Negative Habits & Personality Traits

It's amazing where your brain goes during morning coffee and a poppy seed bagel. I'm not much of a morning person, I can tell you that. Takes a while for the fog to lift and coherent thoughts to kick in. For some odd reason, the dope in the poppy seeds were reminding me of all my negative habits when I write a book. Of course, most of them spring from my own character traits.

What are they?

• I repeat myself too much. I can't seem to get it out once and let it go, so I nag until I'm sure you got the point.
• I forget to write down the name of non-essential characters, like the butler at the estate or the attorney that gave advice. When I need to mention them again, I'm frantically going back through text trying to find the name. Then, to my chagrin, I usually discover I have one too many in the story with the same first name! Same thing in life. I can never remember a name when first introduced to anyone.
• Point of view switches. I really wish I was omnipresent, like God, and could write from inside everyone's head at once and make sense of it all. I can't, so I jump back and forth head to head and muck it up in scenes, because I have more than one head going on at the same time. Writers, will know what I mean. Can I accept the point of view of others? Usually, but I often don't understand another person's logic.
• I tend to write down, rather than up. Most people think I'm a easy read. I hate being easy. Makes me feel cheap. I'll get a word that I like stuck in my head, and I'll beat it to death throughout the text. I guess it's back to point one again.
• I hate confrontation in real life, but my books are filled with confrontation. I torture my characters and make them work for happiness and usually only give it to them so my readers don't shoot me. Nothing comes easy in life, at least for me. I've struggled, so I make them struggle. Write what you know, so they say. Let me clarify though that I've never been a prostitute. Definitely could use an hour or two on the counselor's couch.
• I can't see my typos. I really can see. I have progressive lens glasses. My brain reads what is right, my eyes pass over it when it's wrong. I suppose it's because no one likes to have their errors in life pointed out to them. (Please forgive any typos here.)

Do any bad habits or traits translate into my characters? Of course they do.

• Robert can't seem to deal with emotion without a drink in his hand. Thank goodness for crystal decanters of cognac and brandy or the guy wouldn't be able to handle life, so I have his booze strategically placed throughout his residences.
• Suzette is chronic worry wart. You'd think she'd get over this homeless thing and move on, but apparently lack of security has the tendency to make her wring her hands or bounce her knees. (That reminds me, I have no knee bouncing scenes in book two). She cries way too much as well. It annoys me.
• Philippe is a pompous control freak with an over-inflated sense of honor. When he thinks that he's losing control, all those suppressed negative traits become prominent through expressed anger.
• Jacquelyn has a loose screw in her pretty blond head. Obsession has a way of making you pushy, cranky, and irrational in your behavior. Can't have what you want in life? Then you'll make everyone else as miserable as you are until you get it.

Well, bagel is done. Thoughts are jumbled above. It's morning.

I'm on Chapter 19 in my second read through. Beta readers are standing in the corner ready to pounce. Should have it out to them by next week.

Just remember as you take this journey, each book has a key word in it that drives the theme. P-R-I-C-E. It's what each will pay for innocence, deception, and love.