Under the Green Willow

He’s Not That Guy
or
The Walk That Instantly Influenced The Seventh Level
By Jody Feldman

Once upon a time, when The Seventh Level had only a title and premise but no plot, there existed in my mind a nameless main character. The twelve-year-old was one of those boys you might overlook. He knew his way around video games, but not around athletic fields. He’d answer questions in class, but never blurt out responses. He had his small group of good friends, but other classmates never heard of him.

So once upon a time, I had that boy and title and premise rolling around in my head. And as is my process, I hadn’t put any words to screen or paper because I didn’t yet have an opening scene.

Now…
Maybe it was because I was receptive to serendipitous suggestions….
Maybe it was because I was getting a little impatient with myself and my lack of a first paragraph….
Maybe it was because, okay, scrap the two lines above. I’ll say it…
Maybe it was because I was desperate to start writing again….
Maybe that’s why one glance changed everything about the The Seventh Level.

Walk it, and they will come.

I was on my usual walk past the streets and mailboxes and houses I see every day. Workers come to restring cable lines and resurface driveways and replace windows all the time. So why, that day, did I notice the roofers on a tree-obscured house? Maybe the wind blew the branches aside at the right time. Maybe a noise caught my attention. But the real question is: Why did I care?

I cared because I suddenly had an opening scene. Because I saw my main character, Travis (yes! he had a name!) up there. Well, not really up on that house; I envisioned him on the roof of his school. But if my main character dared to be on top of the school, he couldn’t be that guy, that original boy.

Within my next twenty steps, Travis transformed. He lost 70 pounds and eight inches. He gained athletic skills and a mouth. He became that kid who couldn’t sit still no matter how hard he tried. In short, he was the original character’s near-opposite. And he became a character who not only brought a plot but a personality, one that made writing more fun than ever.

I asked my dog, where should I find my character? And my dog said, "Roof."

When I speak in schools, students often ask about my characters. Are they real? Are they based on people I know? Where do they come from?

It’s hard to explain that most of my characters are simply born one day, that they’re created from all the various bits of life I’ve experienced. But now, in Travis’s case, I can simply and honestly say, “The roofers brought him.”

Jody Feldman is the author of The Seventh Level, which goes on sale tomorrow! Her first book, The Gollywhopper Games, was a Texas Bluebonnet book. She lives in St. Louis, MO.