My characters refuse to behave...

CDancourt · Aug 23, 2011

Sometimes, I wonder who the writer is... Worse than kids loll. I'd like your advice on my problem :

The genre is fantasy romance. Hero and Heroin are about to find the magical place they are looking for for a while, but they are supposed to have a fight about their own responsabilities in life/ill behaviour toward each other.

Unfortunately, Prince Charming and his lady apparently decide on their own not to cat-fight. I am in the third attempt for that scene, and they all ended with the lady being concern, and the knight being accomodating. I wonder if I should make a fourth attempt at it, or just let the scene flows its way and reword the plot.

Did such a thing happen to any of you before?

Thanks,

amrose · Aug 23, 2011

Well, sort of, but my characters are usually combative (at least with the two WIPs I have on tap). I know there's going to be a short fight and then they make up, but as I get going I'm like "crap, this is just escalating."

For me, I notice that if my conflict isn't where I need to be it's because I'm being too protective of the characters. I want the HEA now, but that's boring.

alleycat · Aug 23, 2011

Have the knight say the wrong thing by mistake, and the lady get mad. That'll start a fight, or at least she won't talk to him for two days.

Works for me in real life.

Really, I can't tell you which is the right way to go. You could try to do both; maybe at first they begin to discuss the subject, then get in to a spat, then, with the realization of what they've accomplished in mind, each rethinks their own position and become accommodating to the other.

sunandshadow · Aug 23, 2011

If you want two characters to fight give them unpleasant physical circumstances. Hot and sticky or wet and cold weather, irritating weeds or rocks or sand to walk through, some piece of gear broke, one fell in the mud and the other laughed...

bektamun · Aug 23, 2011

Sorry I can't provide any advice, but I can totally relate to the problem. Sometimes I feel like I'm simply channeling my characters, it's not me writing at all. Hey, at least you know the characters aren't wishy-washy fascimiles

Captcha · Aug 24, 2011

Have you looked at the underlying reasons for the fight? It sounds like there's no REAL conflict, and you're just trying to make them disagree for plot reasons.

This is easy to gloss over at the outlining stage, but when you get to the actual writing, you're probably realizing that you haven't set it up properly. It's not your characters refusing to fight, it's your brain refusing to write characters doing something that doesn't make any sense.

Also, in case they weren't just typos: lol, not loll; genre, not gender; heroine, not heroin.

CDancourt · Aug 24, 2011

*blush* thanks Captcha. But actually : LOLL = Laughting Out Loud Litteraly. It does exist. The others were indeed mistakes.

Problem's partly solved; I reread the scene carefully (again); all elements are there (ill-behaviour from the hero, temper rising for the heroine, etc.), but something else was not making sense, which I am correcting now.

Thanks for the advice

My characters refuse to behave...

CDancourt

amrose

is Envy Augustine

alleycat

Still around

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

bektamun

Captcha

CDancourt