Last summer I sat down with my characters and we had some good conversations. They told me a little bit about themselves, and I observed quite a few interesting things (like Stacey’s ever-present ponytail). It was a good time, and it has really helped me shape my novel.

I’m now about halfway through my novel and some things have changed.

First of all, I found out Stacey has an older half-brother (who knew!). And now that Callie has met her conflict head on, she’s responding differently than I had expected. And Ryan! Don’t get me started…

Now I’m someplace I never expected to be – I’m re-interviewing my characters. Now that things have changed I need to figure out how they feel. The first time they could only answer questions out of their own experiences, but now they’ve had different experiences, and I think some of their answers would be different. Actually, I know it – they’re already surprising me!

So, I’m going to take a few minutes (hours) to find out who my characters are NOW – after the confusion, after the heartache, and before the ‘ah-ha!’ moment.

How about you? Have you ever had to revisit your characters? Or has your plot ever led you someplace you weren’t expecting?