Universal Truths for Writers part 5 of 7
You must learn to let go, trust your characters.
Arguably one of the greatest speculative fiction writers of all time, Ray Bradbury, said -"First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!"
While this can be easier said than done, and is often times frustrating it is vital that you trust in your characters and the process. I can't count how many times I had a predetermined plot point that I wanted my characters to go down only to find them resisting me the whole way.
What I didn't realize at the time was my characters were trying to tell me something, something important. They were telling me that this wasn't who they were, that this isn't a direction they would go in. In order to be true to them, and the personalities that they've developed I had to let go. I had to follow them where they would lead me.
This can be scary, not knowing where your story is going, but it can also be very liberating. By trusting in the process, and knowing that as long as my characters were acting true to themselves it made for a much richer and authentic story. It also came with the added bonus of wonder and surprise.
Since I only had a vague idea what was going to happen next it allowed me the opportunity to be surprised with what actually occurred. This makes writing so much more fun, because if you are sitting on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next, what do you think your readers will be doing?
I hope you find this helpful, and as always, thank you for taking the time to read it.
Arguably one of the greatest speculative fiction writers of all time, Ray Bradbury, said -"First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!"
While this can be easier said than done, and is often times frustrating it is vital that you trust in your characters and the process. I can't count how many times I had a predetermined plot point that I wanted my characters to go down only to find them resisting me the whole way.
What I didn't realize at the time was my characters were trying to tell me something, something important. They were telling me that this wasn't who they were, that this isn't a direction they would go in. In order to be true to them, and the personalities that they've developed I had to let go. I had to follow them where they would lead me.
This can be scary, not knowing where your story is going, but it can also be very liberating. By trusting in the process, and knowing that as long as my characters were acting true to themselves it made for a much richer and authentic story. It also came with the added bonus of wonder and surprise.
Since I only had a vague idea what was going to happen next it allowed me the opportunity to be surprised with what actually occurred. This makes writing so much more fun, because if you are sitting on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next, what do you think your readers will be doing?
I hope you find this helpful, and as always, thank you for taking the time to read it.
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