Those Pesky Characters
Oh, those pesky little characters. You think you know them, and then they come up with this whole backstory you’ve never even imagined.
Here is where some of the magic of writing is for me. I do plot, but it’s on a very basic and general level. Point A to Point B with several steps along the way. I envision my characters, have an idea of their background and attitudes, beliefs and actions.
Last night, I was writing about one of these characters. I’d been writing about him for several chapters now, and I thought I had him all figured out. Until, bam. He came up with this whole extra dimension out of nowhere. Something I hadn’t planned on being part of his character. And it was awesome! Perfect, really. It gave him depth and an explanation for some of his questionable actions. It was exciting to see it unfold.
This also isn’t the only character or the first time this has happened in my current WIP. My pesky characters just keep on coming out with new and improved developments. One of my main characters didn’t even exist until he popped up in the second chapter. Hello. Who is this person appearing in my story? This led to a whole new and pretty major subplot. Which led to another character. Which led to another subplot. My story has become more rich, interesting and developed because of the tendency my characters have of morphing.
I love to plot, but there’s only so much I can creatively do in listing steps and scenes in my trusty notebook. It’s why I’m glad I choose to keep chugging along to get the rough draft of the story written instead of editing as I go. I never would have foreseen some of these changes to the story or characters.
It also makes me wonder what else my characters have up their sleeves before this story is completely written.
Filed under: GotS, characters, drafts, plotting, writing
