Jane, my main character, was first imagined at a weekly writing session where we worked on the writing prompt, “didn’t get that far.” An image of an unhappy teenage girl, running away from home and hitchhiking out West in the Sixties, flowered in my mind. The girl, driven by desperation, had no plan; she didn’t get that far, but she was determined and fearless. Fleshing out Jane took time. I began with a family tree and writing character arcs for every character. I visualized Jane’s physical description, provided a family history, and she became more real with each new detail. As she was more fully imagined, her personality, habits, and mannerisms became apparent.
In Chapter Five we meet the sixteen-years-old Jane, the girl I imagined that Saturday in Austin, Texas. She tells us, in first person POV, the inciting incident that led her to leave home, taking that lonely country road outside of Odessa, Texas.