Hello PA :: Elsewhere! I hope your first week of writing went well. I already offed two main characters in the first five hundred words. I’m on a roll.
Events in the area are hopping. We have write ins taking place in Reading, Hazleton, Erie, and many other places. Please keep an eye on the calender for events happening in your area. Write ins will be denoted by ‘WriteIn :: ‘ followed by the area they take place in. I’m hoping to stay on top of everything this year as far as mini-events. If you want help organising a write in, just let me know.
Today’s theme for the blog post will be How to Handle Unruly Characters. Ever had those characters who just won’t get out of your head no matter how much room you give them? There are numerous ways of getting those characters to behave, and I’ve collected a few for you over the course of my travels through Nano.
- Let them go – Just let the character go off and do whatever s/he feels is awesome. It will lead your story into truly interesting places and you will never be short of words. Don’t be afraid of the character if you didn’t plan for her/him. Allow the character to become pivotal to the story if s/he wishes. Sometimes this pushes the MC aside, but that’s all right. There’s always next year.
- Listen to your characters – If your story is lagging, take a look at your characters. Did you force them into something that was out of their persona? Are you perhaps approaching a scene from the wrong point of view? If you’re having a hard time getting through a particular scene, take a step back and look at it. Perhaps all it needs is another view point. And remember, don’t delete anything (move it to another document and save it for later if you have to get rid of something).
- Use the Hammer of Justice – If your characters are still misbehaving, you are allowed to use the Hammer of Justice. This Hammer, when waved threateningly above your characters, will force them to behave. I suggest using it as a last resort.
Any other suggestions? How do you make your characters behave?
larienvalar Said:
on November 7, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Haha, that is some great advice for characters, thanks!
Also, uh, I didn’t see a link for the chat that’s on the calendars/mentioned in blog posts. I’m wondering where I might find that?
tresacho Said:
on November 7, 2010 at 10:14 pm
The chat URLs can be found in the ‘Notes from your ML’ section of the Elsewhere forum prior to the chat time.