I'm a little freaked out by my characters...

Oh, man . . . "freaked" would be the word.

The one I'm in the middle of now -- you know, the one that was supposed to be a short story or novella at most, to tie together an anthology?

It's taken on a life of its own. 42,000 words and I'm estimating it's about halfway (or less) to wherever it's going. This narrative has turned into first person, male protagonist (and believe me, I have no male side to get in touch with, not even a smidge) and I was completely freaked by it all. I've never written anything like this before, but it's the best thing I've done -- so far.

There are parts that I placated myself with "you can edit those out once you get done."

One of my beta readers told me she had to have a cigarette after reading those passages.

Nope. They're part and parcel of the characters, the story of their intertwined lives and how they and their relationships change.

It's out of my hands. I have to let them be who they are and keep the story true to their voices.

And I will leave any readers who might read it to wonder and ponder how much and what parts might be authentic . . .

I will say this, I've never driven an OTR truck.

Kallithrix said:

Saying your characters won't behave the way you want them to is just another way of saying you've written yourself into a corner. By this I mean that the sort of character you've created isn't the sort of character who would be likely to do the things you need them to do in the story. It wouldn't ring true, and suspension of disbelief would be compromised.

So, the solution is simple: either rewrite the character to fit the plot, or adapt the plot to fit the character.

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Yeah. We've all done it. I am struggling with this right now. That and I forgot to have a plot. :|

melindamusil said:

Not like I'm going to stop, but my characters are going in completely unexpected ways, and to say I am surprised would be an understatement.

Anyone else ever experience this?

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Yup. Follow them.

ccarver30 said:

Yeah. We've all done it. I am struggling with this right now. That and I forgot to have a plot. :|

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Ouch!

I kinda like when my characters get away from me. It feels like they've become real people instead of just strings of words that I've made up.

Happens to me a lot. In fact, it's happening right now with my WIP. Sweet, naive and innocent Emily has become a sneaky and awkward girl hell-bent on revenge.

I like her much better now.

Definitely had this happen! A lot of the time I end up having a character that was either supposed to die or disappear after a scene become a major player with their own story to tell. It terrifies me because then I have to completely rework things cause I fall in love with the character and feel about chopping them.

Currently my angels - ahem archangel Michael - is frightening me. He lies just as much as Lucifer...I mean really who is running Heaven if these guys are all such narcissistic pathological liars? That's what I ask myself after every scene with them...oh immortals haha