When Characters Take Over…
I was just having a discussion with some students and an instructor for a class I’m taking, and the topic of characters came up.
Have you ever had a character you wanted to go one way and then they went rogue on you, changing your wonderful plot, scenes and characterization? Don’t you want to just pull your hair out? Run away screaming? Or maybe you think “Hey, you might have something here…â€
I recently had a hero in one my WIP’s who decided he didn’t want to be a hero, no he wanted to be a big wimp…and when I tried to kill him off, he decided that instead he wanted to be the villain! And my villain decided he would rather be the hero! Needless to say, it changed the entire story line. My poor heroine, Chloe, didn’t know what to do. At one moment she was gazing lovingly at the wimpy hero, and the next is fearful of him. Luckily I was able to straighten it all out, in my mind anyway. The characters agree completely with the changes, and now we’re working together as a group to flip around scenes and rewrite some in the WIP.
What do you do when your characters take over? Run to the nearest hospital for a psych eval? Tell them to cut it out and force them to do as you originally intended? Or do you go with the flow?
Readers, when you are reading a book and the characters just seem like they are being forced to do what they’re doing, how do you feel? Do you wish you could jump in the book and change it all up? I know I’ve read several books like this before. I’ve wanted to slap the heroine and tell her to cut it out, knock some sense into the hero… inevitably I have to put these books down, I just can’t finish them.
I say go with the flow. You don’t want to force them to be who they’re not…unless that’s part of the conflict and they will learn from it and overcome it.
Happy Wednesday!
Eliza Knight
That happens to me all the time. But usually when the characters take over like that, it’s for the better. I have to concede to their wishes. LOL But I think it’s a good sign. If your characters are ‘real’ enough to take over, it makes for a better story. Characters like that are more rounded. They have more depth and readers can usually relate to them better.
Like you said, most of us don’t like characters who seem like ‘puppets on string’ made to dance to the author’s plot line.
‘Real’ characters create their own plot and usually it’s a lot better than anything I could have come up with. LOL
As a reader, I sometimes get frustrated with a character and throw the book down in disgust. I usually go on to finish the story because I have faith in the author that the character will redeem themself with either a backbone or confidence. I do admit to quitting on a few books where I just lost patience with the character’s actions.
Nita,
I agree with it being for the better! Right now my wip is much better than it was before, and I owe it all to my characters throwing fits with me
Isn’t it funny how they seem to come to life? I miss them when I finish each manuscript.
Jane,
It’s good to hear that you have faith in the authors! We all need that! And hopefully the characters do redeem themselves, which I think in most instances they do and the turns they’ve taken in the book that annoy us are what make them better characters…sometimes.
Happy writing and reading!
Eliza
Great blog topic, Eliza! I’ve never had my characters do such wild things as yours did, completely switching positions.
That’s very interesting! The thing I notice about my own stories is that I have to let the character become real on their own. They follow my directives pretty well, but I can’t force them to be this or that. They decide all that and I go by gut instinct. Sometimes they surprise me in their “realness” but not usually in going off on wild tangents. That’s so cool your characters take you on such great adventures. 
Nicole
It took me a while to realize that’s what was happening. I went to introduce my hero’s brother, and he WOULD NOT enter the room. I tried about eight different ways, but he wouldn’t speak, nor would he ‘enter stage’. Turns out, my heroine didn’t have a brother.
Then my hero accosted me in the bathroom to point out that, no matter how angry he was, he would never leave the heroine alone when he knew she might be in danger. Of course he was right, but can I have no privacy anywhere?
Then, my heroine wanted some tea. I invented a maid to bring her some. Well, I thought I invented a maid, but it turns out that she invented herself. I could NOT shut her up, she was so interesting she almost took over the story, and the only way I could get her to behave was to promise her her own book. Once we got that understanding between us, she became my greatest helpmate on the story. I don’t know what I would have done without her.
Kind of freaky when it happens.
Jenn
I just decided to change a character to evil midway through. Not sure why, guess she took over. It just made sense. Its so funny your wrote about your wimpy hero. Sometimes a scene will just fly off my fingertips and then I reread it and am like, “wth?! my hero can’t do that!” and many times its something wimpy that he does. Thats when I have to sit him down and we have to have a talk. “Yes, you are strong and brave and you would never scream like a girl and run the other way.”
I don’t think I’ve had any changes quite that drastic, but my characters do do things I didn’t intend. The one that caught me the most off-guard was the scene where I wanted them to kiss and they didn’t(!!) I mean, honestly.. who would pass up the possibility of a kiss?
Also, a character that was just supposed to be a nasty cousin took the step out and became one of the villains – which I definitely had not planned. She was never supposed to be heard of again, and then suddenly there she is – together with the villain of the book! I guess she felt she wanted more space on the pages…
Nicole,
Isn’t it funny that we have to take their lead? They really do come to life! Having them pull the ‘ole switcheroo is a real pain and make my job of writing much more difficult
Jenn,
WOW! LOL! Your characters really won’t leave you any privacy! Mine always attack me in the shower w/ “Umm I’d like to start over, you really don’t know me at all, blah blah blah…” and I really would like a moment of peace.
I love the idea of calming the maid by telling her she can have her own book! Great!
Lori,
LOL! Little pep talk? I’ve always wanted to do the interview with your character over coffee, sounds like fun, have you tried that? I think having them be “wimpy” for me personally is that I’m a woman and sometimes it is hard for me to write in a masculine way.
Emily,
I’ve had the kissing thing too, instead they start to argue, and I’m like, hey wait a minute you are supposed to be loving each other right now, not spitting words! Don’t ya love it when the characters you were done with come back? Makes it more interesting.
Eliza
I agree with Nicole, this is a great blog topic! I love it when the characters become so real that they start taking over the story (my favorite is when they write their own dialogue…hardly any effort needed on my part
), although sometimes it really does drive you mad. Here you’ve gone to all the trouble of giving them a plot, and well…they just won’t have it.
In my latest WIP the bad guy turned out to be a good guy…heroic actually. Almost to the point of out-heroing the hero. Quite a surprise from what I originally intended. Needles to say, he’s decided he wants to be the hero of his own book…now if I can just get him to cooperate.
Good luck with your characters Eliza!!
~Jennifer
Jennifer,
LOL! Another character getting his own book! It sounds like you’re having a similar situation as I am where the villain becomes a good guy, in mine actually the hero… I love the surprises they bring us, so much fun!!!
Eliza
I found my “core story” by examining why so many of my secondary characters took over the plot. More books for me, too!
Woo-hoo Lacey! Good luck with the books!
Eliza
Love this topic, so even though I’m a lurker, I had to post to say how much I can relate to the characters who take over the story. When they do that, it’s a good thing! It means they are driving the plot, not the other way around.
Gotta watch those secondary characters, too. Sometimes they come to life bigger than I expected (or intended). Weird how that happens, but it’s soooo much a part of what makes writing fun!
Kathrynn Dennis
http://www.kdennis.com
DARK RIDER-Sept 2007