Hello, dreamers. It’s been a few weeks since I made one of these posts, owing to the excitement amid my victory in Writers of the Future. But I haven’t been idle.

Last week, I completed the most important of my background sketches: the sketch for Karen Hernandez, my primary POV character. And though I’ll probably never publish it, it was one of the toughest things I’ve ever written.

Aquarius 1

From the start, my primary goal in these sketches was to capture each character’s inciting incident: one moment in their past that set them on the path toward the novel’s story. For most of them, it took the form of them visiting friends and family for the last time before leaving. Anita’s broke them mold, which was fitting because she’s my secondary POV. But I knew Karen’s had to be different.

In the end, I began the story when she was twelve years old. It started with her first scuba dive, on the last day she spent with her father before his death.

I’d established Karen’s backstory some time ago, including her previously-strained relationship with a mother who’d been emotionally unavailable. I’d only written one story before from a child’s POV. Part of me was afraid of how this would turn out. But I had no idea what I was in for.

A story that began with lighthearted discovery and parental love evolved into a gut-wrenching tale of loss. Of a young girl consumed by grief, left alone to mourn the most important person in her life as her mother withdraws. She pulls away from her friends, begins skipping school. After a tense argument with her mother, she finds herself on a bridge contemplating suicide.

It got really, really dark. But ultimately it became a story about beginning again. I was able to explore how Karen’s relationship with her mother evolves, allowing both of them to heal. And the story ended with a time jump, showing Karen’s decision to apply for the Aquarius 1 mission.

The purpose of this work I’ve been doing in recent weeks it to avoid what’s called the “blank slate protagonist”. Good characterization and interiority requires a writer to understand that their characters had lives before the story begins. They have a history, and that history informs their words and actions, which in turn drive the narrative. To show where Karen and the others are going, I need to understand where they’ve been. And now, I truly believe that I do.

At present, I’m still working on one more sketch, which I hope to complete in the coming days. This one doesn’t involve a primary POV character, but it does take place during a space mission. I’m hoping this will help me to get back into the proper mindset to write the novel. I still haven’t decided whether or not to begin work this month. I may take some time away in the coming weeks and focus on short fiction. But I’m now excited to see where Karen and her crewmates will take me. – MK