Enter the Characters

This is my last of undergraduate education, and it's just a couple finals. I have work and graduation, but I'm trying to use my free time to write a little. I have incentive to finish "The Shifting", so that takes priority. Since I'm writing this story from the perspectives of two different people, I'm revising character-by-character. That is, everything that is from Sarah's point of view I read and revise first, keeping her voice in my head. Then I will switch to Thomas. I might have to go back later and make sure the story actually flows, since I'm taking every other chapter at a time, but it's worth it. Reading just Sarah right now is making me realize what an awesome character she is, and I see her more clearly now. I bet the same will happen when I work on Thomas's half.

As for the other story that I started coming up with on the plane, characters are starting to come in. Particularly one pretty awesome one that will meet up with my hero and befriend him. So, a better summary than what I gave last week: Alder is a fifteen-year-old who is easily overlooked and pretty average. He is actually half-elf on his mother's side, and his family relocated to this world to protect him, because it turns out he may have a powerful (and possibly dangerous) destiny. People who want to hurt him find his family and Alder is sent back to his mother's world. He's told to never reveal who he is, never say his last name, as it is kind of well-known. The story is Alder trying to stay safe, find his family, and become the person he destined to be.

Anyway, this character has just walked into my head and introduced himself, though I'm pretty sure he gave me a fake name. He calls himself Berzen, and meets up with Alder almost immediately after Alder arrives in Cartha and tells him he is a stone-elf from Ferrin. This is a lie. He is a fire-person, and actually has been kicked out of his clan for being unusually dangerous. I like Berzen, though that's a Ferrin name and thus not his real one. He's street-smart, sarcastic, but he's a really good person. There's a lot to him, and I can't wait to find out more. There may be more fun characters I have yet to meet.