say?

rosskinnaird 2024-01-02 12:56:21 UTC #1

This started to happen sporadically, at the beginning of my writing journey.
Now, every so often I need to have a virtual meeting with my MCs who keep changing the plotline to address the fact they belong to me, not the other way around. I know, it's like being nuts! lol

Does this happen to you? When, where, why?
Share your story and the best example when your MCs changed the course of your story (for the good or for the bad - it doesn't matter) against your will!

My troublemaker is Aura, an Aqualymph who was supposed to be a side character and managed to infiltrate every plotline to a stage where she has become one of the main heroes!

> 'Why do you speak of protection and allies?' Aura surged from the crowd, her hands clenched, her face showing clear dissent. 'We are bound to the waters. We made a promise to Time we would never leave our home and our kingdom. Our place is here, in between Runae and what lies over the node!'

Leyelle 2024-01-02 14:41:12 UTC #2

My character Alicia did it in my chapter "Black Bile." Her bff Katatr was kind of ghosting her, but then she finds out he's in the hospital. She was supposed to be kind of shattered/weak on the verge of a meltdown, and she started that way, but then quickly became angry instead, that he didn't tell her he was hospitalized. Then when she went to see him, she was supposed to, again, be devastated, and practically frozen to learn that there was a good chance he would be paralyzed from the waist down, instead she went over to him and comforted him, which was totally not how the scene was originally planned.

Kuma 2024-01-02 15:06:18 UTC #3

No... because I'm writing them and I planned the story.

2DLenzy 2024-01-02 15:22:34 UTC #4

This is an interesting topic!

I have to say, yes. I'll write a couple lines of dialogue before working on an episode, and then for some reason, my MCs change what they say when I finally give them speech bubbles. And sometimes do something unexpected/funny. Least that's my interpretation.

Frankly, as the true Mother Hen of my universe, Friar totally disregards what I'm trying to tell him, to stop blindly following and start leading. My upcoming Saturday episode was not set in stone, but it sort of evolved by itself from a stray idea that hit me last summer. Never intended to put through my characters through what you're about to see, but they sort of fit their roles and let the story go in an interesting tangent that promotes character growth, or let's them shine for a bit.

Suppose that's the opposite of what you've asked, but I know my characters too darn well to let them take over my plots so easily. The only one that I worry about is Bucky, for he is a free-er spirit than the rest. But we'll see how that goes. It's still a little early, but I feel the spotlight will be hitting him more and more.

If you want some vague advice, try to flesh out your characters/predict how they'll react in situations, planned and unplanned. It requires A LOT of thinking ahead and imagination(been doing it for a few years even though the main plot points took only 6 months to write). But it helps to know every possible action/reaction of your MCs so as to not write the story too far off course (and if it does go a little astray, find ways to work in reactions/events that'll return your chars to their previous state, or close. Unless you hit like a climatic/big-change event that changes your MCs permanently. I know it's common good storytelling practice to change your characters through plot but not everything needs to change, and not so quickly especially if your story unfolds a little slowly like mine does. Friar will still be his arrogant self, despite what he's about to go through, but it'll only set him up for bigger things to come later down the line...

On a related note, put a training leash on those MCs of yours, lol!

Edit: I make a comic...just realized this was in writing category...oops...

braincell4rent 2024-01-02 15:25:11 UTC #5

Not always. But, sporadically, there´s always someone who won´t say or act how they should... And the thing is, it´s probably better this way. Because if they don´t act as planned, that means something was wrong with my planning in the first place. So it can only change for the better.

BoomerZ 2024-01-02 15:49:44 UTC #6

They aren't real. You control them 100% and they do what you make them do. This thing where you pretend that characters have lives of their own is just weird. You tell a story, you write how those characters interact with the story, and unless you write it down it doesn't happen. Writers really need to stop putting stuff in their trade that makes this process magical. you are telling a story, that is it.

NickRowler 2024-01-02 16:37:27 UTC #7

I don't think my characters have a mind of their own. I do however feel like I get emotionally invest in them and their characterizations shift over time.

I have a character who started out as being a jerk who tormented people. But the more I connected with him, the nicer he became. And now he is just a nice dad.

rosskinnaird 2024-01-02 16:51:17 UTC #8

Edit: I make a comic...just realized this was in writing category...oops...

lol.

I think comics and novel have this very same thing to an extent

rosskinnaird 2024-01-02 16:58:10 UTC #9

They aren't real. You control them 100% and they do what you make them do. This thing where you pretend that characters have lives of their own is just weird. You tell a story, you write how those characters interact with the story, and unless you write it down it doesn't happen. Writers really need to stop putting stuff in their trade that makes this process magical. you are telling a story, that is it.

I don't usually enjoy rigid statements like yours.
I understand your experience is different and this might not happen to you. That doesn't mean it's not magical or that characters won't challenge your decisions. Actually the more developed they are the more their personalities live within your mind.

BoomerZ 2024-01-02 19:46:29 UTC #10

No, it's not magical. It a made up character that acts exactly how you tell them to act. They don't make their own choices. They can't challenge your decisions as only you can make them challenge your decision. You set the parameters to the conversation for them, you give them dialogue, you write the situations they are in and how they get out of them. You do everything. As a writer, you are the one doing the work. It's your trade, treat it as such. A developed character is developed because you put the hard work in to write them. You know how they act as you gave them the personality to fit your story. It's a storytelling device, no different that setting or tone. They aren't real.

Chronomel 2024-01-02 22:43:08 UTC #11

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

Chronomel 2024-01-02 22:44:01 UTC #12

the why did you decide to reply...?

Chronomel 2024-01-02 22:45:59 UTC #13

do you... seriously think people don't know that the characters they created arn't real? It's just a way to express when their characterization doesn't match you plan or if you got carried away in your thoughts. It's not that serious. Let people have fun

ThunderChicken 2024-01-03 00:54:50 UTC #14

My characters better do what I tell ‘em, if they know what’s good for ‘em. Maybe drawing them on a six month scientific winter expedition to Antarctica would bring them around to my way of thinking…

rosskinnaird 2024-01-03 10:36:38 UTC #15

ha ha. Love it!
Go to developmental jail for six months, come back when you have learned who makes decisions here! lol

kingtubz7 2024-01-04 10:25:50 UTC #16

When I saw this topic, I laughed because I knew that this was so relatable... Bro there is this one character who refuses to die in the plot, even tho I warned her of the consequences, she still insists so I had no choice but to keep her within the plot... but she doesn't know that in order for her survival in the story, she is going to have to go through so much pain.. honestly she'll be begging for death when the time arrives
"I'm sorry little one"

rosskinnaird 2024-01-04 15:16:51 UTC #17

Right? lol
She will end up getting a whole spin-off, you can be sure of it!

Kuma 2024-01-04 23:24:52 UTC #18

Because the question can be answered either way.

king-goldfish 2024-01-04 23:43:51 UTC #19

I'm fully aware that I invented my characters and solely control what they do and say.

But, I'm not a big plotter. I don't have every plot point planned out; I don't have every character arc set in stone before I begin. I generally have a vague idea of where I want the story to go and who I think the characters are when I start writing. And yes, the characters do surprise me sometimes. I might be writing a scene I had intended to go one way, but for whatever reason, it suddenly feels unnatural or not true to the character for them to do or say what I had initially imagined. I could force it, but that would be bad writing. I could go back and change the characterization throughout the rest of the novel to make what I had planned make sense, but that sounds less interesting and like a whole lot of work.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that their characters are literally acting of their own accord. We're talking about being surprised by the way your characters develop over the course of writing your story. It's happened to me in every story I've written—the character you get at the end is not the same one you came up with in the beginning, and not just as a result of the character arc you had planned. In my experience, characters don't really get developed personalities into you get into the meat of writing.

I wonder if this is something that breaks down along plotter/pantser lines?

budweedzz 2024-01-05 00:07:56 UTC #20

Not really, my main character Mark refuses to reveal his backstory to his crew. But I know his entire story back to the tiniest detail. And it will be shown some time in the story anyways.