One surprising thing about writing a story, which I’ve heard other writers talk about too, is the way some characters insist on having their own personality. I encountered this with Haley, the main character of Marinian Pearls. I had a certain concept of what kind of person she would be and really tried to stick with that idea. As a result, I had to re-write the entire 95,000 word novel several times until I finally gave up on what I thought she should be, and let her be the character she needed to be for the story. Only then did the story finally come together.
Which meant that she just wasn’t as nice as I was comfortable with. She was a really hard character for me to write, actually. I kept wanting her to say something reassuring to the people around her, or be more considerate, but that just wasn’t who she was. Instead she was a strong, resilient character who was entirely focused on her own goals. As Bill, another character from Marinian Pearls, said of her, “She would be his as much as the beauty of the sea was his, or the wind, the waves, the tide could ever be his. His to love. His to cherish. But never his to control.”
Talking about Bill, he was another unruly character. I never intended for him to be a primary character. He was just supposed to be one of her friends. But as it turned out, he loved her, and he would not go away. Neither would he do anything but think about her. So he ended up being an integral part of the story.
Some people have told me Haley is one of their favorite characters. But I know that some people have reacted more negatively to her. Especially one reviewer who said that Marinian Pearls was a unique and exciting read and that they liked it, but that Haley was the worst lead ever. They thought Haley was “self-righteous, stuck up, and selfish.” They then went on to specify in detail everything they hated about Haley. I was surprised by how passionate they got about this character from my book. I also felt a bit defensive. Like, I can’t help what kind of character Haley was. What do you think, that I’m in control? Just because I’m the writer?
My husband, the sweetie, got upset by that review. He didn’t think it had been fair to Haley. But you know, I can kind of see the reviewer’s point of view. It is quite true that Haley had her problems. But then, that’s kind of what made the story.