Would the voices in my head please shut up?

It's a little disconcerting sometimes. With most people, if they hear voices in their head, it's usually time to call the doc and arrange for happy drugs. Or at least brain-numb drugs. With writers, however - we're expected to have voices in our heads. When we don't, it's not a good sign.

I call myself a writer, but I'm not a published one. I probably never will be. But publication doesn't make the writer. It's the drive to write, to put your stories on paper, that makes a writer. As a published author (I forget who) once told me, "If you wake up in the morning and you want to write, then you're a writer. A lot of writers never saw print, but don't let that discourage you."

So, yes. I'm a writer. I think about it a lot. I do it a lot. Finishing a story can make my day. Struggling to think of a good plot can ruin my week. Looking forward to character interactions can put me on a high faster than any drug.

But really - when the characters start having conversations in my head, it's a little distracting. Especially when they're newlywed couple, joined for political reasons, but both good-hearted people, and their in a hayloft. There is a cat. There are rumors just beginning. And I'm trying to prepared a Aged Receivables report. It's hard to think numbers when Lehla's cooing at the cat and Armagen is watching her with a bemused expression. And the cat is being as aloof and dignified as only a cat can be with hay sticking out of his fur.

Lehla is a new character for me, but she sprang to mind fully-fleshed. All it took was Kris saying, "Hey, could you write up a wife for Armagen? It's time he was married." And ta-da! There she was. I knew what she looked like. I knew her background. I knew her personality. And she had a very strong voice. Our first story was written in three days, and turned out to be about 10,000 words.

And then she started talking to me at work and I realized...Lehla and Armagen's story didn't have to stay in the obscure area of Pern fandom fanfic. No. With a tweak here, a tweak there - their story could very easily become an original work, in a classic fantasy setting. Kris and I write so well together, it would almost be easy - IF we could keep up the momentum and not get distracted.

Now I have two Lehla's in my head, vying for attention.

Welcome to the party, Lady Lehla. Please join the other 200 characters who've taken up residence in Chateau Anna...

Some characters aren't nearly as vocal as Lehla is right now. D'ven, for one - he seldom wants to share a story with me, but his presence is very strong. I've tried a few times to kill him off. If he won't share his story, then he needs to go. The skull is getting a little crowded. But no, he won't let me kill him. He is most definitely alive and well, and not going anywhere.

Z'leena's another one. My very first character EVER. I made SO MANY mistakes when I wrote her up. A lot of folks would just erase and begin again, or rewrite the character and background to eliminate those glaring newbie errors. Not me. No. I decided, I made the mistakes, but I'd fix them realistically - but letting her learn, heal, and grow. She's now pretty much a legend in the writing group. Happily married, a mother of five, and a leader in the community. Eighteen years ago, no one could have conceived of her in any of those three roles. As a writer, I'm very proud of her growth, through the stories written and how readers perceive her.

But sometimes the clamoring in my head from characters wanting me to write their stories is very distracting. They usually clamor loudest when I'm at work, or driving, and I can't really pay attention. And when I want them to speak up - they all go silent.

I wouldn't trade it, though. :) It is so much FUN to write a story and have someone tell you how much they enjoyed it, or how sad it was, or to cheer on that character's triumph. So what if I never get published? I'm having fun!

....even if the rest of the world thinks I should be in a looney bin! ;)