Thread: Characters that won’t cooperate!!!

Dose anyone else run into this problem? I love my characters but sometimes they make mefeel a little schizophrenic. I have aplot in mind, an outline, a way I want the story to go…then someone decides notto cooperate! My current WIP started life in my head as a vampire romance, thenmy hero decides that he’s to dab-nabbed holy for that…thing is, it kind ofworks. I’m now 36,000 words in andhaving a blast with this totally new direction for me. It’s taking a little more work and a lot moreresearch but I’m diggin it. …now I’ve also discovered that Mr. high and mightyalso is a bit of a nancy boy so I’ll be bringing in some competition for the MCsaffection in the form of tall dark and built like a brick sh*t house but even theguy new isn’t a vamp because it wouldn’t work in the story.



Tell me…am I alone?

I used to barely develop my characters.

Well, I wanted my MC to have a tough, scary uncle, but an editor said that the way I developed him was inhuman. So I had to ease him up.

I let my characters develop along with the story. I have a vague idea of what they're about to begin with, but every time something new comes up in the story, it allows me to see how the character could/should/does react. Just be aware of how they've been in the earlier story, so you don't suddenly (ie, jarring the reader) turn them in a whole 'nother direction. They need to be consistent, or at least have a believable reason to act inconsistently.

Kat Molina:

In an early "novel", my main character was to go to the police station to get some information about a recent suspicious death. The officer, who was a walk on, suddenly decided to take on a larger role. I mean he literally began a dialogue, making jokes and taking actions. I had to rewrite the story. This character did make the story better but it did change the focus. I was amused by the process. I like to laugh but I am lousy at making jokes, this guy was a riot.

In my other "novels" (3), none of the characters exhibited such behavior. Some of the characters do seem a bit reluctant but they are not giving me any other clues.

My characters are my story.

/witty

I start with an outline and then, once I begin writing, everything changes.

That's one of my favorite parts. It's like witnessing your brain demonstrate its creative powers. Give it a coloring book and some crayons, and watch it splash paint all over the walls instead.

It's not the chaos that you should be worried about. That's the sign of a healthy imagination. It's when you turn on the tap and nothing comes out, that's when you should be concerned.

I would say you're most certainly not alone. In my WIP, I wanted to have a "good" bad guy (as in, he's not actively trying to mess with everyone), but he simply won't allow it. He's kind of a selfish pr*ck, that guy. Rather impulsive, too. Reining him in isn't helping my story any, so I've decided to let him do what he wants.

I often find that my original outlines and excerpts no longer apply, since my characters are developing either too quickly, too slowly, or in a different direction than I had planned. No matter; it's part of the fun of writing a story.

When I sit down to write, my 1st question is - what are these guys up to this time?

Originally Posted by Elowan

When I sit down to write, my 1st question is - what are these guys up to this time?

Now that I can relate to!

Everything I have written the characters seemt to make a lot of the decisions about themselves and the story. My hero, villain, and sidekicks are all different to how I thought they would be. They write themselves, which I think is a good sign, as long as I am checking them for consistency.

I only started trying to write fiction when I joined WF, but one thing I've learned. Let your characters tell the story. They know it better than you. It's their world.

Frankly it's a relief from having to always write 'The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries today announced a new policy designed to facilitate the transition of small farms from subsistence level to sustainable enterprise.'

I have a bunch of half done novels that I abandoned because characters went off and did what they darn well pleased. The story got stuck. MY WIP is much better because the characters are mostly behaving themselves. The only surprise so far is that a man I created to be a possible love interest turned out to be gay. He'll still function in the story though. The difference between then and now is that I wrote a life story for the important characters before beginning the book. That way I could be sure of who I am dealing with in advance.

Why force the characters to do what they don't want to do? Turn them loose. Take off the chains. Then all you have to do is write down what they do and say. And as I say, reporting on what your characters are up to is a lot more fun than reporting on what some government official says he is up to.