When who does what?
When the characters in a story you are writing want to go off in a direction you hadn’t planned and the plot of the story morphs itself into one you don’t recognise starting or indeed writing.
That’s what’s happened to me. I’m currently working on a project which I’ve provisionally called “Professional Misconduct”. It was supposed to be a re-write of “Reunion”, with added subplots and a bit more sex. Simple, straightforward re-write. Not a problem.
Except, that’s not what’s happened. I’ve made small changes along the way, and now I’m left at a point in the story where what I’d originally planned to happen, no longer makes sense. Which means the title no longer makes sense either, but that’s by the bye.
You see, I had planned for my male lead, a lawyer, to have an affair with a client, hence the Misconduct. But from the position I’ve written the female lead into I can’t see how she would be his client anymore. So I need to re-think things. I didn’t write them into this position – they did it themselves. They drove the course of the plot to this point. And now I have to work out where to take it.
See why I hate it when that happens?
The good news is that I’ve spent some time this morning in correspondence with Cassie Exline, a very dear friend of mine who’s always given me good advice – she’s like my little writing angel, sitting on my shoulder and whispering in my ear. I won’t tell you what she whispers most of the time though, that’s between me and her – and my Phaze editor, who’s rapidly becoming a very good friend and offering very good advice too. And between them, I’ve managed to thrash out what I think is the basic plot for the rest of this story. Or at least, I’ve managed to work out the character’s histories and futures, which amounts to the same thing, doesn’t it?
I’m actually quite pleased with myself at the moment. So please, I’m eating an Easter egg.
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