The subconscious is really a lovely thing. Here I've been working out the details of my characters' lives, and suddenly smack! There's a detail changed, and for the better. What I mean by "better" is that it is not as obvious as my original plan, or is more original, and it is something I think I can research and not make a fool of myself writing about it. Sorry to be so vague, but at this point the detail in itself is not what I wanted to write about, just the recognition nothing is ever set in stone when you are writing (or rather, planning for writing).

I often find myself having these aha! moments when doing mindless things, like straightening the kitchen (because I am messy in there) or washing dishes. Luckily, as I found out today, excitement about a new idea doesn't always override common sense. For instance, today (in the kitchen, of course) it occurred to me that I could tangle up my main character's love life by first introducing a love interest who is totally unlike her (she has some unique qualities, let us say), but then having someone who has the same qualities as her show up, only he turns out to be rather a bastard. That's when some other part of my brain said "Cliché!" I'm not saying I think I am so original that whatever I write will instantly receive special snowflake status, I just don't want to perpetuate a trope that shows up in every third novel that has a romance in it. I'll just set my subconscious to work on that and see what shakes out.