Been very efficient this past week, typing out over 12,000 words. I’m nearing the end of the first draft of Lost & Found and I must say I’ve really enjoyed putting Gabby through hell.
Writers have an odd relationship with the characters they love. They create them, cherish them, give them hopes, dreams, goals, loves and then expend all of their energy trying to destroy every single one of them. Not all at once, of course. Just a little bit at a time.
When I started this novella I didn’t intend to make Gabby’s life so miserable. It just sort of turned out that way. And for the better, from a story perspective. In crisis is where we see what someone is truly made of, what friendships really mean, which convictions are founded in stone or sand. I’m not sure how much suffering still awaits Gabby in final chapters of Lost & Found, but I’m sure it’ll be just a little more.
As long as it makes the story stronger, its worth it. She won’t mind.