As I was re-reading a chapter to tighten the dialogue, remove extra adverbs, and other general cleanup, I noticed something surprising. Which feels weird to state, considering I was reading my own writing.
A character’s backstory, hinted at within the chapter, shared a few beats with the protagonist’s. This had happened happened organically in the writing session, without me setting out to write it that way.
Now I’m left wondering, is this diegetic? Is the protagonist attracting like-minded individuals, or the character exposing this specific aspect of their story to build rapport?
Or is it writerly, my own subconscious creating an echo of the protagonist, or part of his persona bleeding into other characters?
I’ll let you know if I ever find out.