When Your Characters Fight You

Writers can be an odd bunch. Think about it: we spend inordinate amounts of time dreaming up whole worlds and imaginary people and then have those people act out whatever story is playing in our heads. I have met people who even talk to those characters–they have whole conversations with them, nag them, and even argue with them.

I like to think that my characters talk to me, though I’ve never heard them with any kind of clarity. Instead, I have learned how to listen to them and how to interpret whatever it is they’re trying to tell me. It happens in various ways: Whenever something sticks—a name, a description, a detail—that’s a character letting me know it’s needed or that they just want it there. In the case of unexpected stops, it means that something is wrong. Something isn’t right with what I’m doing, be it the location, the character, or the scene itself, and the making of pages will not continue until I fix it.

Saying it like that makes it sound like my characters are holding the story hostage. Well… they kind of are. It can be tempting to take a stance like, “I am the author and you will bend to my will!” I really don’t advise doing that, though; it can make the scene feel forced or out-of-place. There are exceptions, of course, but nine times out of ten, my characters are correct. They’re the ones in the story, so why shouldn’t they get a say in what happens? (I’m sure you could argue that my characters are just facets of my subconscious mind trying to get my attention, but where’s the fun in that? 😛 )

My process for getting through the issue of a stuck scene is to ask questions:
What, specifically, about this portion–be it scene or summary–is causing the blockage?

• Is this scene in the right location? Can the location be changed or adjusted? Would adding more description of the surroundings help?
• Is it from the right POV? Should this part of the story be told by another character? Why did I choose this character to begin with? Does another character have a different/more interesting view on this part?
• Does this need to happen earlier or later than it currently is? If it needs to happen earlier, how much earlier? If later, how much later? Are there any plot points that this particular bit needs to happen before or after in order to work properly?

Every so often, I go through all of those questions and still don’t have an answer I’m happy with. Something is still wrong and my characters aren’t able to articulate what it is. That’s when I pull out my outlines and play with them; each chapter I write has a separate outline written for it. (Why? Because it breaks my novel into smaller, more easily-managed chunks). I find the chapter this portion lives in and move things around like puzzle pieces, trying to fit them together with the other pieces around them. Eventually, everything comes together and I have a stronger, more comprehensible whole.

Once or twice, I have done all of the above and still haven’t found an answer. When that happens, I take the problem to my writing and critique partners. Sometimes I need a push and sometimes I just need to work myself out of whatever spiral I’ve fallen into, but they help me through it. They are very good about asking questions that I haven’t thought of yet, and also willing to let me talk myself through the problem.

The above is my process and it’s one I’ve formed through trial and error. It may not work for everyone, but if something in this process can help a fellow writer, I want it to be available. I encourage you to experiment with your own process and find something that works for you.

Are there things not on my list that have helped you in the past? Let us all know! Let’s help each other get our stories out to the world.