When the Characters Change Their Minds

Greetings! Salutations! Hey there! Oi!

Now that we have that out of the way, glad to have y'all back and reading! It's been a week and a lot has happened writing wise. Week 3 of NaNo has come and is closing out, which means we're in the home stretch! *insert happy dancing, crying and characters leaping for joy here*

The home stretch has several emotions, which I'll go over in another post later. But for now I'm gonna touch on another subject. Characters and when they decided to chuck your idea out the window.

A lot of you "normal" people are gonna give me weird looks after this post. Please understand I am well aware I am strange, weird, mental, insane, etc. But that is the price of being a writer. Ask fiction or fantasy authors, they'll tell you a little bit of crazy happens when they write.

Onto the strange and weird topic!

I've come to a conclusion on a few things about writing. One of these things is writing is just as good as an escape as reading is. Another is characters actually have more say in the story than the author that created them. No, seriously. They can chuck outlines out the window and cause walls of writers block depending on their mood. Don't believe me? Here's just a couple examples from personal experience.

This past week, most if not half of my original plan for Camelot Reborn (current work in progress) was tossed out the window by actions my characters took. I can't give you too many details but let's just say I originally had planned a minor character to stay minor, just a victim in the scheme of things, but they ended up busting out of the minor role and into a major role. They aren't seen much but they are still very, very vital to my story. Like, they can't die vital (all authors understand this is a VIC when you can't kill them off).

As for writer's block: In past stories, whenever I had upset my characters in any way, harmed them in any way, a wall of writers block shows up. I will sit there, stare at the page and have nothing. Now granted, most of my writer's block may not come from my characters, but it is a cause and I have yet to find a cure. I have found peace offerings, but no definite cures. If anyone knows how to handle angry characters without causing writer's block...let me in on your little secret!

Now not all characters act this way. Some are very docile creatures and like to go with your plan. If you get these types of characters, consider yourself one of the luckiest writers on the planet. If you are like me and have the difficult characters that like the take your plan, tear it into tiny pieces and use it for confetti before showing you their plan....welcome to the club. We're getting buttons next month.


NaNoWriMo 2013 Update

Like I said above, half of my original plan for the story has gone out the window. This has come with pitfalls and mountain climbs, which have taken a large toll on my mental state. I have had to use my resources to get answers to a large and daunting question and ended up with a crazy twisted answer that I didn't see coming. But enough of the stuff that'll leave you asking "what the heck is going on" and onto the important stats!

Word Count So Far: 65,153
27 Chapters
131 Pages

Not bad for a week of a roller coaster ride! Now to get through one more week including Christmas production rehearsal, Thanksgiving and more surprises ahead!

 How's NaNo going for you? Have you had or do you have unruly characters? Comment below! Share the blog!

Until Next Time!

~Kelsey~