I believe all writers are listeners and watchers from an early age. What we listen to and watch possibly shapes the kind of fiction we will write. I thought about elaborating on this, but my words began to sound almost judgmental. I don’t want them to be. I think any artist’s path has its own reason that isn’t mine to judge.
In my work in progress, I have two listeners and two watchers. I didn’t intend for it to be that way, it happened organically. I try to step aside and let them travel their own paths, too. This is one of the surprises and satisfactions of rewriting a thirty-year-old manuscript. I have learned, and that’s better for them.