Character Cut-and-Paste

So I have this story I've been trying to write since 2010.  Okay, 'trying to write' isn't the best way to put it.  I wrote two different versions of this story in 2010, and I've been trying to get it to really work ever since then.

Somehow, nearly 400,000 words in two novels and a plotting document that's stretched to almost eighty pages hasn't convinced me to give up on this story.  Heh.

Anyway, this deals a bit with the character I discussed in my last entry.  I realized earlier today that she didn't fit in the story.  Her moments in the plot were minor at best, and she was mostly around because she added attitude and conflict.  And because I'm still trying to find a way to get The Power of Rock to really work in print.  (Someday, I swear.)  I know by now that, when a character has no real purpose in the story, it's time to cut them out.

So of course, my next thought was if she needed to be replaced, and if so, by whom.  I thought back along the lengthy list of characters I'd written up for previous versions of the plot, and realized that one of them would probably work.  But how should she be affected by the world-ending event that starts the story?

I had one of those moments of perfect idea, when something comes that fits both the character and the story completely.  In the space of a few seconds, I knew what she would be able to do, how it would affect her, how it would fit into the larger plot and help advance it.  I knew how it would change over time and affect her, and how she would interact with the larger world because of it.  I had a vision of her in her future, and knew just how much her life was about to change.

If I could have idea moments like that more often, I'd have a lot fewer half-finished plots, believe me.

So: progress continues apace on the new plot, with the newish character plugged in and ready to go.  For all the doubt that comes with plotting a new story - especially one I've been trying to get to work for more than two years - I'm feeling better and better about this every time I finish working on it.  It just needs some more time to really come together, and I need to go over the entire plot with an eye toward making everything harder for our heroes.

I have this horrible tendency to make things too easy on my characters, pretty much always have.  But that's another blog entry altogether.

Finally: having an intelligent British young woman in the book means the guy who's a real smartass gets to make a Hermione joke.  And get punched for it.

This is going to be fun.