In the current novel I am working on the entire world is from the prospective of my main Character Ryan. Now I have allowed Ryan to come to life and make choices of his own, all of which are great for the story, and true to him but some have really bugged me on a personal level, so much so I am considering using the last pages of the book to describe from his pov dying because of one of these said choices. Now my question is, does anyone else get mad at their own characters for the decisions they have made when they finally gained a life of their own? if so how did how did you go about handling it? changing his choices will ruin his character so maybe its his own sepiki
Nah... I try to remember that I am responsible for everything that happens in my work. Even at that point where characters seem to take on lives of their own, we must keep in mind that nothing happens unless we write it. We have to hold ourselves accountable so we can possibly make the changes that will make the story better. It's always good to stay true to your characters, but your characters should stay true to your plan for them. Character arc is usually a big part of a story. If the character seems like the type to write himself into his own death, you, as the writer, must take responsibility to rethink some of the choices, even if it changes the character a bit. You might be better off for it. I believe the tricky part would be figuring out the best way to narrate his own death. In past tense, it doesn't make much sense unless he's writing from beyond the grave. In present it could work, but you'd likely have to write an epilogue or final chapter from another POV in order to close the book on a more satisfying note than "...my body feels numb, everything is fading to white. I think I'm dying." Obviously, the MC can't narrate past that, logically. However, present tense can be hard to do well because it's not what most readers are used to, it becomes really asy to ramble, and it can hard to convince readers that the mc is logically telling us everything that makes the story satisfying at the same time as that he or she is experiencing the events of the story. I do wish you luck though, Andrae
I think you may be on to something. It might be from playing to much DnD. i find it difficult to not make my characters choices based on who they have become, if that makes any sense. mostly i was hoping i wasn't the only person with this issue
You'd likely be surprised, then, at how common a thing this is. Many young writers reach a point where they're excited that their stories are flowing. They're having fun, and everything just seems to come naturally because they know just what the character would do in a certain situation. Sometimes you have to put some pressure on the characters and put them in situations where they can't make their normal decisions. You must also devise a conceivable way for them to solve the ensuing problems. The character's never take precedence over the story in which they fit. You don't want them to run the story, you want to fake that they are running the story, if that makes sense. You have to convince us, the readers, that it's the character's when it's really you. In that sense, fiction is a performance act, a little smoke and mirrors to create an illusion that readers voluntarily fall into, without noticing the man behind the curtain (you). Now I'm off on a tangent, so I'll stop there.
Usually writers make up an MC that they can relate to somehow. Writing an MC that contradicts your own character can be tricky and hard to nail. But it's great if you're trying it. Now killing the character from his own point of view really isn't possible. But you know, I'm writing a novel myself where one of the major character is going to die and he is narrating it himself and it's in present tense. Maybe the way I plan to write it will give you some ideas? My character dies when he is free falling from the sky (long story!) but basically his last words/thoughts are cut off by a hyphen. For eg. The ground is approaching and as it does, the regret I had successfully succeeded to push back in the depths of my heart begins to surface again. Three words that had been so difficult to say to Aariyah all these years come so easily now. But my lips can't form the words. And she can't hear me. I'm expecting blackness, intense pain - anything. I'm expecting - And cut off. This is just something I wrote just now, because I havent still written this part, but it's just an idea. It makes the ending more dramatic.
