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"E" is for Earnestine

Earnestine is the main character and protagonist of my second novel, which is a W.I.P. I am very excited about Earnestine. I have spent many hours developing and refining her character. I would be the one guilty of wanting to put an exclamation point behind her name.




With about a third of the first draft written, she is a character very much in development. Some days she is a blur and others, she's crystal clear. Recently, I had a breakthrough, wherein I could finally hear how she speaks. Her's is a difficult voice for me to hear and capture. She speaks quietly. The fact that her story takes place in 1947, in Mobile, Alabama and one of the Greek Islands, makes her all the more mysterious. Her diction, colloquialisms, and tone are not all familiar. I enjoy the process of seeing how her voice will come through as the novel develops. I am eager to see her show and tell me how to write her story.

As is true of my first work of fiction No Barren Life the novel Out of the Blue, has elements of the paranormal and a heavy dose of fantasy. The story is relatively dark, though not as dark as my first, I would still call it a dark fairy tale. Earnestine is the pluckiest, self-assured and determined young person of her age that I know.



When she becomes clearer, through revealing herself more to me, count on seeing and hearing more about my dear Earnestine on this blog.

Comments

  1. Earnestine is an interesting name. :)

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    1. Chrys, I chose it because obviously its old fashioned and my story is set back in time. Also, she is a very earnest young lady so it seems perfect.

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  2. Lovely Stephanie - Earnestine is clearly evolving!

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  3. Does it feel great to be so excited about a character, when they let you know the type of person they want to be?

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

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    1. Absolutely. I'm having so much fun with fiction. My published books are all nonfiction so this is a switch up for me that I truly enjoy.

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  4. She sounds like she has a wonderful voice. And if she's anything like these amazing photos, she'll be a great character.

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  5. The setting of your novel sounds like the perfect place for a fairytale, even if it is a dark one. It's great when you can finally hear a character. (That whole hearing clear voices part makes writers sound crazy, doesn't it?)

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    1. Madeline Jane, yes this sort of hearing voices isn't crazy at all (thankfully). ;-)

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  6. To me it's wonderful that characters speak to authors as they apparently do. Willo be interested to read more about Ernestine.

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    1. Jo, its interesting hearing their voices when they finally do come through. It can take ages before this happens.

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  7. Love the idea of a dark fairy tale!

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    1. I studied a bit into fairy tales taking a workshop a very years ago that showed the myriad possibilities. I'm hoping to take another workshop this summer in the form. Fairy tales are fascinating and have a lot of depth.

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  8. I appreciate your insight into character development.I never realized how much effort went into developing the characters who will play out your story.

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    1. Cathy, thanks for stopping by and following me on Google+. I followed back. Yes, a tremendous effort goes into character development. Without it, our stories are sure to fall short.

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  9. wow...the name sounds lovely... i finally am able to understand what it exactly feels like to create and evolve a character... i'm writing my first looong story in episodes basis in quotev.com .. :) :)

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  10. Mishra, That sounds cool. If your posting parts of it on your blog, I'll be sure to read them and comment.

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