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Behind the Scenes: "Out of Sight" After putting aside my Highlander fan fiction, I wanted to see if I could create original characters. Fan fiction is a double-edged sword. Your readers know exactly what your characters look like, so there's no need to write a lot of description, something I struggle with. On the other hand, they also don't let you get away with anything they perceive as out of line for the character, or you get readers saying, "Duncan would never say/do that." I found a short story writing forum at iVillage that had very helpful members, and joined the group. They provided critiques, and also gave weekly exercises. Most were things like, "use these words in a short story, 2000 word maximum." One week, the prompt was to use the word mellifluous. Thinking about the word immediately brought to mind a man I'd been working with via the Internet, whom I'd never met, except through email and the occasional phone call, until we actually had to get together for a project. His voice, with its trace of a British accent, was definitely mellifluous. Because I needed the voice to be heard, I wrote from the female protagonist's POV, and worked from there. I had to give her a problem, so I decided she was going to be away from her husband and have to deal with meeting this man she'd never seen. And, to add a touch of conflict, she'd been married a long time and was dealing with getting older. After presenting it at the short story forum, I let it sit for a long time. I expanded it a little for my local writing group, the Pregnant Pigs, and we hashed out some character issues. I liked that everyone had a different idea of what Sandra would or should do, and what Jim was really thinking. I left "mellifluous" in the story, but it became a tale of dealing with accepting one's age and taking a second look at a long marriage. For the record. Yes, I drew on that meeting for the story, but only the food and the mellifluous voice are real. Everything else is fiction. That's the fun of writing. You get to make stuff up. Check out Jim's pasta recipe |