I hope to draw some inspiration from your answers, but I feel a little stuck at the moment and here is why.... I had a story line all drawn out, it was fine, but as I progressed in my novel I realised I didn't have enough material for a book. As its a first draft I wasn't worried about adding subplots, as editting comes later. So I added a character. This character was not going to appear in the story again, but some how... in a plot twist I have written him back in in the conclusion of my story. This majorly effects my ending, and there are/will be plot holes. I prefer the way my story is going now, but it will mean cutting out my original ending, which I really like. So do I go back to my original? Or cut out my favourite scene? Or is there an alternative!!!! I really need to think out side the box on this one!
Neither works currently, too many plot holes. I'm only half way through my novel but I'm at a crossroads. Continue as I am and rewrite my ending; or back track and hope I come up with something that works and using my current ending. Maybe I use my scene, but I need a reason for it..... So my next question relates directly...... Why would a police officer destroy evidence when they need the evidence to catch the criminal????
To protect something of greater value to him. Priorities! Or by accident. So he has to hide his stupidity and make amends by catching the bad guy.
Kill your darlings ;-) Really only you can decide it. You could go back to your earlier version as a novella rather than a novel, or you can keep the revised version in which case I think it has to go where the characters take it or it won't seem believable. I suspect it will be easier to fix plot holes than to fix characters acting against their character.
I have to agree with digitg: kill 'em. Don't be afraid of the extra work, the twists, the surprises. That's what makes it a good story IMO. When things don't go according to the neat little outline, and new characters or events add to the story, your story has developed and become more faceted. This is a good thing. This keeps people reading. Save the current ending to another document and keep it around. Maybe you'll have a place for it another tale, but let this one grow.
Anybody is capable of anything, given the right motivation. Infuse some personal involvement & dependance on the fate of the evidence into his life, & presto: motivation. It might require changing the story leading up to that point/the character's history, but really, what isn't fair game for editing when fixing critical plot holes? Also, mentioning your alternative scenario might help us help you discern which is more dramatic/plausible and such.
Honestly, I would be surprised if the ending *didn't* change once you started writing the story. So, my suggestion would be to forget about the ending and just write. Let the story tell itself and the ending will come as it should. And as to your question about the officer's motives, ask him. In other words, once again, just write. Let the character develop (even if only in your head and not as part of the story) and he will tell you why eventually.
The quandary you're describing suggests the difference between a plot-driven story (which you started out with) and a character-driven story (which you may be able to uncover). There is nothing wrong with a plot-driven novel, but the novels that have the most depth and fascination for many readers (including me) are those that are character-driven. Other readers' views may differ. The point is what kind of story do you write best? I couldn't write a plot-driven story if you put a gun to my head. And I've tried, because my husband is exceptionally good at describing intricately plot-driven stories and suggesting that I write them (since I'm the writer in the family). So, it seems to me a writer simply has to find out what kind of writing is his or her forte. My thought would be to take that character who's emerged into your story and write a scene (which is, of itself, a smaller story) or several, or then several more that fit together with the first one, till you find the thread that connects the character to the plot ending that you like. Alternatively, you may find that you have one or several awfully good short stories and/or that the original idea just doesn't hold your interest anymore. The worst that can happen is that you find that the ending you began with requires an entirely different story. And there's nothing wrong (and everything right) about having several stories you hadn't counted on, to your credit. My bet is you'll learn a lot from doing something along those lines. But I think you need to figure out what you alone write best and build on that. There's little to be gained beyond frustration by forcing yourself to conform to a notion that the only (or the best) story you can write must somehow follow your--or someone else's--original idea and game-plan. This is not a roadblock, but an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson about what and how you write and, importantly, what it takes to do it well.
Thanks so much for the help and advice, especially tigress and pinelopikappi (did I spell it right?), who really got me thinking about the characters drive and motives. And it sounded daft to try and chat to my police officer, hehe...but this really worked! He told me exactly why it would happen. Problem solved!
I think you'll know as you start writing. I recently did the same thing, adding a drug user and changing the main character to my plot. It's flowing much better.
Excellent! It really does sound corny to non-writers when you begin talking about things like "books writing themselves" and "characters telling you how they feel", but for those of us who experience it, it makes all the sense in the world. Of course, in reality, it's just your mind organizing your thoughts and the concepts of the story, but (at least for me) the best writing comes from the subconscious and the only way to access that is to just let your mind go and stop trying to control it (that's for editing afterward).
