Writing the Novel
And Finishing Already! (Or scrapping and following where characters lead.)
What do you do when your characters take the story in a TOTALLY different direction than you first envisioned?
I have been writing my debut fiction novel for just over a year. I have grappled with its content/theme/plot for most of that time.
I had an overall idea of the plot line and how I wanted it to play out, and at each and every writing session, the story veers away from my original vision.
This story doesn’t want to be what I thought it wanted to be. I recently had a fellow author take a look at *only* page 1 and give me first impression thoughts. I gave no context or other information. Just page 1.
This was a very telling exercise because it shows strengths and weaknesses in my introduction. First (yay!), she likes my writing. She likes my style, my dialogue, and my overall premise (as she understood it).
The premise she saw was vastly different than the story as it exists on pages 2 - 40, so that makes me say “hmmmmmm.”
In a way, it was freeing. I am not STUCK in forcing the story to become what I first intended. As writers, we don’t have to put ourselves in a straitjacket that keeps us from stretching the idea and morphing it into a more robust or different story. We don’t have to strong-arm the project.
I have had plot holes and authenticity issues that I couldn’t get around. Great sinkhole chasms have warned me of a final story splatted in slivered bits way down there in the dark. Used for birdcage liner. Wadded up as kindling for campfires.
Like an old mule digging in his hooves and refusing to move forward across a deep rushing river, my characters have been refusing to move. They have been on strike.
What do you do when you have characters on strike?
Give in to demands, of course!
So, back to the plot drawing board. New, fresh murder mystery theme spooling now. Do I have the mettle to execute a cosy mystery? We are soon to find out…stay tuned.
"It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does."
~William Faulkner
If you are a writer, don’t despair. Stay on the trail. Keep pushing through. Let your characters speak to you, and listen to what they are saying. Don’t force the story or it will appear forced. Take a deep breath, and hang on.
Do you have this problem/experience? What do you do when your writing takes over and doesn’t want to toe the line? Let me know in the comments.
Hi Shonda. I don't write fiction, but I find even my essays develop a mind of their own. Sometimes I can see where the story is taking me; sometimes I can't, and I need another person's expert point of view to help me.