something happened on the way.

Something happened on the way to the end of my novel.  I had it all planned out.  The ending was in sight.  I knew how I was going to wrap it up.  Then it happened.

The characters decided they didn’t want to leave.  They had other plans.  They took a detour.  Instead of winding down to a finish they decided to go another course and into a new adventure.  I shouted out “what are you doing!?  This is not what I wanted!”  But they didn’t listen.  They just kept going.  Now I’ve got to figure out a new way to end this.  And not only that, I also have to figure out where they’re going and what kind of obstacles they’re going to encounter.

This is not the first time I have come across uncooperative characters.  I think most of the time it turns out good, but it’s a lot more work for me.  Hey, I’ve got other books I want to write, other characters I want to create.  I haven’t got time to deal with characters who want to go their own way.

Am I the only one with this problem?  Does everyone else make a neat little outline and stick with it?  That would be nice, but then again I think my stories might be a little stiff and my characters like cardboard.  Maybe others don’t have that problem.

Okay, my characters do cause me problems sometimes.  I try to figure out who they are in the beginning and how they are supposed to act, but sometimes they fool me.  Once I started with a character that I thought was a good guy, but later he turned on me and became a bad guy in a good guy disguise.

Thinking about it now I really shouldn’t complain.  If it weren’t for them I would be bored.  The fact is one of the reasons I write is to see how it turns out.