We had another good meeting of the group this week, and it was my turn to collect feedback on my novel-in-progress. The group read Chapter 7, in which one of the principal characters expands at some length about one of her passions. I think it’s an effective scene, and several of the other writers said it brought this character into focus for them.

The biggest challenge in this project is breathing life into a relatively large number of characters. There are a dozen of them, and the narrative jumps around from one group to another. So it’s a win when readers get to know them as individuals.

What was interesting is that the readers had different impressions of who she is, what she’s about. I guess that’s one of the rewards of trying to let the character define herself by what she says and does, rather than having the narrator do it.

Plus, none of the readers seem to see her the way I do!