the characters made me!

[contrariwise.livejournal.com]

So I was browsing at the library and picked up Janet Evanovich's^* How I Write. Right there, on page 14, an interesting passage jumped out at me:

Q: Some people say they start writing and the character tells them what's next. In other words, the characters take over for the author. Do your characters ever surprise you like that?

Janet: NO! What does surprise me is that people say this happens. This is fiction! Your character doesn't do anything you don't want him to!

You do have to be very careful never to force a character to do something simply because you think he needs to do it for the sake of the plot or because you think it's funny or because you think it's hot or it's cute or whatever. Characters have to do what they are supposed to do according to your creation of them and your plot line. The bottom line is: Writers control the story and the characters. And don't let anyone tell you different--particularly your main character.

For some reason, I thought immediately of a certain author...


^*She writes the Stephanie Plum series, featuring a spunky (but not very good at her job) bounty hunter, her wacky family, and her two on-again/off-again hot dudes. It's a fluff series, but it knows it. *g*

Comments

[brightlyiburn.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I joke about my characters "refusing to toe the line". It's basically just a way to shorten up the explanation.

What really happens (to those of us who aren't batshit crazy, anyway) is that for one reason or another--be it that you're very focused and into what you're writing or something similar--a character starts developing qualities and really fleshing out in ways that you never intended before you began the actual writing.
This is really no surprise. Most things tend to develop more once you start translating them from head to paper (or word processor, I guess).

But the author gets the final say in whether or not a character goes beyond its original purpose. Because one thing that is absolutely NOT a reason for this happening is your characters talking to you.
Saying that the characters "told" them what to do is just an author making up excuses and not taking responsibility for their own work.

So if your characters are waking you up in the night demanding you write something such-and-such a way, do yourself a favor: Roll over and go back to bed.