Reflections:

Sometimes I tell myself or anyone who asks that I write character driven things. Is this true, even?

I’m realizing that in my first drafts, my characters are not necessarily people, they are who I need them to be. Then  as I rewrite they become real, and that’s when it gets super tricky, as there is nothing more complicated than the wants / desires / actions of an actual human being. See: why rewriting is so freaking hard. The characters become real and will tell you when you’re pissing them off, using them like game pieces, by making your play really. Bad.

Also, I find myself struggling or having to work twice as hard when I’m working on something that isn’t entirely mine, with characters I didn’t create, as it’s doubly hard to get inside of them emotionally.

In summation, children; robots.