The casting couch...

Sometimes all it takes to make a story take off is to change a character.

I've been kicking around an idea for a full length paranormal for a while now and I just couldn't seem to get it started. I had the setting, the plot, the first half of the story mapped out. I had the hero fixed in my mind, along with the heroine, their names, their backstories and I could see the scene where they first meet.

And it just wasn't working. It had everything I look for in a story, but it just wouldn't start - like when you put on a DVD and hit pause - you can see the scene and all the details but nothing moves.

The other day, it hit me that I had miscast the hero. I realized he needed to be someone different. He was too much like all the other dark, mysterious, powerful, slightly dangerous paranormal heroes out there. He needed something I hadn't given him.

Then it hit me who he needed to be and suddenly I can hear his voice and I can see movement in those frozen scenes.

I'm sending my old hero packing and letting the new one run around in my head for a while. The heroine is a bit flummoxed by him, since she wasn't expecting his type either. He sort of makes her jaw drop...which is exactly what I was hopping would happen.

Now, off to start writing and get those scenes moving.