In the spirit of Even-Weave, I'd like to ask about the beginning inspirations for Clementine's character. What concept did she start as, and were there any evolutions of her character that surprised you?
You might have heard writers before talk about how they were trying to write a scene only for their characters to disagree, or rebel, or something of that nature. It sounds silly to a non-writer (after all, how can you not have full control over your own characters) but I can assure you that is true.
Clementine was born from the idea of Shamura mistaking The Lamb for a different lamb from their past. An assistant, or perhaps a student. Someone who Shamura would remember. Then I set up the scene with The Lamb and Clementine talking in the afterlife. Nice and simple. Just a small side character as I try to keep OCs out of the spotlight when writing fanfic.
Then, as I started writing the scene, Clementine looked me dead in the eye and said that she and Shamura were in love.
Oh, I said, really? I didn't know that.
Yes, Clementine continued, and she was the first lamb to be killed for the sake of keeping Narinder imprisoned.
Oh goodness, I didn't know that at all. Then Clementine's physical description changed. Gone was the simple robe of a worshiper. Now she was dressed in something similar to the Bishops. Something ceremonial with gold edging and golden horns on her head. It was clearly the outfit she was married in. The outfit she was killed in as well
Suddenly the side OC was a larger part of the story than I had planned.
She grew with every fanfic that passed. In PNN I found out that she didn't care at all about the Reaping of the Lambs to the point where she seemed confused over Shaun's anger at the Bishops. I wouldn't solve that mystery until Even-weave, when I realized the cruelty of ancient lamb society towards Clementine, and the blind eye they turned towards her abuse. No wonder she needed a full history lesson to fully realize the horrors the Bishops had committed against the lambs.
And there's more! It wasn't until Kaiseki did I find out that she could use the purple crown as well! And it wasn't until I wrote down my outline did I realize that Clementine spent a thousand years taking care of the damaged Shamura and more or less running the Silk Cradle. A horrible fate indeed...
So there we are. Clementine, who started as a passing minor character, suddenly a very important force in the lives of Shamura and the Bishops. I know a lot of people hate OCs in fanfic so I'm very glad to see she has her own fans and a lot of support for her story.
Speaking of which, I updated the chapter count of Even-weave last night. We are roughly halfway through.
Poor, poor Clementine...