#reverb10 Prompt, Day 16: Friendship (late)

How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?
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I think this is the kind of answer that writers will understand, but others may not. And that's okay since most of my readers are, in fact, writers.

I have had a few friends who have changed me (and my perspective) this year, but not in the way you'd think.

Of course friends have been important to me this year. My best friend, Kell, has been invaluable in listening to me complain, offering writerly and personal support, and just generally being there for me. My heart sister, Dana, is always there to listen, remind me of why I'm a writer, and keep me laughing. I had some rough moments in 2010, and my friends--especially Kell and Dana--have been the people who have gotten me through those spots.

But as for change, the friends who have had the biggest impact on me....aren't real.

I've done a lot of thinking and reworking of the characters in the coffee house book this year, and in the process have learned a lot about them, the coffee house story, and myself.

It's funny how characters will do that to you. As you're thinking about them, creating every facet of their personalities, you end up thinking about yourself, as well. They become sort of real to you, and as you think about the situations in their lives, their struggles and successes, whether or not they've made the right decisions, you also start to think about who you are in comparison. (Well, I do, at least.) And, believe it or not, the characters I'm creating are helping me make positive changes in my own life, and work to become the woman I want to be.

Funny how much writing can affect your life, isn't it?