An Open Letter from the Characters of my Many Unfinished Novels

Dear Beverly,

So this is where we're at, huh?  After pounding your fingers out on the keyboard and letting inspiration flow out of you like a good sweat you're just going to leave us here?  Waiting in this purgatory for a final judgement on our worth that- let's face it- at this rate is never going to come?

Well that's not gonna hold water.  Cause that- that, right there- that makes you wonder, doesn't it?  Which one of us would use such an expression?  No, don't answer right away.  Think about it.  Who's voice was that?

Oh, you don't know?  Could that be because you don't know all of us that well?  Because maybe in your rush to meet some arbitrary deadline you forgot that there might be real characters here?  That maybe beyond whatever plot devices you unleashed on us there was something more to be seen that you never bothered to write down?


Like who's favorite scent is gasoline?  And why?  That got you wondering, didn't it?  Now you're pondering if there's some tragic back-story behind that or just an inexplicable trait that won't mean anything in the end.  And who loves sunny side-up eggs more than anything on the planet?  How many deep-rooted memories can you trace back from that?

We got you wondering now, don't we?  And what about the stories themselves?  They're here, you know.  Waiting, right along with us.  And an unfinished story is the biggest tragedy of all, don't you think?  It's why we're here, or so we've been lead to believe.  And the longer we linger the further away it seems.

Please don't leave us alone.  We need our stories to be told.  We need our voices to be heard.  We exist.  And we are waiting for you.

Sincerely,
The Characters