I had a moment where characters went to a place to do two things. But they did one and left. And I got so caught up and forgot to have them do the second thing. And now I'm like. "Wait. Should I go back and edit it in or if I got so distracted (admittedly the scene was moving fast so then forgetting in the moment is valid) so maybe I should keep in that they got distracted. How would you pick between said options
If you forgot it, maybe it wasn't important enough to add? Or if it was important, then add it in as best as you can. I wouldn't add that they got distracted and didn't do the thing, because that feels superfluous, but I do not know your story.
It was definitely important They were reviewing a security feed and they saw something important and immediately left The thing they forgot was to free the prisoner cuz the feed distracted me so I forgot lol I thought it could be funny if they forgot too But you make a point
It sounds like you accidentally set up a possible plot twist. Consider what ramifications could come from the characters forgetting about the prisoners being locked up. How could it come back to haunt them? We all make mistakes when writing, how do we turn that to our advantage In the story we are working on.
This. Sometimes I'm writing, and something just pops up or someone says something unexpected, and I say "whaaa?" But then I think about it and I usually go with it, because it makes sense. Maybe this is what happened to you - go with it and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, you can always go back and fix it.
And folks, we now see why a story's themes are extremely important. 99% of plot and character development questions are answered by having a specific thing each character is supposed to tell us as it relates to the overarching theme. So, to your question. Do irresponsibility and forgetfulness have any consistency with the characters as they are developed so far and does that tie back to your story's themes? If the answer is "no" then you rewrite. If it's "yes." It fits perfectly with the characters and what you're trying to say, then you have a happy accident. If the answer is "Both" then you don't have a theme, and I suggest you start thinking about one.
Personally, I would probably go back and add it in, especially if it's something important to your story. We have control over our writing as a piece goes through stages and drafts. And you still have that control even when getting caught up in some of the initial writing. It's important not to get too attached to the initial writing and remember that all the elements of a story need to work together for a project to be successful. However, I have to disagree with @Kalisto when it comes to themes. I never think about themes or anything like that. Sure, my writing has themes, but I guess they develop organically. I had a mentor that told me to forget all about themes. He said that sort of thing can mess up a story. It ended up being good advice for me and I believe it helped my writing.
Dude, a theme is literally, "What is your story about?" So, if your story is about... well, anything, then you have a theme. It's the main concept or idea that you're trying to cover with your story. It doesn't have to be complex. Or mind-blowing. It doesn't have to reveal the secrets of the universe. Or be otherwise earth-shattering. It doesn't have to be serious. That's what I mean when I say write to themes. When people get stuck on "Oh, should the character make choice A or choice B?" then it might help just to take a step back and look at your story as a whole: Beyond the scene itself. What I've seen a lot of authors, mostly in comic books, but I can't imagine that it won't be anywhere else, is that they have characters do these pointless things to make them... you know, relatable. So they'll have a team of superheroes sitting at a table arguing over what some fruit is called (I am not making this up) for two pages. In a 32-page comic, that's a long time to be fighting over fruit and for what? Bet you anything, the author thought that would be cute and funny and "organic" (whatever that means) way to introduce these team members, but it wasn't. This author wasn't thinking about the themes. They were writing to their characters and not thinking about what they were trying to say.
That doesn't sound like writing to characters either. It sounds like the editor wants so many words by morning, how do I fill space.
My characters sometimes do as they please. I try to aim them in the right direction, but then I remember the period they live in and let them roam a bit. When I reread it back, especially to another. I don't always recognize the tone. Did I write that?
Congratulations. You know your characters on a deep enough level, that they are starting to write themselves. That is not an easy thing to do. Like trying to write a scene but you just can't because deep inside the way you have the scene going doesn't fit the character.
