Do your characters ever hiijack your story?

So I'm writing this novel and on the outline I decided that things would be a certain way - how all my characters would be and act, and there's this guy who I thought would be just really nice and funny. Then Im writing the story and suddenly he's lying to the main character and playing the victim? I just see the scenes happening so clearly in my head and the story unfolding, it's like I'm not even in control and all I do is type it down. Does this happen to you guys? Should I go with the flow or stick to the original outline?

 

My characters do this all the time. I'm more like an embedded reporter who watches what happens and tells the story that way. I can plan, but my characters rarely stick to the plan. My advice is to let your characters tell the story, but that's what works for me. You might not work well that way, so maybe experiment with it and see what works best for you.

 

This is why I don't do outlining. It's just so much more fun to be along for the ride. I would go with the flow, though I wouldn't even know it had been disrupted in my case. Whatever works for you is good. Why not just see where it goes?

Edit: I agree with @Sclavus (we posted at the same time apparently).

 

What bothers me is that I spent so much time doing the planning and suddenly they do this to me? I guess it's a good thing though, it's like they're showing me what fits the story best, I guess? I think I will just let them talk to me and see what happens

 

They are inconsiderate that way, sometimes. I still do rough outlines of what I want to have happen, but I leave the specifics to my characters. Sometimes they'll tell you a story and get themselves up against a wall, so it's good to have an outline to figure out how they'll get unstuck.

 

Trish I tried to write without an outline. It didn't work for me, I got stuck continuously and lost all motivation I had. With an oultine things are going rather good, I just get suprise how things change so fast. Maybe the best to do would combine both outline and natural developing of the story.

 

I hear you. Whatever works for you. Outlines make me lose motivation, because if I already know everything about what's going to happen it's not fun anymore.

 

I guess that's a good plan. I think outlining is like thinking about how a machine would work in theory and then when you procede to build this machine you realize it needs a lot of adjustments. But it's not like you would build a machine without a plan right? I think I will go with the flow, if it doesn't work out I will rewrite..

 

I'm afraid this way I'm having too much antagonists though. My main char already has a shitty boyfriend, a female enemy and now this guy? How much is too much?

 

The correct solution to this kind of behavior is a one-way helicopter ride. Take them up high and toss them out. That way, the rest know not to fuck with you. Although it's best not to do this on the pages of a children's book or anything.

Originally, my message went on from here, but I just realized that I misread what you wrote. As such, I have edited my response to include only the first part, which I think is actually pretty much the best thing to do here. If a character is fucking up your story, throw 'em out.

 

Write it, see what works, and rewrite it when you figure it out. My main character went from having been shot in combat to getting blown up, to losing his parents halfway through his recovery, to becoming a pill-popping addict and alcoholic. Then, once he faced all that down in his backstory, I tossed him head-first into the zombie apocalypse. Once it's written, I'll rewrite it and adjust as needed for the sake of flow, but generally speaking, I like what archer88i said: get them up in a helicopter and toss them out.

 

Wait so you mean like use him and then get rid of him ahaha?

 

You are a writer, madam. You sit astride a throne of skulls, overlooking an ocean filled with the tears of the damned! Use him and discard him in whatever way makes you smirk.

 

I think this might be the solution. Your story sounds pretty neat, writing action stories sounds so much fun. I'm just better with dialogue and character development, I have no idea where I'm going to get the descriptions I need from (like descriptions of places, and sunsets and stuff)

 

I think I'm in love with that description. Except that the throne sometimes feels like a plastic chair and the ocean of tears a puddle of rain water

 

Welcome to my world. I do best with characters and dialog. It really helps that my story is set in a real world place (my hometown). I can just steal inspiration from my city. My other story is set in a fictional bunker, and trying to figure out the description is a pain in the ass. I do enjoy writing the action scenes, though. It's a lot of fun to get a character surrounded by bad guys, give him a spork, and tell him to call me if he has any problems.

 

Oh yes, this happens to me all the time! Over time I've begun to look at it not as the characters having a life of their own though, but more realizing that my unconscious brain is more involved in the writing process than I'd ever imagined.

 

Does anyone find that once a book is finished and you have enjoyed writing it so much, that the characters don't leave your head and it's hard to move on to the next book? I am a year down the line and they are still there.

 

What've you got against sequels?

 

Bwahahahahaha! Sequels? You must have missed what I said about the throne of skulls--gotta have surviving characters to have a sequel!

(Ok, ok, I'm only kidding...)

 

I have only done short story stuff.

Usually I know what the end will be. Then my characters behaves reasonable, they will now and then add some humor.

The real problem is when I write "free", without any idea. Then anything happens. I usually avoid that.

But I forced myself to write something for the short story contest last month.
I had no idea, the prompts didn't give me any idea more than good vs evil.

So a guy that kills his girlfriend by smashing her head with a hammer and now he is going to explain what happened. As I started to give him a little background I lost the whole thing. This was a nice guy. I completed the story, they get engaged in the end and I even put in a little magic. I couldn't enter the contest with that.

So unless you have a strong outline don't let your characters talk to much. They can have their own agenda.

 

I find this fascinating. I can’t say I’ve had this experience of characters hijacking the plot before. Sometimes I get to a point where I feel a certain part of my plan won’t work with one or more character(s), but I always have to decide what happens instead. I wish I had experienced this way though. It sounds much more enjoyable than staring blankly at the screen and trying to come up with something that’ll work!

 

You can go back and correct the course of the story if you wish. I would run with it, finish the first draft, then decide what to do. I think characters hijacking a story means you're developing them and getting to know them as you go, or more accurately your subconscious is steering you as you write.
I've not had a character hijack my current project, but that's because I planned the first draft with military precision to avoid it turning into mush.

It may take you down a path that's better than what you planned in the first place, but watch out your characters don't open up any plot holes for you. Make sure their motivations still ring true.

 

I'd say if an outline helps you get started and helps you to visualise your story, then by all means use one. But don't be resistant to changing 'the plan' if you discover, partway along, that your characters know more than you do. They often tell YOU what the story will focus on, once you get to know them.

I find that getting to know my characters better deepens the story for me. What I originally thought of as a superficial 'trait' can turn out to be much more significant. For example, one of my two main characters became more stubborn than I'd originally envisioned him to be. I learned the reason for that. His stubbornness impacted on other characters, who sometimes became irritated, sometimes more sympathetic. It's all an organic process, but of course I kept the general thrust of the story in mind. But yes, some things will change, and these kinds of changes are always for the better. I always go with them.