As an agent I get to hear lots of different types of authors discuss their writing process and how they go about crafting a world, and especially the lives of characters.
One common refrain is that authors often go into a story with certain ideas about how the story is going to go, but all of a sudden, once characters really begin to come alive they take the story in a different direction altogether.
And this can really help out a story – while obviously the characters are only alive insasmuch as they’re in the author’s (living) head, this may be a way of expressing that the author is being true to the logic of a situation. The author has a sense of the character, and it’s important that the character’s actions are logically consistent.
At the same time, I always find it curious to hear authors so completely in thrall to their worlds and characters, and I start wondering, “Wait a second, who’s in charge here?”
Once the characters and worlds begin to take life it can be a danger if the author lets the characters take the story in a completely different direction. Willful characters can walk themselves straight out of a plot if the author loses touch with the story and instead just follows the characters’ whims.
My personal belief is that the story has to come first, but at the same time, I definitely think it’s important to listen to the inner logic of a character who is coming alive. Balance is everything.
How do you balance story while being true to a character?
Misty says
Hmmm. They come, they help, they bug out if I'm not listening. It's a volatile relationship. Sometimes they keep me up late, wake me in the night, pull me away from dinner. But if I neglect them, when the fingers hit the keyboard, they turn their backs like the paparazzi did to Clooney on one of his red carpets. So it is a marriage, I suppose.
sue laybourn says
Interesting post. A couple of weeks ago, I answered a writing challenge on AW. The challenge was to write a scene from a different POV from my usual (3rd person close, female MCs). I wrote 1st person POV, male. The two characters in the scene wouldn't leave me alone. Two days later I had a plot for them and now, two weeks further on, I'm 20k into a shiny new story. They're certainly not dictating the plot but they're taking up a lot of space in my head!
Liberty Speidel says
While I usually give my characters some 'leash room', so to speak, I'm usually pretty certain of where I'm heading or need to head with my stories. I'll allow them some leeway, but they have the understanding that if they get off on a tangent, I will eventually cut that tangent out.
In a way, writing with strong characters can be like herding cats, but as long as you maintain the fact that you, the writer, are in charge, I think they, the characters, will usually cooperate. And, together, you'll come up with a pretty darn good book. 🙂
Diana says
It's a balancing act. Characters often get pig-headed and want to hog the story all to themselves. It's up to me then, as the writer, to haul them back into thier pen and make them behave.
On the other hand, if a character doesn't tell me his/her name…the story goes nowhere. I can write about 500 words before I have to stop and say, "Hey…I am NOT going to write this entire story as a he-said, she-said. Tell me your name or you're done." I have document folders filled with such story non-starts because the character didn't take charge and come out fighting. 🙂
LilySea says
When I used to hear fiction writers talk like this I would roll my English-Lit-crit eyes. Those characters are MADE UP after all–by the writer. It seemed a dismissal of responsibility for what was written to claim the writer couldn't help it because the character insisted on blah blah blah.
Now I'm writing fiction and I am more sympathetic, because it really does FEEL like the characters are separate people from me, making their own decisions about their live and even having conversations with each other that I am merely recording.
I know better of course. What I do with this experience is think about what part of my psyche is expressing itself in this removed-from-me fictional realm. It's quite interesting.
But I have learned (rapidly–I've barely been writing fiction for half a year!) to audit these supposed conversations and doings of the characters for where they are taking the plot or the main theme of the story. If they are taking it afield, I may chalk up these things the characters seem to be telling me about themselves as useful backstory for me to create a better fictional world, without actually including the information in this particular book.
But I've also realized just how many stories I have here in my head and how many interesting vehicles (characters) my psyche has produced to tell those stories. So I've got about 6 books (a cycle, not a series) in my head to get all these stories told and all these characters fleshed out. If something feels important but doesn't fit THIS book, I may write it and stick it in the notes for a prequel or sequel or concurrent but separate book.
Pamela Gwyn Kripke says
I am always thinking about the story–where it is, where it is going. The characters, then, act as they would, within that story. So, they have certain freedom to be who they would be, yet they are confined, so to speak, to the plot.
Whitney says
Considering I attempt to put a bit of myself in every character (main or secondary, hero or villain), I think it's a bit of a see-saw.
Though, it's rather annoying when a character starts influencing my own habits when I'm trying to get in their head space. I do not need to steal that painting downstairs, thank you slightly-reformed thief character.
Noelle Nolan says
Some of my characters own me, but most I own. The ones that own me are the annoying ones. They have their own vision of how the story should go. They keep beckoning me to follow them, tempting me with sweet words of story lines, dialogue, and setting. Sometimes I will follow them, just to see if their "vision" will work. Sometimes it does and other times it doesn't.
I love my relationships with my characters no matter how much of a pain in the butt they may be.
Tina Lynn says
So far I've never had a character take me someplace I shouldn't go. It has always made the story better. At least for me.
Stephanie McGee says
I had this happen on the manuscript I'm currently revising. A character wanted to be older and not go the direction I had him going. Which turned out fine. I met him halfway on the age thing and gave the other part of the story to a character that is better suited to it. But I was definitely in danger of losing the story to my characters until I took the reins back. (So to speak.)
Maggie Desmond-O'Brien says
I've always had issues with *orchestrating* the story in the background, which tends to make my writing sound quite forced. So whenever characters take me in another direction, I try to listen. But I know some people who probably should have kept a tighter leash on them – I think it really depends on the writing style.
aspiring_x says
Wait! You mean my characters aren't real people? Then who do those voices belong to?
JLC says
I can't say that my characters have ever led me away from the plot, but I love it when they suddenly reveal a surprise. I don't mind taking a back seat while the character drives, as long as I can give them some direction from there.
Krista says
Generally, I plot out 4-5 main points or events for my story. Once the groove hits, when the characters are showing me what to do, I hold the reins only by saying, "I'll let you go, but get me to that next point." And I love it when they do. I love it when they blow me away with how they get there.
Scott says
I read a quote once and sadly I can't remember who said it. It went: "Don't bully your characters or they'll fix you for good". The meaning being, if you bend things too much to suit your plot, your story will fall apart.
I have to think a character walking out is a definitely sign your plot is weak, or too nebulous, or perhaps not about what you think it's about. If you're creating characters with no discipline, you may still be sorting issues of theme and subject in your head.
Balance is indeed necessary, but if you continue to have the same problems, your plot may not be saying enough. In fact, you may be finding your real story in character, which for novels of most ilk, is a damn good place to start.
Lisa Desrochers says
I write by the seat of my pants and my characters are totally in charge. I start with a character or two and a situation and it goes from there. My characters often take the story places I'm not altogether comfortable with, but that's the story they need to tell.
I was a little worried about signing a 3-book deal for this reason. It's hard to know where a series is going with no outline. I've finished the sequel and it appears that 3 books is going to be about right, so I my characters seem to be behaving for the moment. =)
Jenny says
I find that when characters are fighting me it's actually the story telling me that there is conflict opportunity in that scene–if I as the author want the story to go a certain way, but I have a character who won't cooperate because his/her own personality won't roll with the punches, I have to negotiate with that character by creating a situation or two wherein the character *is* convinced. Whenever a character 'comes to life' is when the story is working. Whenever they're 'fighting', it's an opportunity for the writer to actually show the story.
We can take the recent show of Lost **I apologize if anyone hasn't seen it yet–go see it** as an example: The mysterious Jacob (in our example 'the writer') needs Hurley and Jack (the characters)to go to a certain spot.
Hurley's easy, he just says okay when Jacob says to go. Jack is not that easy–he's a fighting character. However, Jacob knows just the trigger that will make Jack go and gives it to him. The result: the plot moves forward, with an interesting bit of internal conflict added in.
Our job as the writer is to know what triggers our characters to do what they need to do in order to move the story forward. Hopefully with a minimum of navel gazing as we work it out….
Mira says
Really interesting topic, Nathan!
I think for me – the character gets the last word. If I'm trying to make the character do something, and the character doesn't want to do it, there's a problem with my plot. If I force it, it won't ring true.
Now, there have been a few times I've re-written characters so they will match the plot, but that's risky – you can water the power of a character down that way.
But again, are you writing a powerful story or trying to capture character? Or both?
Maybe for some writers the story is more important, and for others the character is. Maybe it depends on the writer and where their voice comes out most clearly….
I don't know the answer to this. I'm just thinking out loud. It's interesting to think about…
Ink says
I find it very difficult to separate the two. That is, story and character are integrally entwined. I mean, the character's existence is contingent upon the story. The existence of the story is the existence of the character. The story breeds the characters and the characters breed the story. A bit chicken and egg, at least for me.
Neither exist outside the other. I know some people have characters that come to them outside the story, that talk to them in the shower, chat about things going on in the writer's life… but not for me. The characters exist very particularly in a specific context: the story.
I know a lot of writers like to do exercises of putting their characters in new situations (outside their story) to help the writer learn them, to help find the voice. For me (and I mean this very subjectively) this is dangerous as there's a certain warp to the character. They're bent a little askew. Much of what we are as human beings is a summation of our experiences and our reactions to these experiences. If my characters exist somehow outside the story they are changing, evolving away from the story and in a way that doesn't serve the story.
So for me, in a sense, the story and the characters are one and the same, and the characters own (or are owned by) me no more and no less than the story itself. That is, they're shaped by me in a whirl of conscious choice and subconscious influence. I like to think I own both those processes, even if I never fully understand the latter of the two. But perhaps that is as it should be.
Taymalin says
If my characters are staging a revolt, it's time for me to take a long hard look at the plot I'm trying to push on them. More often than not, it's flawed.
I think that my characters are representations of, maybe even gateways to my subconscious, thus they can notice things I don't. They don't fight me without good reason, so I listen.
J. Koyanagi says
I like to have a decent outline when I write, so if a character takes the story in a direction I wasn't anticipating, then I'll probably pause and re-work the outline accordingly. I think of it as me looking out for my characters so they don't fall into any unseen plot holes.
Steve Masover says
I've had characters show up out of nowhere and give a plot depth. I've had characters amble off into the weeds because I needed to find out what they were like 'off camera.' The trick, I suppose, is to recognize the difference. The first sort of visit stays in the manuscript. The second gets relegated to the deep-background files.
Alicia A says
For me it depends on was inspires me first, a plot idea or a unique character.
My first WIP began with a unique plot that I developed characters to live out. After I finished the story though, the thrill was over and it got stalled in the rewrite/revision process.
Meanwhile, a great character inspired me to start WIP #2. The first draft is coming along much slower because I'm not sure how the story will unfold but the voice is solid.
At this point, I can't say which process I prefer. Whatever gets the best end product I guess.
Debra Moolenaar says
My characters do often try to take the upper hand (the stronger ones) and I let them as long as I can make some sense of the plot. I value the characters' abilities to see more depth in their own situations than I ever do while telling the story about them that I'd thought needed to be told. Isn't it just the same when you meet someone for the first time? By the end of 10 minutes you've crafted an image of them (and often their 'life story') only to find out 10 days later they are a completely different kettle of fish.
Anonymous says
I'm definitely in the "logic" camp. I re-write heavily, so that frequently I'm adjusting something that happened to a character before some other part of the plot. My characters don't have "personalities," exactly, but they do have ways of reasoning and strings of emotional continuity that I pay a lot of attention to maintaining. I suppose if we go with the conceit that they're self-willed, sure, they can "want" to go off in another direction. But I hold all the carrots and all the sticks; it's always in their interest to get back to the plot, or at least they think it is.
Zee
Donna Alward says
Characters frequently surprise me, and I love that part because I feel it adds freshness and depth. I think I really know them and then wham…something comes out that just makes perfect sense. It is never a 180 in character, though. It's always true to who they are, and I'm comfortable to let them lead. It's MY job to take the parts of that character and reveal what needs to be revealed to the reader by crafting the story.
Several books ago my heroine wanted to do something. I hadn't planned on it going that way and I fought it. In the end I thought fine, I'll write it her way and if it doesn't work there's always the delete key. It turned out to be a major turning point for the story and really carried the conflict.
I'm in the driver's seat, but I'm open to taking direction. 🙂
Thermocline says
I thought the whole concept of characters taking a story in a different direction was just plain odd when I first heard about it. I mean … really? They took over? But then I started writing and it happened to me too. A window opened in my mind. Or my MC opened it. Now, I’m not sure who did it.
Vicky says
I'm constantly surprised by the things my characters say. 🙂
Designs by JoLea says
My characters tend to take on a life of their own as I write, which I believe is what lends the story of their lives credibility.
I do make sure they reach certain climax points in my story, but they have to tell the story in a way that makes sense to them.
The only time I get into trouble is when I start talking about them like they are real people, to real people.
E. Elle says
I've always considered myself a vessel for my characters to tell their stories. Sometimes, though, I have to take hold of the reins to keep the story on track. I can't be trying to tell three novel-length stories in 500 pages; it just doesn't work. It seems we have something of a love/hate relationship but we all are working towards the greater good of the story itself.
James says
Characters and Story are interlinked for me. Not necessarily the same, but infinitely attached.
A character's actions are part of the story, and if the character needs something in particular, the story's going to change to fit that something. And if I need the story to go in a definite direction, the character has to accommodate it. And then to twist again, if a character is being bent in an untrue way, the story needs to change.
It's a mobius strip of a question. See?
To go beyond that, I feel that writing a story is channeling. When writing or editing, I'm finding the form in which it exists already. Any deviation from that form comes out wrong, feels off, or in general has to be cut. The character/story connection has already figured itself out; I'm just trying to understand and capture it.
Harley D. Palmer says
If my character wants to go off plot, I let them! That doesn't necessarily mean its in the story. It usually takes the form of some oddball conversation between me and my character! I am going to start compiling them and putting them on my website actually, because it can be pretty funny! (I hold true to the quote "Writing is an acceptable form of schizophrenia".)
Other times it's just a scene that is great and true to the character, but not relevant to the plot of the story. That goes into the "deleted scenes" folder. I might started posting those up too…..
Katie says
Nope. Never had this problem. I am a control.freak.
Madison L. Edgar says
That's a toughy! The first time I noticed my MC changing the story was when he did something totally IN character, but OUT of context. I was like, whoa, wait a second. I tried telling this to my boyfriend (who doesn't know a thing about writing) and he thought I was psycho. Personally, I think the story's better off when the character doesn't sacrifice himself for the sake of the story. I like to let the characters stay in control and if the story changes because of it, so be it!
Jamie says
This is a very interesting question looking forward to reading the comments!!
Kate says
Am halfway through a crucial scene in WIP even now for this very reason. Several possible outcomes, not sure which one to choose because of how said outcomes will define characters.
I know what I WANT to happen, but I'm afraid it weakens my MC and dilutes my villain. Don't want that. Alternative makes me want to fist bump MC and sucker punch villain, but am afraid it's too much drama.
I know who I want my main character to be. And while solution A is more satisfying for me as writer, it's inconsistent with who she is at this point in the story. Therefore, solution B.
I hope you're still in control when you're aware of the options and you make choices to create the characters you want.
Aaron Pogue says
When I'm warning new writers about this phenomenon, I always compare it to parenting teenagers. Because, yeah, I think it's not only a good thing, but a necessary thing for characters to come alive and start acting independently.
That said, as the writer, you've got an obligation to make sure that decision-making takes them where they need to go. You've got to foster it, but also to guide it. It's a delicate balance, but when you get it right, you get incredible characters.
Holly Bodger says
Ooo, the Frankenstein debate! Like others, I control my characters up to a certain point, but when they take on active personalities in my story, changing them feels like murder. But I suppose that's why they tell us to kill our darlings…before they kill us first!
Raval911 says
Ultimately, writing is a dialogue: the characters give input, the story arc gives its own input, the author mediates between the various factors…pulls harmony out of the dissonance, has veto power, etc. But yes, ultimately, the story usually wins the day.
Mia says
Pffft, do I own my characters? As if they'd let me….but I don't think I compromise so much between plot and characters because it's a dynamic relationship. Sure arguments happen, but at the end of the day I'm the one doing all the hard work so I usually win…It also depends how strong they are, my current Main Character could yell the antlers off a stag if she needed to so she gets listened to quite a bit.
On the other hand, I totally agree with the sentiment that if a tale has no voice, I isolate it and leave it to think about what it has done wrong in a dark corner of my hard-drive. If a character won't tell me what happened, I see no reason to write it.
And so I have to finish by agreeing that the best characters really are the ones that unexpectedly wander off scene when you're right in the middle of getting them to do something. Often they'll walk away and inadvertently stumble into an even better plot than you had originally planned. :~)
NickerNotes says
Sometimes characters are compliant, sometimes not. I have a couple I've tried to kill off or make them traitors, but they refused. Sometimes, I am writing dialog, I am astounded by what they say. I always think, "Wow! I never knew that about you." I think it makes them more robust. Dick and Jane always did exactly as they were told. They were interchangeable, flat and boring. I wish Jane had said, just once, "No, Dick, I do not want to run today. I will climb that tree instead."
Reesha says
That's a good piont. Balance is very important.
I usually attempt to achieve balance by looking at character motivation, looking at where it doesn't fit in with the plot, and then creating a reason why the character would be motivated to fit into the plot in such a way.
This can range anywhere to suddenly creating a girlfriend or boyfriend for the character, killing off someone the character cares about, getting them fired, getting them hired, etc.
Usually by the third draft, the balance has worked itself out and I no longer have to fight with my characters to get them to adhere to the plot.
John M. Baron says
My characters run the show, but they are most definitely my characters, and we get along pretty well. I ask nicely if they'll go in the general direction I'm expecting, and they almost always say yes, but often not quite the way I'd expected.
I've always wondered how this correlates with plotter/pantser tendencies in the author. I'm definitely on the pantser side (though I hate that term!).
JL Hartfield says
I like to think of it as a board of directors. You sit down with your characters and they tell you what needs to happen, but ultimately, you have the final say. If you let the characters take over, eventually you'll get booted out for not doing your job and the whole thing will collapse.
Linda Godfrey says
As in the old Outer Limits show, I control the vertical! I control the horizontal! And yet the characters still fiddle with the dial at times. If it improves the picture, I let them.
Stina Kanaris says
I have been guilty of letting my characters take over, but have learned to "tame" them.
Just like LilySea, sometimes I will write down notes and actions that I would love to have them do or say, but just wouldn't work in the direction of THIS particular story. Then, I will go back to them later for another book.
Lyn Miller-Lachmann says
My characters have to come alive for the story to come alive. But I still own them because I have the power to crush their bodies and spirits and ultimately kill them if it suits my vision for the story. However, they have the power to haunt me, day and night, not only with how far I'll go to push them into conflicts, danger, and despair, but also with whether it's all worth it in the end, if the story rises to the level that justifies their struggles. If I fail as a writer, they remain alive to taunt me. For more than 20 years in the case of three characters.
Ian Wood says
I'm currently working on a project written in the first person. Every time the work becomes a slog, it's because I've lost track of the character's voice, and am writing more as *myself* than the character. It's been an interesting process, almost an acting job. Because the narrative is so highly dependent upon a unique voice, the entire thing fails if I don't get it absolutely correct. There are other characters in the story, but because they're interpreted through the prism of the narrator's perception, I have a bit more leeway with them. They've got certain things they're supposed to do to meet the demands of the story, but *how* they go about doing those things is much more of a discovery process.
That said: I've got a story that needs telling. If I've created a character that absolutely can't do what needs to be done because it wouldn't be consistent with the character's identity, then I give that job to a character that can. Again, the acting metaphor. My characters can go off and be whoever they want to be, but I've hired them for a certain role and if they can't get the job done they can go wait tables until a role opens up in a short story or something…
ajcastle says
Usually I have a plot sketched out (in my head–I can't outline to save my life), and then I put characters into it and let them lead me through it. I've tried 'forcing' characters to do certain things, only to have them rear up and refuse to let me move on until I 'correct' how I've wronged them. It is a relationship, and the characters get very vocal if you try to force something on them that isn't right. In a way, it kind of makes us authors sound a bit crazy…haha.
DG says
@ Scott – I agree with you.
Nathan: great topic but I gotta tell you, I read through the comments and now I'm a bit freaked out.
Maybe I'm not as tortured by my characters as some, but I believe story is king and the characters are there to make the story work well.
I guess if a character trait helps me to improve the story I'll of course use it.