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General fretting and anxieties:

I'm struggling to get to the end of my first crack at novel writing. My problem has been that I go into a chapter with only a general idea of the waypoints that I want to hit, but everything else that happens seems to be dictated by the characters... Sounds daft, but I'm not completely in control of them — someone may say or do something in response to a situation, and I hadn't seen it coming or planned it.

The problem with this is, I now have an anomaly or a flag that's been raised and will need to be addressed later on.

Now, I could go back and just erase that incident, but I feel it would make my characters 'passengers' in the story rather than protagonists. And it's also worked out in each instance to add complexity and twists to the story that I hadn't initially planned for, and I think the book's much more interesting for it.

BUT.... I'm getting to the last couple of chapters now and what had been a fairly straightforward climactic scene has now become fractured into several small climaxes and a much weirder load of head-spinning, multiple timelines gobbledygook, that I'm REALLY worried is going to end the book in confusion... All because of what one character said at a significant moment, and which I hadn't planned for.

I know they say 'follow the accident', but I'm feeling a bit despondent at this point... Have I derailed my entire story for the sake of not reigning in my characters? Is this a common newbie mistake? Or, if you're a novelist, has this approach ever worked out fine for you?

DaveMania 6 May 22
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8 comments

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0

Have you updated the outline of the story? Doing so will give you guidance.

JacarC Level 8 May 24, 2018
0

How's the outline coming?

I use spreadsheets for outlines, time lines, character flow relationships, appearance,...

Spreadsheets are the best writing tool.

JacarC Level 8 May 22, 2018

Well there's another thing.... When I launched into it, I had no outline, just a story I wanted to tell. So I sat down and created the set-up, writing whatever happened as it occurred to me.

Later the thing turned into a friggin' complicated web of misdirection as the characters were being deceived... They think they're following one person's guidance, but really it's another person, who's also deceiving his companion... PLUS they're all being played by a third person. But the reader only finds out any of this as the characters do, so I had to construct an outline for each character that went: What They Think; What The Reader Thinks; But What's Really Going On....

I also had to keep track of the key reveals and set-ups in the story and check them off with a page number once they were met.

It got complicated fast.

1

We writers are the only people who like to constantly paint ourselves into corners. Especially when we are in cylindrical rooms. The trick is to see it as a challenge. Perspective helps. Take a step back and look at the accident from a bird's eye view, instead of under a microscope. Ask yourself, "if I leave it this way, how will it effect the rest of the story?" Sometimes, especially when all you have is a vague idea about where the story is going, it actually helps to complete the story. Accidents are great in the fact that they allow you to surprise yourself. And, worst case scenario, you don't like it and have to tweak or rewrite a chapter. Personally, I love painting myself into corners and then thinking my way out of them. In what I write, that is. In real life, not so much... lol.

Kafirah Level 8 May 22, 2018

Heh — my day job is a bus driver... I get tons of time to think, think, think about the latest corner I've got myself into. Usually what happens is I give up on it for a few days then my subconscious turns up with the solution when I'm least expecting it... And it's often a punch between the eyes — a moment of "OF COURSE! THAT'S WHY WHATS-HIS-FACE DID/SAID THAT! IT ALL MAKES SENSE!" Then I'm on a buzz for the rest of the week.

@DaveMania I'm the same way! Just don't my job, thinking about nothing or listening to music, and BOOM! There it is. Understanding of a one of my characters motivations that not even I knew before... It's weird! Honestly, out feels like this is what a Schizophrenia episode must feel like to sane people. Fictional characters whispering their secrets to us... but not like hearing voices at all. Really weird. But it makes so much sense when it solves a problem I was having... Especially when a character does something out of character, but I just can't bring myself to change what I wrote that they did... it's like watching a movie, and I'm writing the novelization after the fact... lol. Delving into their motivations for strange reactions or writing a flashback to a scene that was never filmed, you know?

3

Your characters may be writing themselves but you have the final veto, see where they take you and change it later if you want to.

Surfpirate Level 9 May 22, 2018
3

My guiding principle is this - I don't write my characters, I simply take dictation.

The best moments of my writing has been when I have been laughing out loud - I shit you not - that my characters do things I don't expect. Embrace it. It has worked out for me. For the princely sum of $2.99 you can download my novels - and, man, they went in ways I did not expect.

So my advice is not only don't sweat it; actually use it. Because you can't make characters do something that they would not do. It's an organic process.

3

My feeling is - follow your characters. My novel 'The ladies' Suicide Club' didn't turn out at all as I had originally planned. My characters took on a life of their own and I had the same experience as you - they seemed to want to create their own stories. Write whatever happens. You can go back and rewrite when you have the first draft done. You may find you want to change a lot or you may find you like it the way it is. Keep going!

CeliaVL Level 7 May 22, 2018

Oooooh! I must check your novel out.

My first is Ultra vires, on Amazon.

@Palindromeman I'll go and have a look at yours!

5

This what first and second drafts are for, don't hold yourself back, let it all out and go where it will, you might find stuff you write now for this book that has to be edited out, will be perfect for a story ten years down the line.

Exactly this.

4

Sometimes, one has to rewrite, if the problem will require too much stretching of credulity, but keep a copy, because there are two possibilities. Either remove the events leading up to the comment, and make slight adjustments, or keep the comment and do a major change of later events. Sometimes, this can lead to the plot of a second book. I tend to read what I have written, then go to bed. When i wake up, after a snooze, I often have a brainwave.
However, I have never published a full length story myself. I ran a publishing business and wrote short stories and articles, etc. I do help a published author dream up plots and situations, and then edit her work.

Petter Level 9 May 22, 2018

I'll edit as I write; but there are scenes and chapters that I simply back up because I never know if I am going to need them.

@Palindromeman exactly.

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