• Read this: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?288931-Guidelines-for-Participation-in-Outwitting-Writer-s-Block

    before you post.

My Characters Won't Shut Up!

Status
Not open for further replies.

Licha

Say the most in the fewest words
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Alabama - the mountain hick part, not the alligato
Website
waywwords.com
I have the Anne-of-Green-Gable-ish habit of letting my characters run the show. (My last full-length novel was taken over by a secondary character who became the MC by sheer stubbornness.) I think that adds clarity and realism, rather than forcing them to bend to my will, but they've gone catterwampus on me. (And, yes, I'm from the South.)

Technically, I suppose I'm dealing with writer's block, but in reality, I'm dealing with a scene where the characters do something bizarre, and then go back to the "norm." I've taken out the two-and-a-half chapter segment where they run wild on me, but I *cannot* make them do anything else. Every time I go to write, my mind goes down their rabbit trail, and I'm a chronological writer, so I can't skip ahead. My other issue is that some things later in the story would be helped by the presence of this scene - I just can't bring myself to permit it. Any ideas?
 

shadowwalker

empty-nester!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
598
Location
SE Minnesota
Why are you so opposed to the scene, especially if it helps the story later on? Are you having a problem explaining the 'bizarre' behavior?
 

Myrealana

I aim to misbehave
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
5,425
Reaction score
1,911
Location
Denver, CO
Website
www.badfoodie.com
This sure sounds like a case where it's time to get the words on the page and let it sort itself out later.

If it worked for you in a previous book, maybe the right choice is just to relinquish control and let them go wild on you this time.

You can always cut it out or change it later, if you can talk your characters into behaving.
 

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
13,722
Reaction score
1,121
Location
Wyoming mountain cabin
I agree with Myrealana. I've learned when my characters insist on going in another direction, they've been right every time (darn it!). Go with it!
 

Guinea

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
430
Reaction score
58
I agree with Myrealana. I've learned when my characters insist on going in another direction, they've been right every time (darn it!). Go with it!

Am so glad this is not just me! I was beginning to think I was seriously deranged when characters I had made up were taking over a book I was writing! And that almost sounds like a premise for a story!
 

Latina Bunny

Lover of Contemporary/Fantasy Romance (she/her)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 26, 2011
Messages
3,820
Reaction score
738
Sounds like your characters are sending you some kind of message? Maybe take a seperate sheet of paper or notebook (away from your story) and just write those characters' ramblings and see where it takes you? If you don't like it, you can easily discard it. Or, you can use pieces of it.:)
 

Snowstorm

Baby plot bunneh sniffs out a clue
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
13,722
Reaction score
1,121
Location
Wyoming mountain cabin
Am so glad this is not just me! I was beginning to think I was seriously deranged when characters I had made up were taking over a book I was writing! And that almost sounds like a premise for a story!

Makes no sense does it!? When I first heard of this on AW, I didn't understand how this could happen. Then it happened to me!

I've learned that letting your subconscious help your story is an amazing tool.
 

Licha

Say the most in the fewest words
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Alabama - the mountain hick part, not the alligato
Website
waywwords.com
Why are you so opposed to the scene, especially if it helps the story later on? Are you having a problem explaining the 'bizarre' behavior?

Yes, that's pretty much the problem. I can't figure out the motivation behind it. And it's not just dialogue - it's also action. I may try both of those suggestions - take a notebook and write down why they did the "bizarre" thing, and then leave it in there until I figure out what else to do. I don't do well writing pieces that I know I'll have to totally rewrite later (it's depressing enough to make me lose interest in the story), but I'm not sure what else to do about it.

This is also my first murder mystery, and I'm sure keeping the threads together is part of my issue here. I keep getting distracted by something else that has to happen, and...well, that's when the mice play. :)
 

Ghostwriter-Mom

Registered
Joined
Dec 16, 2012
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Website
www.fictionblueprints.com
Just write, Licha. It can be really frustrating when the characters go wild that way ... my characters jump out of my book and then take up semi-permanent residence in my head. I think you should just write, don't bother about the logic of their behaviour at this stage; this is your first draft. The review can come later.

Ooh, I edited it to add this link: http://www.fictionblueprints.com/alchemy-of-writing/

It's a link to a blog post I wrote, but it also links to an interview with Josh Waitzkin, which I think would really help you. He wrote Searching for Bobby Fischer and it seems he also has the same 'problem' you do. :)
 

Nawlins

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
217
Reaction score
18
Location
Canada
I have the same thing with my characters. I plot it out nicely and know what I want to do in the work for the day--I love knowing what I'm doing--then I get writing and all hell breaks loose. I get one character going and the other picks a fight. Then I tie that up, and the first is poking again. And if that wasn't bad enough, when I share the work with my writing buds, they support the characters instead of me.

So, I'm trying to just relax and let them steer sometimes and we'll see where we end up. I console myself that I can always edit 'em out later....
 

JustgoWrite

justgowritepodcast.com
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 25, 2013
Messages
75
Reaction score
2
Website
www.justgowrite.net
My characters hijack my stories all the time. I have given up trying to control them. I have found that if I let them live their lives as they see fit, they will surprise me in ways that end up making the story richer.
 

njmagas

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
199
Reaction score
13
Location
Kyoto, Japan
Website
njmagas.wordpress.com
I'm in the "let characters be characters" camp. I don't write detailed outlines for this reason. I give them dots on a road map that I want them to visit, but wherever they choose to go in between is up to them. Sometimes they completely forget what they've done previously and do something entirely unexpected. I've just accepted that it's my job to explain their behavior later on (and if necessary, quietly erase it from the record books).
 

Licha

Say the most in the fewest words
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Alabama - the mountain hick part, not the alligato
Website
waywwords.com
I typed up long explanations, not (surprisingly) of their motives, but of their history(ies). It took several tries to strong-arm the little brats into letting me write their innermost thoughts and dredge up past sins, but I eventually got awesome results. Like, stunning revelation "Oh-that's-why-you-did-that" results. Then I went back and re-wrote the chapter. It isn't perfect, but it's much better. And, yes, njmagas, there are records that are going to have to be buried under an apple tree at midnight. But, hey, price we pay. Thanks for all the help!
 

benthomas97

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
95
Reaction score
4
Location
Texas, USA
I'm writing my first novel right now (or trying to write one), and while I was kind of prewriting, I had a character that kind of wanted to have the story revolve around her. Luckily, I just had to tweak some stuff in my outline, so that I still liked it, and so my secondary character didn't get out of hand. Rough character sketches I think are pretty nice, since they kind of help you see into how the character thinks, and gives you ways to keep them from getting out of hand.
 

Mr. GreyMan

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 1, 2013
Messages
67
Reaction score
3
When my characters do that to me I just end the scene, get one of them to disagree and speak no more about it, or have something happen that makes them have to deal with it instead of talking.
 

jaksen

Caped Codder
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
5,117
Reaction score
526
Location
In MA, USA, across from a 17th century cemetery
Yeah, my characters get out of line all the time. Sometimes I let them go with it, other times I take a big stick or threaten them with an imminent, hideous death.

It takes a bit of skill to rein them in, yet let them run where they want - some of the time. Try to be a little more forceful, but not so much you lose that galloping sense of creativity that comes with taking off the bridle.

Sorry for horsey analogies.
 

Princess Marina

Princess Marina
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
288
Reaction score
17
Location
Isle of Man
I have the Anne-of-Green-Gable-ish habit of letting my characters run the show. (My last full-length novel was taken over by a secondary character who became the MC by sheer stubbornness.) I think that adds clarity and realism, rather than forcing them to bend to my will, but they've gone catterwampus on me. (And, yes, I'm from the South.)

?

My characters take over and won't be pushed where they don't want to go. I accept it is as part of the way my imagination works and prefer it to not being able to write at all.

As a Brit I didn't understand the word catawampus so looked it up, nice word. But apparently this is the correct spelling.
 

MJDavis

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
123
Reaction score
4
Location
All over!
Website
www.facebook.com
This thread made me giggle. My characters have been running the show since about 5 chapters in, and I'm letting them. They've come up with much more fascinating subplots than I ever would have.
 

milkweed

Abuses commas at will.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Messages
2,119
Reaction score
151
Location
Somewhere between here and there
My one talkative character is dead, I have the exact opposite problem, while my characters are hard headed and have well defined themselves by now they don't talk much. This is becoming a problem.
 

Caretaker

I've always been here.
Registered
Joined
Jun 23, 2013
Messages
26
Reaction score
1
Location
Texas
Sounds like things are going pretty fluidly, Licha. I wouldn't burn those chapters just yet. One thing I'm beginning to realize is that there's a flipside to murdering one's darlings.

While you'll end up removing things you like, you may also consider keeping some things you don't. That two and a half chapters of absurdity could end up being awesome.

I vote that you leave it in and let your characters sort the problem out. Save omissions for the second draft.
 

RebeccaZeno

Registered
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
24
Reaction score
0
Location
Florida
Oooh! I got this!

Things you need:
-Piece of notebook paper
-Writing utensil
-Your characters that won't shut up

Steps:
1. On the piece of paper, have that discussion you don't want in your book on the paper.
2. Pretend you are just writing back and forth between them.
3. To get rid of those annoying juices, you could even interview them.

Example(for step #2):
"Linda, I'm feeling insane. Can you come cliff diving with me?" Charlie asked.
"Sure, Charlie. But I get to push you off." Linda said.
"Woah, guys. That doesn't sound safe," Harley jumped in. "I'm in!"
Everyone laughed.


Example(For step #3):
Interviewer(I): "Why do you get these insane thoughts?"
Answerer(A): "I am not sure, it must be something to do with my brain."
I: "Very intresting. Do you like playing as ____ in Licha's book?"
A: "I love my character. She/He is so funny and crazy."


Hehe, hope this helped!!
 

LupineMoon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Messages
175
Reaction score
11
Am so glad this is not just me! I was beginning to think I was seriously deranged when characters I had made up were taking over a book I was writing! And that almost sounds like a premise for a story!

Me too! Except that all too often, my MCs insist on horrible, horrible things happening to them...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.