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When the introduction of a new character changes your entire story.
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Richard wrote: "What happens when you have your story all lined up, then a new character appears in your head and forces you to change not just the plot, but the whole genre of your book? Read how this happened to..."Hello Richard,
When I write I begin with a basic concept, a few characters and turn it over to my imagination. I'm not exactly sure what happens after that. It's like it all takes place in a back room. The results are these movie clips that have been prepared for me. I show the reader what my imagination shows me and I get surprised by a characters dialog or actions sometimes. The drug lord was having a grand party. One of the call girls working the party started flirting with him. Hey, that was off script, so to speak, but I let her go on. Hell, she seduced him. She didn't change the basic flow of the story, but she added a major element to it and it was a brilliant addition. I've killed some very good characters, usually by design, but not always. Sometimes it's demanded by my imagination. The result of me resisting is a good case of writer's block. When I give in to the demands or go back and fix whatever sin I've committed against its master plan the creative flow returns.
Clearly I've been enslaved by some invisible alien intelligence and must follow orders. It's holding a gun to my head. It's either my fingers or my brains on the keyboard.
ScaryBob
Though I always know what the point of my story is, I don't generally know until I've written it how I'm going to be telling the story I have in mind. Because of this, new characters introducing themselves don't cause problems.As for the genre thing: I only decide on the genre once the story is written and I know where it fits best. The only certain thing for my stories when it comes to the genre is that they'll be aimed at children; if you haven't decided on a genre before you start, it can't change.
I think you need to let the story tell itself, and let any characters who feel they should be in the story become a part of it. Unless doing so makes the story more complicated and confusing than it needs to be, of course.
My own writing methods vary greatly from what all of you have described. I do not allow surprises when I'm writing. I use lots of imagination, but prefer to lay out my characters in detail, generate a timeline, draw out my scenes, and outline the plot from start to finish. I determine the genre, point-of-view and pace I will use. When everything is in place - then I start the writing. It's very disciplined but very effective in my opinion and can produce high quality work.Art is similar in that even the "abstract" artist needs to plan his work. A very famous artist told me he sometimes takes months to plan a painting. Once he starts to paint, it is often complete within a few hours.
There's no right or wrong way to do it; different ways work for different people.
Actualy, that happened to me just once. I made up character that replaced another one in his actions and kinda gave hard time to my main character.Again.
But usually when I come up with new characters, I usually find a way to fit them in regardless of whether they are really needed or not.
Only if I think that he/she/it is too stereotypical.
Then I throw him/her/it away.
During the writing of Surviving the Fog-Kathy's Recollections, I wanted to have a scene in which Kathy describes a boy begging his dead family to retrieve him from camp. The scene was supposed to be about Kathy, but Douglas stole the scene and became a major character.
Writing anything is a process. It's ok for characters to come to life in ways we might not have imagined before. That might mean some other adjustments are needed, but that's just the world of writing.
C. When I write I begin with a basic concept, a few characters and turn it over to my imagination. I'm not exactly sure what happens after that. It's like it all takes place in a back room. The results are these movie clips that have been prepared for me. I show the reader what my imagination shows me and I get surprised by a characters dialog or actions sometimes. /i>This is very similar to what it's like for me!
When I wrote Time Tells, I did the timeline thing, like Christine, and I really wanted the security of knowing where everything was going. But as characters developed and became more complex, I found that more and more secrets emerged, in ways I hadn't envisaged at the outset. For me that was a good thing, retrospectively, as it kept me guessing as much as I wanted the reader to do, but at the time it was rather scary, because there was a loss of control and I had to trust my instincts. But I agree, different methods work for different people. And just as in life some people have very precise 'goals' and 'career plans', others like me seem to thrive on uncertainty. But as I embark on my next novel, I feel that familiar panic of not knowing quite where it's all going to end up.
Stan wrote: "During the writing of Surviving the Fog-Kathy's Recollections, I wanted to have a scene in which Kathy describes a boy begging his dead family to retrieve him from camp. The scene was supposed to ..."Stan, I endured a bad incident involving a neighbor and wanted to "get back at him" so I invented a female character with a name similar to his and put her in a position where she had to die a horrible death. To my amazement, her presence caused a major plot twist and I'll need her in the sequel. I let her survive, but she did suffer terribly. I've since forgiven the nasty neighbor, though I doubt we'll ever be friends.
Judy wrote: "Stan wrote: "During the writing of Surviving the Fog-Kathy's Recollections, I wanted to have a scene in which Kathy describes a boy begging his dead family to retrieve him from camp. The scene was..."Great way to handle it!
Here is the link: http://nicholasrossis.me/2014/04/21/s...
Richard Brawer
ww.silklegacy.com