When the Characters Wander Away From the Outline

I've been re-writing. This can be a good thing. It took me years to be able to re-write. I, erroneously, used to think that every sentence that left my head was a gem. They're not. I'm good with this.

However, now I find myself in danger of endlessly re-writing, and not forwarding the story at all. I know, I know, most people would advise me not to re-write until I get to the end of the first draft. I suppose that's good advice, providing you can plot a story before you start writing....but that's not the way I work.


I create characters. I give them names, and personalities and voices of their own. Then they tell me the story they need to tell. For this most part this is fun. This is the reason why I write. It's cheaper than going to the movies. On the other hand, even when I think I know where the story is going, I'm frequently wrong.

The book I'm working on right now started out as a straight romance. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, have some hot sex, overcome a few conflicts ::brushes off hands:: and we're done. Sounds good, no?

Well....as I said, that's where I started. Then I find out my heroine hasn't gotten divorced yet. Then I found out that she doesn't want to be victim of her past, but she's much more forward thinking than that.

I set my hero up with one plot line, and it turned out that didn't work for him. So, we went in a different direction.

Of course, this all happened after I had written about 200 pages.

So, back to the dreaded words, Chapter One, Page One.

The next version was better....I like the storyline a lot more, but in doing so, in trying so hard to catch up to where I thought I was, I lost my voice. Ooops. Fortunately I have a critique group that was willing to tell me it sucked. I agreed. In fact, I realized it before they had a chance to tell me.

On to the next version.

This time, I got the voices back. But (and there's always a but), I tried a point of view device that was supposed to pick up the pace of the story, but....failed....miserably.

Chapter One, Page One.

The last week or so has been about fixing that. What I have now are 150+ manuscript pages that I really like. I have another 4 pages of notes that will turn into the next 250-300 pages. I'm pretty sure I know how this is going to get resolved.

I have promised my Crit Group that I won't go back and re-write the first 138 pages....again.

Except that I have to insert a few scenes to make a character that appears in the prologue show up before page 125. that's not too bad.

But what I have is a story that examines infidelity and romance...with a little sex thrown in. Straight romance? Not any more. But this is the book I need to write.

However, writing this isn't getting that story moved forward. So, until next time.....