perhaps; different, certainly.  And I don't know how it happened.  In the course of half an hours tinkering I had to stop, have a little look at what went before and take stock.  After a little thought, on I went, thinking my through the part to some degree, just letting it flow for the rest.
To be fair, there isn't room for a vast amount of character in the context of the inquiry.  The situation shuts down on certain behaviours, exaggerates others.  Rosaline would not be as open as she might be in another context.  Nerves and how they betray us are the most interesting mine to seam.  But, unlike other witnesses, she seems to be clear in her thinking.  A sympathetic witness even.  Though, that doesn't mean she's telling the truth - or even the half of it.
But that's for the audience to decide.
Right - back to the grindstone.