Lady_Kristin

Anyone ever written a character that just took off? There's a character in my first book which came to me so easily. She never shut up (keeping me up at night with scenes to write about) and the things that came out of her mouth were so funny, yet sincere. I really loved this character.

I'm currently writing the sequel, and this character is hardly saying anything now. It's as if she's lost her identity since the last book. Can anyone here relate? It's very unsettling. I'm halfway through the first draft so she needs to start talking my ear off again... and soon.

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Dephere

I have had that happen numerous times. Maybe you need to find out why she just shut up. Does she fit in the sequel? Has her character changed? Other than that I really don't know how to help you through this one. I feel your pain though. I hope she returns to normal.

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cbrmale

I've got a character in a contemporary story who is a twenty-three year old Russian girl. I have never met a Russian-born girl, but somehow she came to me, living and breathing. Absolutely perfect. Pretty, thoughtfull, intelligent, fiery, sarcastic when things go bad. And her fiery nature gets her into so much trouble...

I wanted to write a sequel straight away, I wanted to use this wonderful character. It has been more of a battle to have her come to the fore second time around. The sequel doesn't suit her as well, she is kidnapped and mistreated and has to be pragmatic with the men who hold her in order to survive.

I understand the sequel is not her story, it really belongs to her husband who is trying to find and rescue her.

Dephere

Wow, that sounds very similar to the first post...deja vu

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darthwader

My biggest problem with my characters is that I have come to know them so well that I like them; they almost feel like pen pals rather than fictional characters. My story has me putting my favourites through absolute hell, which makes me feel like real prick.

In my second draft almost nothing happened in the story because I didn't want to be so cruel to my characters, but I've learned to overcome it, and now the result should have any reader hounding after my blood for what I've put them through.

Ironically the characters I like, aren't the ones that I like to write. I find the unlikable and evil characters tend to write themselves.

Oracle

I think if you're having trouble with a sequel, it's probably because the character went through some kind of transformation in the first book. That's why sequels are rarely as good as the original. If the character has already transformed, there often isn't much left to cover in the sequel, so the characters tend to lack their original finesse.

I find that most really good characters represent some sort of abstract idea (stability, strong-mindedness, inherent evil, etc), so I have a really hard time writing about the characters who I can't really associate with any idea in particular.

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The bubble is round.

Lady_Kristin

Thank You for all of your replies. I think this character is slowly starting to perform again. I wrote 7 pages of one of her chapters last night. Of course, I'm stuck again but am not going to force it. If she doesn't want to talk so much this time around, then I'll stop bothering her. I actually enjoy my sequel even more than my first book. Even the character development is a lot stronger and my writing is tighter. I've never written so quickly and easily before... until it comes to this one character. The male lead is the one that won't leave me alone this time. I'm not complaining though. He's Scottish and I love to hear that accent in my head. LOL!

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bobwriter

Your character may not have the same voice because the excitement and passion of the first book is resolved--and perhaps the character foreclosed--in your mind. I find that most of my characters have an arc through my work until they are fully realized and resolved. Then they are retired or back-burnered as another voice comes along.

With fiction I think you need to have and idea in advance whether or not this exciting character has an arc larger than a single book. Is this a 'franchise' character like Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, or a single, glorious character like Melville's Ishmael?

If you truly love this character and want to use her more, you may want to re-think the size of the arc of her existence and her centrality to the principal action.

Personally I think it's okay for a big character from one book to do a cameo in another then return with another story all their own. As long as you are interested, happy and surprised with her narrative, chances are your readers will be too.

cbrmale

When I decided to write a sequel, I took a minor character from the first book and made her the key. Without conciously thinking it through, I realised the point you made. Against the background of two fully developed characters in a loving relationship, the new character making a journey from desperation to self-destruction is the core of the story.