Alright, so I mentioned the other day about the characters and how they go about the entirety of the plot. I said that I would talk more about it, so here I am, writing down how my characters drive the story to the direction to where I want to go.
I start with an idea. A simple idea, something that is simple and yet complex enough that it can be solved in more than a few sentences. Think about a ten step proof in geometry, there are a couple of different ways to write down the ten steps you need, and there is a way to to choose one step or another when doing the proof. But, you still start out with a set number of numbers and equations at the beginning, and you still end up at the same ending. That ending is written by someone else entirely different, and no matter what you do as you try to solve the problem, what you are trying to prove is still what you are trying to prove.
Alright. Take the editor and make it me. Take the numbers and equations in the metaphor and make them setting, problem, and extra characters. Take the ending, the solution that I have given, and make that the ending scene of the story. You becomes the characters, driving the story. Makes sense? If not, I got another analogy up my sleeve.
Frodo's task, destroy the One Ring. His path could have taken many roads. He was influenced by other characters and the different personalities that they had. He chose to go through Moria, chose to go with Gollum and Sam, chose to leave Sam, and almost chose to keep the ring from the own ring's power. Granted, you may say that Tolkien decided on all of that for the character, but it is my belief that the characters do come alive and write the story alongside the author.
Remember that one story you read when you were younger? That one that you became obsessed over, and no matter what, you would want to reread the book or series until you knew it all by heart? Why would you, as a reader, do that? The answer, as you probably know, is that the character grew on you. Why shouldn't that be different for us authors and writers?
As I write, my characters grow into personalities that are presented to them. My main character in a recent story was a douche, when I wanted him to be a hero. Here's the thing, even if the character ends up in a different light than what you expected, they are still your character. They grow on you, you end up loving them as a parent loves a child. This character you watch evolve as they interact with other characters and situations, they wouldn't have existed to be in those situations if it wasn't for you.
Yes, you can make the argument that the author directs the characters sometimes. The author writes the story, not fictional people, and therefore, my entire theory is debunked. There is no character clashing character, unless it is the author who makes it. This way of thinking makes the author seem like an all powerful god in the story, moving pieces on a chess board to his own ideas and situations.
Wrong. many stories of mine are the words being fired back between two different personalities. Even away from your chosen mode of writing the characters are alive in your mind, living out their lives. In the time you give them, the story can progress in you never imagine, because the character moves in ways you never expect. I never thought I would add a coffee shop to my latest story until the villain made his way there.
In short, while I have a problem, and a general idea of a plot, and an ending and beginning, I let the characters drive me there to where I want to be. Yeah, let them drive me to Florida, take whatever route they want, but I want to stop by a Dunkin' Donuts in Tennessee, a barbecue place in Virginia, and take a trail along the Mississippi River. I don't care how you get there, but I want to stop at those places and do those things. That is what happens when I write. I set a few way points in the story, and as long as they are accomplished, I don't care how my characters get to it.
That's all for now, update tomorrow. See you tomorrow!
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