Running Away From You?

I recently started writing my novel and am bordering on 12K words right now. And I got stuck, I know what needs to happen for the plot to continue, but there is a problem. My character grabbed my story and ran away with it, she changed it so that now she was taken care of when she was unconscious instead of left alone. So there is now an unknown person, probably a woman, standing in the doorway of her cave.

So now I have another character to discover before I can continue. This, I realize, actually makes my story stronger, having more character interaction, so I'm okay with it.

But I have a question. What do all of you do when your stories or characters get away from you and do something you didn't expect?

 

I've written four novels and am working on a fifth. It happens to me every time. I've decided that it's just part of the creative process, and the worst thing you can do is to try to stifle it. Just leave yourself open to the new possibilities and see where it leads you.

 

agreed with EdfromNY

 

Exactly! It's a lot of fun to see where it goes too.

 

Entirely normal - which is how come my two gruesome serial killers are now two loved up comedic policemen lol And my adult action/adventure is a young=adult fantasy, and my slapstick comedy is now a dark thriller/fantasy. If you are stuck Millie the Story Fairy is free until Sunday.

 

It doesn't happen as explicitly with me, but it does happen on a more subtle level, when I discover things about my characters - like hidden interests or personality traits - that may or may not change the plot. Sometimes it's enough to drastically change the character's personality.

 

Millie the Story Fairy?? Huh??? And I'm not too too stuck, I jsut need to figure out who this person is and why they are helping Lucillia before I can move on.

 

She is in my blog - I have story fairies they now have their own stories but I use them in first drafts to zap a story along when I am stuck - Milly does general and under 18s - if you want an over 18 story then I loan out Lir, Lug, Zeli and Mirka they are free until the 24th of April lol Although Lir and Lug are currently on loan lol yet to be returned.