The other day I was writing when my roommate asked me to help her move something. I did, and my mind drifted to the scene I was working on. As we finished, I let out a GAH and said, "My characters are trying to skip school and they're not supposed to! I don't know what they're doing!"
To which, understandably, my roommate responded, "Well, can't you just make them not skip?"
"But... but they want to! They're about to leave and they weren't supposed to. They're just supposed to eat lunch. I don't know if I can get them to stay. I probably sound crazy."
To which, understandably, my roommate responded, "Yeah, you really do." Note: she also smiled and laughed and is thankfully supportive of the crazy writer mind.
But when I sat back down at my computer, just as I was about to go along with my characters' little scheme to cut class on me, I realized they couldn't. Really couldn't.
A. It wasn't in line with their characters, though the circumstances would have still made the blip in their character understandable and allowable.
So, most importantly, B. Cutting class was an act in complete contrast to one of the character's main motivations. He'd never do it, even if he wanted to. Even if he could.
I was then able to scold my characters for trying such a sneaky thing and they behaved by eating their lunches and going back to class.
I share this story for two reasons. First, it's hard to explain to the non-writerly types in my life how there are so many decisions in my writing I don't actively make (in the first draft, anyway), and I think that's one of the coolest parts about it. I have this map for my characters in my mind, and there are specific stops I know they are going to make, but I don't necessarily know which routes they are going to choose along the way.
I've discovered that when I get most excited about my work in progress and really start cranking out pages is when I have enough of the plot figured out that I can't wait to figure out how the characters are going to reach each turn and how it will affect them in ways I haven't considered yet. When I start seeing how all the pieces will fall together, that's when I go on a writing frenzy because I want to see the finished product.
Second, as easy as it sometimes is to let our characters start doing crazy things without our permission and take control of their own story, as the master of their lives, it's our job to second guess them. We have to always be aware of their overriding motivation and drive so that we can keep them in line.
Do you ever have wayward characters? Do you also find that you aren't actively making all of your first draft decisions?
Dad-o-Mite Giveaway Hop
1 day ago
2 comments:
Funny, but this fits with the baseball pitch trivia in the later post. So many things can happen to characters once you get the set up for them in place.
My characters are always "up to" something distracting. Sometimes I can put them back in line. But other times, I have to just go with the flow (in a blank word doc so they don't totally screw with me ployt), see where it ends, and then decide what to do with the info.
A lot of times now, these end up on a blogfest or in a contest. Especially the scenes where I'm writing fromanother character's POV.
My trilogy is written exclusively in 3rd limited from my MC. So a lot of interesting action and perspectives get left out. I turn my characters misbehavior into a writing excercise - explore the different perspectives or outcomes for a specific scene in an alternative way. This usually helps me understand what the point of my scene is, and how I can effectively integrate THEIR needs into my plot concepts.
I know, weird to compromise with your characters. But I don't feel the time is wasted because I usually get a deeper understanding of what I'm trying to accomplish.
(Shhh, don't tell my characters, but I think their misbehavior is really my muse telling me I'm off kilter, not understanding myself what I'm trying to write.)
Having a non-writer tell you how to write your novel is like having someone with not kids tell you how to appropriately discipline a teenager for missing curfew - or any of the thousands of minor infractions they'll perpetrate.
Just nod and agree and go back to your writing, or maybe blog about it and have lots of understanding comments :) We all know what you're going through, we've been there ourselves. But what works for one author may not work for another.
Yep, its just like parenting, or throwing a baseball. There's the expected trajectory, and the actual outcome. But its a great journey!
........dhole
Ohhh I like the idea of using their misbehavior as a writing exercise, and the parenting metaphor.
And that's neat how you write the other point of views to get a better idea of the scene - I think it's easy to get so in the mind of the MC and then forget about the motivations and true personality of the minor characters, but that's a good way to avoid that. I'll have to try it sometime!
Thanks for the comment, lots of insight!
Post a Comment