Re-discovering Your Characters (and Plot Bunny Invasions)

Kait Nolan's been plagued by plot bunnies recently, and I must say, so have I.

I haven't touched Ayten's story in a couple of weeks now, poor girl, and I haven't even returned to my actual plot bunny story featuring Rosa and Baha (and, okay, Ayten and Devran are in that one too).

But I have been plugging along with my shiny new idea, which is why I'm glad I made that part of my ROW80 goals. This one's set in England, possibly Wales or Scotland (I've got to decide on a definite location soon, if nothing else for the accents of my local secondary characters (I need a seaside location with a network of caves and lots of local legends (well, that part's not hard in the British Isles))).

One of my other shiny sparks involves the Earl of Rochester; it'll be a long time before I get around to delving deeper into that idea, but meanwhile I've got a history crush on him.

However, I discovered something interesting: all I've known about Rochester visually are copies of portraits available online. And he looks gorgeous in those portraits.

While we were in London, though, I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, and saw my favourite portrait of Rochester, by Sir Peter Lely, in colour and in person. And you know what?

I'm not sure if you can tell from my photos, but...

Rochester from a distance

Rochester close-up 1

Rochester's plaque

Rochester close-up 2

...he looks young!

I got so used to thinking of him as this worldly-wise poet, having affairs, duelling, getting into scrapes, disguising himself in all kinds of ways, that I forgot how young he was when living through all that. He's at least five years younger than me in this portrait, if not more.

I think if I ever do come around to writing that story, I'll have a slightly different perspective of him now.

What sorts of revelations have you had concerning your characters?


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Comments

Zan Marie said…
So, Rochester is in your Shiny New Idea, huh? Now I'm doubly intrigued. ; )

My characters always do something new and interesting. I just learned that Laura Grace has a mug that says "Bakers Like It Hot" and know what Mack's going to say about it....and what LG is going to say back. (eg)
Mary said…
Wow, it must be something in air because the plot bunnies are driving me insane! I have TWO rather aggressive bunnies thumping around in my brain and it's making it difficult to get through these rewrites. *sigh* Love when travel or art inspires (though I do wish it would tuck away neatly into its compartment until I need/want it!)
Deniz Bevan said…
Ah, no Zan Marie, he's just a backburner shiny idea :-)
Love LG's mug!!

Ooh, Mary, it's a plot bunny invasion!
He does look young close up. I love it when those little revelations reveal themselves. My current MC has recently told me something I didn't know and now I have to change a few things in the novel to align the story to the character. Wish she'd told me earlier! ;)
alberta ross said…
we forget their short childhoods - and their short lives - the workers children had no childhood and those rich nobs had one of hard grind learning the manly arts and stuff like latin and french - how to behave in public -

when i was first a nanny - long long time ago:( I worked for some of them and the children were trained to eat in adult company to the tee down to eating thier peas in the correct manner by the time they were three. woe betide them if they disgraced the family!!! have fun with Rochester:)
Jemi Fraser said…
Plot difficulties are everywhere. My characters have got themselves into a real puzzle and I have no idea what they're going to do next. I hope they have some ideas!!! :)
Deniz Bevan said…
Don't you love it when your characters tease you, Lynda?

Thanks for the insight, alberta! It's true - I was shocked when I read that Rochester graduated from university when he was in his early teens!

Ooh, puzzles. Good luck, Jemi! Actually, I could use a couple of puzzles for Ayten's story...
Mark Twain would jump from one novel to another as he wrote, so two novels would evolve as he was writing. I've done the same thing myself many times.

Plot bunnies are our friends!

Thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment. It meant a lot.

My revelations about my characters? Everyone seems normal until you get to know them! LOL.
Merhaba Deniz:)
Delighted to find your comments in my blog, and moreover, delighted to find yours!! So impressed with your writing and work, look forward to visiting again - and I wished you were close by and I would be happy to provide the koftes:)
Ozlem
Deniz Bevan said…
I like that revelation a lot, ROland!

I wish I was close by too, Ozlem! Kofte and pilav... mmm...