From the Fiction Desk

A writer sits down to work on a fictional piece. They spend hours, days, weeks, months, and even years working on a carefully crafted plot. So, why is it that when they start putting words on paper and living in the universe they have created things change?

It is an interesting phenomenon that exists in writing, and to be honest I am not sure if it effects all writers. If you are a writer and are reading this, please tell me if this happens to you. This will not be a scientific poll, but it would be curious to see the outcome. Personally, it happens to me quite often. I have spent time thinking on the causes of this phenomenon and I have come to a personal conclusion. I could write this conclusion in complicated formula that would make any academic formula writer’s mouth water. I won’t.

Instead, let me relate story writing to online dating. When you are looking at someone’s online profile you see the person for who they want you to see them for. This is the same as the characters when you first put them on paper and plot out their stories. You have an idea—vague or what appears to be crystal clear—as to whom they are, what they want, how they will behave, or even where the story will take them step by step.

The actual writing of the story is like going on a date with this person. You take what you thought the person was and now you see them in the real world. No longer are they just a name and description on the computer. They are moving and (regretfully sometimes) talking. As time goes on, you begin to peal away the layers of the façade they have placed on themselves for you to see. You learn to see them for who they are and learn that the idea of who and what they are may have been too grand or fallen short of the real person. This is true of your characters and how they interact in their universe.

Of course, you can force the character to conform to the description they gave you when you plotted your story. It is an easier chore than trying to force a person to live up to their online profile, but just as fake. When I read myself doing this or I read another author’s work and see that they are forcing their characters and universe to conform with their preconceived ideas the world becomes a chess board, the people merely pawns moving as automatons rather than having depth of character or desires of their own.

It is dangerous to believe that a plot line must be adhered to as if etched in stone. Many writing teachers of creative and non-creative writing that I encountered force this on their students. There is a reason for the plot or outline, as it is a guide to get the writer from point A to point Z. It is not an exact recipe that if not adhered to will cause the meal to fail. It must allow for the genius of the mind to be flexible and discover as it goes.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for up to date information on the articles, blogs, novels, and short stories that I write.