On balancing out characters by Katharine Quarmby

At our last meeting the group commented very usefully on my latest story in progress, Rainbow, about a child of the same name with a very alternative mum. Rainbow decides to do battle with colours in the name of the beauty of black and white.

But my agent had felt that while the mum came over strongly, the little girl was less strong a character – and children’s stories, these days at least, are always led by a child. So it was back to the drawing board – to find ways to get the balance right between the two main characters.

The group came up with some really good ideas of how to do this – and I think that’s one of the strengths of writers supporting each other. Something I’ve written gets extended by others – and then I can get back to writing it. So it can be part of the creative process, not to shut oneself up on a garret!

So now I’m writing furiously, hoping to have another draft ready for tomorrow evening, as well as do my journalism – another balancing act, which I’ll write about on another occasion.