Deeanne Gist - www.deeannegist.com - Inspirational Romance Author

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Characters on the Loose

A couple of days ago, Barb brought up an interesting question:

"Do your characters ever change unexpectedly as you're writing? Like a good girl becomes a bad girl, or a bad guy a good guy? That sorta thing, when it's not what you planned?"

The answer is yes and no. I write the plot out completely before I write the book (so I know how it ends). Because of that, I have character arcs for my good guys and my bad guys. It would mess up the whole novel if somebody switched saddles on me mid-stream. What occasionally happens, though, is a character will react to some event in an unexpected way.

For example, in Bride, when Josh returned from England after being betrayed by his finacee, I was so surprised to see how his bitterness came out in his dialog and actions. He was not at all the free-spirit he had been when he left. That was something that just sort of "happened" and I had not planned it.

Tomorrow we'll talk about whether or not events in the book pan out differently than I had planned.

posted by Deeanne at 12:28 PM

7 Comments:

Barb said...: Ah, but the Burned Male Syndrome came out very accurately in that situation too! Was it influenced by any of the males in your household? Or did it just burble forth from your creative mind and psyche?
Deeanne said...: Must have "burbled forth" somehow. It's really weird (and somewhat fun) when characters do stuff like that.
Barb said...: Soooo do you feel like your characters are like friends, or acquaintances, by the time you finish a book? People you know well, but maybe not 100%?
Jezreel said...: Sometimes I get done writing something and I feel -not like I know them- but like I AM them. Hehe.

As for Josh in Bride - my sister in law wants to know what happened to him when he left - like a continuation, only different ;) Just a suggestion for a future novel, eh? :P
Deeanne said...: Oh! More good questions and comments. Let's tackle those next week!
Meg said...: Love your "Burned Male Syndrome" line, Barb. So descriptive.

I liked the relationship the brothers had. It seemed real. Not all books are like that. I've read some books where characters seem real on their own, but their interactions with other characters don't ring true. Can you tell I spend a lot of time thinking about our imaginary friends? :)
Barb said...: Sometimes imaginary friends are the better option! :o) With 3 males in our house all well over 6 foot, "Burned Male Syndrome" is well-understood around here! But fortunately not the only experience they've had with the fairer sex...