Sunday, January 8, 2012

Interesting Turn of Events

So I have been working on my character development for the past couple of days. Now that I have begun working on my minor characters, I have realized that a lot of them will become major characters in future books in the series. In the process of doing all of this my current story is changing. Have you any of you experienced this odd phenomenon? As you worked on your character development, your story changed?
Now I understand that my story is very character driven but regardless, I am glad I haven't written too awful much. Also, most of the story changes take place later in the 2nd and 3rd act, but now they require some type of build up. Am I over thinking this?

3 comments:

  1. I can't say that I've had my story change in the character development stage. frankly, I don't go big into character background . I just generate enough development that I have a good handle on all of my characters. The reason why I do this is because I have found that while writing the story. Often times the characters themselves dictate what they'll do, as the story progresses. This is true whether the story is character based or not, I find that sometimes your creative muse takes you in another direction than you ever conceived in the beginning.

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  2. Krista I would say you aren't overthinking this, but I'm a designer by profession so my point of view might be a bit skewed.

    If you are working on a character driven story, as you grow your characters, yes the story will change. But even if the story isn't character driven a headstrong character can still take your plot in different directions. There are a lot of elements to a story but characters are the actors, the players, the cast. They are the eyes and ears for the readers. Whether first, third, or omniscient pov they are going to dictate where your story goes.

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  3. This has happened over and over again to me, even now after I'm pretty far along into my story. In using Victoria's BIAM process, I've discovered it is very important to write while following the book because the plot changes as the characters grow and interact with one another. Some writer's outline and research before ever starting to write their story. I like writing the story as it's being told. For me a story grows out of getting to know your characters and listening to how they would react or what they would really say in a given situation.

    At the end of writing Act I, I discovered it was actually Act II and have had to go back to write Act I. Anne Lamont writes about this in her book on writing, "Bird by Bird." After being rejected by her publisher, she spent a weekend reorganizing sections and chapters of her book and then it was finally published.

    After several rewrites your story will be different from the one you are telling now. I try to look at it like an exciting writing adventure. So we end up having two, the adventure of the actual story telling and the adventure of writing an ever evolving story.

    I'm happy you are sticking with your blog. I tried this when doing BIAM a few years back on my creative blog http://cattalesandpinetrees.blogspot.com. The blog has turned into something else relating to our creative process and reflects my journey in finding ways to stay creative everyday. I'm enjoying reading about your experience with BIAM. Good Luck!

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