Surprises in Writing

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Transformersfan123

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Has anybody ever encountered surprises in their writing that came completely out of left field?

In one of my original works, a character briefly goes blind (brief as in a chapter or two). I didn't plan for it at all. It was resolved quickly, but that's still the most surprising thing that's ever come out of my writing. Anybody else experienced this phenomenon? I'd like to hear about it!
 

blacbird

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Yes. It happens a lot, and for us people who don't rigorously outline and follow a plan, more so. It is one of the joys of the writing experience to have an idea come out of the far reaches of the writing galaxy, and really work.

caw
 

Pancubuzz

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Whenever I don't have a strict outline (always), surprises are bound to happen. Usually they're just small ones, but I've definitely had a couple times where I was writing a scene and then realized just how painful it made a previous line. Or vice versa where I've been rereading an earlier scene and realized that I already foreshadowed something I hadn't even thought about at the time.

The best thing is when you give it to someone else to read and they point this bit of connection and foreshadowing that makes them go "that's so amazing" and you had no conscious-awareness of it before they pointed it out. XD
 

Carrie in PA

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Absolutely. Those are the writing moments I live for. I had one scene I was writing - a character and her mother-in-law were fighting and the MIL suddenly screamed that it was the MC's fault that her child had died. I yanked my fingers off the keyboard, my mouth hanging open, shocked that she could be such a hateful bitch. It was one of those brilliant beautiful moments that I take no credit for.
 

DeleyanLee

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Happens all the time. My creative unconscious is constantly churning in the background and it spits things out at regular intervals. I've actually cultivated it over the years, since that's what makes really good stories. Sometimes it's small stuff, occasionally it's something literally world-changing.

The last time it happened, I realized something about a main character that allowed me to dramatize an important change in the balance of the world. Very cool.
 

Jan74

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Yes, I don't plan, so it's always a surprise to me where my people end up. I usually have a loose road map in mind, but how they arrive at their destination is a surprise for me. I like not knowing, I don't think I could ever fully plan out a story, the fun is in the journey and discovering new things along the way.
 

Laer Carroll

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Even heavy planners get those surprises. If they are prepared for them they enrich their final work. I'd guess most planners have ways to use the surprises.

One of several ways to combine planning and improvising is to do what prolific mystery writer John D. MacDonald did. He planned the first third of his books in detail, the middle third much less so, and the last third only as a goal he set for the book - an aiming point, he once said.

Toward the end of the first third his characters began to take over and go their own way. When that happened, he said, he knew his book would be a success.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald
 

Enlightened

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Big surprise for me, a big time planner, is how close I followed the hero's journey (even with the virgin birth) I did not know anything about. My characters don't surprise me; they evolve as I create facts/realities for them to deal with, fail at, or get into conflict with other characters with, due to their angst.
 
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Kjbartolotta

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Big surprise for me, a big time planner, is how close I followed the hero's journey (even with the virgin birth) I did not know anything about.

That's the beauty of the hero's journey, you don't need to think about it very much. I know a lot of screenwriters swear by their 'hero's journey' writing software, whatever helps you get happy with your story.

I outline the hell out of everything. It never helps. Surprises are wonderful but also terrifying, I think I drag my feet a lot because I'm generally nervous about where I'm going to end up. I doubt I've even had a productive writing session without an unexpected turn.
 

Dave.C.Robinson

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I surprise myself with my writing all the time. I'm just starting my current novel and I've already surprised myself and I'm only on the third scene. I haven't even got far enough into the story to write my outline.
 

The Black Prince

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Yep, as I've said many times. I plan everything and write towards that plan...but am constantly surprised by things I did not expect.

Especially the endings - they nearly always change, but because I've been building towards a planned ending no-one ever picks up on the twists that I've almost subconsciously concealed in the plot.
 

Enlightened

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That's the beauty of the hero's journey, you don't need to think about it very much. I know a lot of screenwriters swear by their 'hero's journey' writing software, whatever helps you get happy with your story.

I outline the hell out of everything. It never helps. Surprises are wonderful but also terrifying, I think I drag my feet a lot because I'm generally nervous about where I'm going to end up. I doubt I've even had a productive writing session without an unexpected turn.

I don't outline every detail. I'd be too restricted. I need to have freedom to make small changes, if needed. These are for surprises. I'd never attempt 100% plotting; pantsing is needed (if we picture the two as extremes of a scale, I am more on the plotting side).
 

TeresaRose

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Yes, it's awesome, very cool! I very much relate it to Elizabeth Gilbert's first Ted Talk where she explains the ideas knocking you in the head as a separate entity, a genius she calls it.
 

talktidy

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Well, I had a character who was slated to die and categorically refused to oblige.

I am attempting to rid myself of an unfortunate reluctance to do nasty things to my characters, but in this instance he nudged me and said, "You know that lame-ass scene you were going to trash? Don't. This is how to make it better."

And know what he was right. I was trying to pack too much story into his exit scene and it wasn't working. It needed more set up.

I would listen to your characters. Though I would ensure you preserve your work before you implement any changes, so that you can go back if need be.
 

flarue

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This is one of my favorite parts about writing. Where it comes from in our minds, I have no idea, but it’s fascinating when it happens! I consider myself half and half when it comes to pantsing vs plotting, which leaves room for surprises that usually tend to end up improving the story overall.

My favorite instance of this phenomenon was several years ago when I was “interviewing” my characters to get to know them better. I asked my villain about his motivation and was shocked by his answer, which came completely out of left field. I actually had to pause in the middle of writing and ask aloud, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” He’s become a much more sympathetic, grey character since that revelation, not to mention a tragic mirror image of the protagonist in some ways.
 
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Jeneral

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My favorite example of this was when I was doing NaNo one year. I was mostly pantsing it, which I never do, and every time I stopped writing for the day I had an idea of what the next scene was no further. So when I sat down at night, I knew my character was going to get a middle of the night phone call, and I knew who the caller was going to be. I started writing, the phone rang, she looked at the caller ID, and I typed a completely different name than the person who was supposed to be calling! I didn't know who this guy was and why he was calling instead of the other person, but I just kept going, and he ended up being a major supporting character.
 

The zombies made me

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Yes! I'm constantly realizing things about my characters that I never realized before! I'm beginning the third installment of a series I've been working on and the main character in this third book would never have been my first choice when I started writing this series. I had no real plans for his actual development starting out but he's become quiet special.
 

The zombies made me

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This is one of my favorite parts about writing. Where it comes from in our minds, I have no idea, but it’s fascinating when it happens! I consider myself half and half when it comes to pantsing vs plotting, which leaves room for surprises that usually tend to end up improving the story overall.

My favorite instance of this phenomenon was several years ago when I was “interviewing” my characters to get to know them better. I asked my villain about his motivation and was shocked by his answer, which came completely out of left field. I actually had to pause in the middle of writing and ask aloud, “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” He’s become a much more sympathetic, grey character since that revelation, not to mention a tragic mirror image of the protagonist in some ways.

I love this!
 

travelgal

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Yep.

I introduced a side character on impulse but instead he instigated a deeper wedge between my MC and her family which in turn is a major reason why she's a predator by novel's end.
 

Stephmas

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Definitely. This is, in part, why I can (mostly) convince myself to sit down and write even when I have no idea what I'm going to write. This is also why it was extremely difficult to write a synopsis for a one-chapter sub. HOW DO I KNOW WHAT THESE NUTS ARE GONNA DO NEXT?! :D
 

The zombies made me

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Definitely. This is, in part, why I can (mostly) convince myself to sit down and write even when I have no idea what I'm going to write. This is also why it was extremely difficult to write a synopsis for a one-chapter sub. HOW DO I KNOW WHAT THESE NUTS ARE GONNA DO NEXT?! :D

Very much this!
 
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