One of the challenges of writing a novel inspired by real events is separating myself from the protagonist. The job is to take events and stretch, expand, shrink, and modify them. Aka fictionalize.
I will say that the breakthroughs I had around the story in December really helped me feel that my character, Darla, is quite different than me in backstory and lifestyle. That feels great.
Right away, I gave the main character a name, Darla, thinking I’d change it later. But it stuck and Darla even discovers an odd twist based on her name.
I planned to change the names of my characters. I didn’t give it much thought but figured I would change names near the end when I could make a simple global change for each name. But I should have done it sooner.
The biggest deal was changing the name of the antagonist or love interest. Naming characters isn’t always easy. There are practical and emotional considerations at play.
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