If I had a dime for every character I’ve left stranded and underdeveloped in some story I started writing but later abandoned, I’d have enough money to make a good living as a writer.
It’s an awful feeling to bring someone into the world only to leave them high and dry in the middle of a wayward plot. Just ask Michael Lohan. Thank goodness we authors aren’t required to pay “character support” to all the fictional folks we create and end up dumping on the side of an unfinished manuscript. Otherwise, I’d be dead broke. Or a deadbeat.
A couple of years ago, I started writing a novel about an author whose unfinished fictional characters come to life to seek revenge on him, but, ironically, I ended up abandoning that story to write an entirely different one (my latest novel, The Exit Man). In other words, I abandoned several already-abandoned characters. Who DOES that? What kind of monster AM I?
The worst thing about abandoning fictional people is that, unlike in real life, the abandoned person can never move on. They’re just stuck in whatever locale and situation you left them in, for all eternity, with no hope for any personal growth or success or iPhone upgrades.
I can no longer live with the guilt. I’d like to offer a sincere apology to any and all characters I’ve ever created and left behind to rot in literary oblivion – even those who’ve existed only briefly in my head:
Dear abandoned characters,
I’m so sorry for what I've done to you. I had no right. You did nothing to deserve such a fate.
It’s not you, it’s me. I don’t always know what I’m looking for in a story or a character. Still, that’s no excuse for creating you and leading you on. If it makes you feel any better, I often end up killing off many of my characters in the books I DO finish writing, so at least you avoided that.
Maybe you’ll meet another writer who can give you a future or at least some sense of closure, though I highly doubt it, as I never share my unfinished manuscripts with anybody, and I don’t think my computer has ever been hacked by anyone besides the U.S. Government, and no one there knows how to write. I guess I could introduce you to some of my writer friends to see if there’s any interest, but let’s face it – nobody likes to be set up.
I know this hasn’t been easy on you. I abandoned many of you so early in the writing process, you don’t even know where you live or work, or who your parents are or if you have any siblings. Many of you don’t know what, if any, religion you follow or if you are gay or straight or what medications you may require. Some of you don’t even know your last name. And it’s all my fault. It’s no way for a writer to treat a fictional person. I know that, and I will never forgive myself for leaving you in such miserable limbo.
I incomplete you.
Nevertheless, I hope we can still be friends.
Regretfully,
GL
It’s an awful feeling to bring someone into the world only to leave them high and dry in the middle of a wayward plot. Just ask Michael Lohan. Thank goodness we authors aren’t required to pay “character support” to all the fictional folks we create and end up dumping on the side of an unfinished manuscript. Otherwise, I’d be dead broke. Or a deadbeat.
A couple of years ago, I started writing a novel about an author whose unfinished fictional characters come to life to seek revenge on him, but, ironically, I ended up abandoning that story to write an entirely different one (my latest novel, The Exit Man). In other words, I abandoned several already-abandoned characters. Who DOES that? What kind of monster AM I?
The worst thing about abandoning fictional people is that, unlike in real life, the abandoned person can never move on. They’re just stuck in whatever locale and situation you left them in, for all eternity, with no hope for any personal growth or success or iPhone upgrades.
I can no longer live with the guilt. I’d like to offer a sincere apology to any and all characters I’ve ever created and left behind to rot in literary oblivion – even those who’ve existed only briefly in my head:
Dear abandoned characters,
I’m so sorry for what I've done to you. I had no right. You did nothing to deserve such a fate.
It’s not you, it’s me. I don’t always know what I’m looking for in a story or a character. Still, that’s no excuse for creating you and leading you on. If it makes you feel any better, I often end up killing off many of my characters in the books I DO finish writing, so at least you avoided that.
Maybe you’ll meet another writer who can give you a future or at least some sense of closure, though I highly doubt it, as I never share my unfinished manuscripts with anybody, and I don’t think my computer has ever been hacked by anyone besides the U.S. Government, and no one there knows how to write. I guess I could introduce you to some of my writer friends to see if there’s any interest, but let’s face it – nobody likes to be set up.
I know this hasn’t been easy on you. I abandoned many of you so early in the writing process, you don’t even know where you live or work, or who your parents are or if you have any siblings. Many of you don’t know what, if any, religion you follow or if you are gay or straight or what medications you may require. Some of you don’t even know your last name. And it’s all my fault. It’s no way for a writer to treat a fictional person. I know that, and I will never forgive myself for leaving you in such miserable limbo.
I incomplete you.
Nevertheless, I hope we can still be friends.
Regretfully,
GL
