The Inexplicable Evolution of a Character

Image by jlseagull via FlickrPeople change. So do characters. I've never been the type of writer to viciously hold onto a character design to the point that I virtually halt the story development for fear that the character will change. A lot of times that can happen without you even knowing you're doing it. In fact, if you've been struggling with writer's block for quite some time now, I'd recommend you ask yourself if  you've noticed your character trying to do things that you'd describe as particularly out of character.

Me, I just write and see what happens. It wasn't that way when I typed up my stories, but once I started handwriting them I noticed that I was a lot less willing to go back and second guess my decisions. I spent roughly four weeks getting all the imagination related crap squared away, and by the end of the first month I had developed a main character that was nothing short of your typical shy and sweet bookworm.

Yeah, I know. Not the most relatable of protagonists. I think that's probably why Muriel changed so much once I actually put her into action. What I see now as I move my pen across the page (and scowl at my consistently poor word choice as usual) is a loud, naive, and not-so-bright girl who probably never acquired the patience to sit down and read a book that didn't have pictures. She may not be as smart and, dare I say it, "perfect" as she was before, but I'll bet she's twice as fun to read about.

And write about. I'd much rather chronicle the adventures of a fun loving simpleton who asked a plant-based character if she eats sunlight than a pompous one who throws out a scientific explanation for everything that happens.

That and I'm barely making a B in Biology 101. Ladies and gentlemen, you will not find me operating on you anytime soon.

I guess the long and short of this blog post (because God help me if I actually make a clear point ever at all) is that you can't really think of your characters as people you can control. Think of them more as people who have a story to tell you so that you can write it down on paper. Or type it up on Word. Whatever floats your boat.

Mind Sludge

So apparently, "I'm posting every Monday evening" now means, "I'm writing the final 2-3 paragraphs of Monday's blog post Tuesday morning during the first ten minutes of History."

Do you ever have those days when all you can manage to do is stare sleepily at the page?

Ugh. I was doing so well, and now I can barely make my mind move. It's not writer's block; I know exactly what's coming next in the story. It's more of a mind-sludge that keeps the gears from turning, even though they know what they're supposed to do. This may have something to do with this being the last scene of the first third of my novel. After the end of this chapter, I've only got 2/3 of the way to go...sure, it's more than half, but way more than 3/3. I'm one of those 'chicken out at the very end' people. I've done it with every video game I've ever played. That boss battle means that the game will be over, and writing that last scene just puts me closer to the story being over.

Plus, I feel like this transition between the end of the beginning and the beginning of the middle should have a special scene, a scene that jumps off the page and grabs the readers heart. You know, one of those scenes that no one can talk about the book without mentioning. So far, however, I'm sad to say that this scene is nothing but any other scene. When we expect our story to be something, and it insists on being something else, we always run into problems actually writing the thing. That's yet another lesson I've yet to really learn.

Like most writers at this point in their story, I find that the middle is no more than a vast desert. I know where my characters are supposed to go, but I don't want the novel to fall into the classic rut that fantasy adventures have the opportunity to fall into in which the characters are doing nothing but walking. I'm also worried that this work is going to be too short. Even though it seems I have a lot of things that need to happen, I'm only going to have about 13,000 words in the beginning. If the middle and end also only have 13,000 words, then my novel will probably barely skim past 35,000.

The internet says it's a sin to write books that are shorter than 50,000 unless you're a big-time, famous writer who can get away with it, because no one will pay for a shorter book. I'm actually disappointed that my story looks as if it won't be longer. When I go over the plot line, it seems like it should at least be 60,000 words, and that's being stingy.

I hope I don't have to resort to sticking "that" in wherever it wouldn't be incorrect, like when I need more words in an academic paper. Awkward wording and creative writing do not mix--unless you have an awkward character, that is.