"Do Your Characters Ever Run Away With the Story"?

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

I've been doing readings from my fiction since the 90’s and one of the common questions I get afterwards is "Do your characters ever tell you what to do?" or "Do your characters ever get away from you?"

That question is a fascinating doorway into how people tend to perceive authors and the writing process--and how they might want to.

My answer is plain: Never.  And here's what I mean.  Everything that appears in my books, every aspect of plot, setting, dialogue, characterization, action is mine.  Hell, the punctuation is mine, or as much mine as anything can be in this life of transience. 

I created it all, and even if I got advice from an editor or was inspired by other writers, the final form is mine.  The words are mine,  the rhythms are mine.  It's all shaped by me as a writer, as an artist, consciously and unconsciously.

My characters are not independent of who I am.  They don't speak to me: I speak through them.

Saying a character surprised me is dramatic, but it's not really accurate.  I surprised myself.  Something was churning away inside, some unexpected connection got made that changed what I was working on.  This happens constantly when we write: a mix of editing and revision and creation at the sentence level, the chapter level, and anywhere else.

But many writers love to grin and say, "Yes" in answer to the question above, and they tell dramatic stories that make audiences smile and even laugh.  It seems to confirm something to non-writers about what it's like to write; it makes the whole experience more romantic and glamorous than it actually is. And maybe even reinforces the idea that writers are a bit odd (to say the least).

Once I was nearing the end of a Nick Hoffman mystery and realized I had picked the wrong person to commit the murder.  It wasn't the murderer speaking to me, or the victim piping up, or even the gun giving me advice. As I was writing the book, new scenes and ideas changed the novel’s topography. New choices, new possibilities had emerged as I wrote and thought about the book.

In the middle of my current novel-in-progress, the arrival of a character I had planned to enter the story has set in motion changes that I didn’t originally see, exciting changes that are deepening the book. She’s become so important that I’ve ended up changing my plans for the final scenes of the novel to make her central, not peripheral. Of course, when I get there, the situation could change again. And that’s exciting.

These revelations, quiet or otherwise, come from the mind of a writer hopefully spinning straw into gold. And after a long and fruitful career, I'm glad those moments keep coming.

Lev Raphael escaped academia years ago to write and review full-time and is the author of 27 books in many genres. He edits, coaches, and mentors writers at https://www.writewithoutborders.com and you can contact him at raphael1836@gmail.com for a free consultation.