How many of you find your characters tell you how you shouldbe writing a scene you’re working on?
In my YA horror novel, the potential love interest wasn’t supposed to kiss the main character until three-quarters of the way into the book. He totally disagreed with me and kissed her at the quarter mark. And you know what? He was right (just don’t tell him that!). By kissing her earlier than I had planned, it introduced the conflict I needed.
With my YA suspense, a secondary character decided he wanted a more important role. He gave himself a promotion. Now he’s the almost-best-friend-who’s-a-boy to the female protagonist. While he still doesn’t appear in a huge amount of scenes, he was able to worm his way into a few more during the rewrites. I did, though, duct tape his mouth shut when I read through the manuscript again; otherwise, I knew he would have nudged his way into a few more.
Should we listen to our characters when they tell us we’ve got it all wrong? Hell yes! It’s not really your characters who are talking. It’s your subconscious telling you what deep down you already know. Of course, if your character’s suggestions look like they are going to derail your novel, you might want to ignore them. But like with any feedback, at least give their suggestions the consideration they deserve. You might be thrilled with the outcome.
Has this happen to you? Has one of your characters (especially a secondary character) tried to steer you in a different direction? Did you let them?