Changing It Up

Generally, I don't do much "real" writing on weekends and holidays when my hubby is not at work, but I do a fair amount of thinking about it. I don't know that a serious writer can ever stop thinking about it. Anyway, an idea came to me over the weekend about "The Janus Rule" that resolved an issue I was having with the Angel Ortiz character. She's a tough lady and fiercely independent, and to have her pining over a man she just met sort of directed her character in a different direction. The idea was to have her meet this man and not be looking for a romantic entanglement. He's the one who is most worried about the rocky start of their relationship. So to incorporate this twist, I have to go back and examine anything about it that I've already written and make the necessary adjustments. 

Why not wait for the editing phase to do this, you might ask? One reason is that her character is still developing, solidifying in my mind. If I'm going to reevaluate her, the time to do it is now so that as I move forward with the plotting, it's based on who she is. The other reason is that if I wait for a full first draft to get done, there's a chance I might not address the changes carefully enough to avoid anachronisms or mixed messages. I could miss an important reference or decide her action in a scene based on her old persona must be rewritten to match up. This could cascade into other characters. 

My approach to writing is rather organic, and while I'm eager to have the story come together, I also don't want to rush it and do it badly. Editing is enough of a chore without having to keep an eye out for major elements like changing who a character is and making sure the changes all work.