When Things Don't Go To Plan
So you're planning your story. You've written a huge 50-page outline, complete with 50 character profiles, maps, pictures and a thousand descriptive notes.
Awesome. Well done.
Then you sit down and start to actually write. And for some reason, at some point, it gets hard. Like, really hard.
I plan a little. My outline is likely to be a couple of pages to begin with. Character profiles probably exist for three, maybe four, characters, and half a page at most.
That's just me. I need something to start with, but once I get going, I like to explore the world, to feel as if it's creating itself, or being discovered.
I especially like getting to know my characters. To me, they are real people; my friends, my family and my enemies. And they will do what they dam well please! There not always going to listen to me.
Let me give an example to illustrate what I mean. When I began to write my first novel, I had a supporting character called Michael. He was supposed to be sort of nerdy, and he was supposed to be my protagonist's best friend. Not a chance.
The first scene I wrote with him, he literally hung off the door kicking and screaming about how he would never say this, and he'd never do that, and he doesn't want brown hair, it's black, thank you very much. I pushed and I shoved, I got real red in the face, and I re-wrote the scene several times to stick to my original Michael-plan. It just didn't work.
Eventually, I gave up and let Michael have his way. He became a rich, young business man, and an instant conflict for my main character. It didn't just add to the plot, this change now defines the entire book; it gives my protagonist something to react to, supplementing her major goal. Besides, she got a new, better best friend, so there.
Deviating from my plans, so to speak, was the best thing I ever did. Michael quickly became the easiest character to write about, he pretty much wrote himself.
If you're writing according to your outline, but start to get a (very annoying) niggling idea of where the scene/plot/character could go instead, go with it. Explore. If you find it more compelling, mysterious and fabulous than the original, it's likely your readers will too.
Not only that, it makes writing easier and more exciting for you. Because no matter what anyone says, I believe you should always write for yourself above anything else, otherwise, what's the point? If you don't want to write it, who the heck will want to read it?
Awesome. Well done.
Then you sit down and start to actually write. And for some reason, at some point, it gets hard. Like, really hard.
I plan a little. My outline is likely to be a couple of pages to begin with. Character profiles probably exist for three, maybe four, characters, and half a page at most.
That's just me. I need something to start with, but once I get going, I like to explore the world, to feel as if it's creating itself, or being discovered.
I especially like getting to know my characters. To me, they are real people; my friends, my family and my enemies. And they will do what they dam well please! There not always going to listen to me.
Let me give an example to illustrate what I mean. When I began to write my first novel, I had a supporting character called Michael. He was supposed to be sort of nerdy, and he was supposed to be my protagonist's best friend. Not a chance.
The first scene I wrote with him, he literally hung off the door kicking and screaming about how he would never say this, and he'd never do that, and he doesn't want brown hair, it's black, thank you very much. I pushed and I shoved, I got real red in the face, and I re-wrote the scene several times to stick to my original Michael-plan. It just didn't work.
Eventually, I gave up and let Michael have his way. He became a rich, young business man, and an instant conflict for my main character. It didn't just add to the plot, this change now defines the entire book; it gives my protagonist something to react to, supplementing her major goal. Besides, she got a new, better best friend, so there.
Deviating from my plans, so to speak, was the best thing I ever did. Michael quickly became the easiest character to write about, he pretty much wrote himself.
If you're writing according to your outline, but start to get a (very annoying) niggling idea of where the scene/plot/character could go instead, go with it. Explore. If you find it more compelling, mysterious and fabulous than the original, it's likely your readers will too.
Not only that, it makes writing easier and more exciting for you. Because no matter what anyone says, I believe you should always write for yourself above anything else, otherwise, what's the point? If you don't want to write it, who the heck will want to read it?