Controlling Characters, Help!

[DearEmma]

First, I admit it's all my fault. I should have written the entire story before I submitted the first part. But I had never written an erotic story before and thought I'd submit the first chapter and see if people liked it and decide whether I should continue.

Well, they did. So I wrote the second part and I had fun and my characters had fun, and I submitted it and folks really like it so far.

So, I sit down to write the third part and it's time to get the plot moving. I introduce an antagonist/nemesis who threatens to expose my girl if she doesn't have sex with him. Instead of going off on a reluctant interlude my girl goes all dark on me. She gets desperate and gets a gun. A GUN? WTF?

Now, usually I go where the character takes me, but this is an erotic story and there is no sex in sight, at least not with this guy. But it does work out to a good story. My concern is that it is not what my readers will expect. Hey, it's not what I expected. I don't want to disappoint.

What do you do when your characters go off and you need to rein them in a bit? Do you? Will my audience understand/forgive me? Should I write it out her way and then write an alternative?

Advice, please! And thank you.

btw: story is The Secret Life of the Invisible Girl
http://*******.com/ygclqsk

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

All my characters write their own stories. If the reader doesn't like what they write, fuck um.

As far as the question of how does this fit with the rest of the stories? Why worry? Each chapter posted on Lit is taken to be an individual story anyway. Don't worry about what the reader expects. The reader is a low live, uneducated wanker anyway.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

like jen says - fuck um.

 

[_Lynn_]

Yup, mine write their own stories as well.

And each chapter can go in dif cats too.

 

[3113]

JJ is right. Let the story go where it's going to go. As for the lack of sex in this section:

(1) If the parts are labeled, as they ought to be, 1, 2, 3....then people know this is a chapter and not a story--and even if they start to read it as a "story," they'll know they have to go back to #1 and start there. In such cases, very few of even our low life wankers expect each and every chapter to have sex.

So don't worry about either disappointing the wankers, or failing in writing erotica. The story is the story.

(2) If they know it's an on-going story, and they like it, then you've hooked them and they'll "endure" a chapter with no sex to get to the next chapter with sex.

(3) How long is each chapter? How long is this chapter? If you've been making them short (like a single lit page), why not make this one longer? See where it goes? the woman might run to someone to console her after she's shot the guy and have sex. Maybe you just need to make this chapter a bit longer.

 

[3113]

And each chapter can go in dif cats too.

They can, but I, personally, have found that's not usually the best idea. The people who read a certain cat usually want to read through the story appearing in that cat to the end not jump categories, and those who get the chapter in the middle, reading that because it's in a category they like, get mad because it's a middle chapter not the whole book.

 

[_Lynn_]

They can, but I, personally, have found that's not usually the best idea. The people who read a certain cat usually want to read through the story appearing in that cat to the end not jump categories, and those who get the chapter in the middle, reading that because it's in a category they like, get mad because it's a middle chapter not the whole book.

Very true. I keep mine in the same cat too. But it's an option, which was my only point.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Jesus Effing Christ.

I think it was John Gardner who said that sooner or later you gotta learn how to plot & outline an effing story. All the free-association bullshit takes you exactly to where you are...nowhere in particular. Lajos Egri isnt as sensitive and kind as Gardner was about outlines and plots, he said I'M IN A BIG FUCKING HURRY WITH NO IDEA WHERE I'M GOING when I free associate the story. Its all scenery and no destination.

 

[DearEmma]

Thank you for your comments and for reminding me that characters rule. And a woman with a gun is not entirely devoid of erotic possibilities.

JBJ: I find if I'm a slave to my outline and ignore where my characters take me, they get mad and even and I end up with bullshit. I like to stay open to how my characters develop and wondered what other writers do when their characters want to change course.

 

[TxRad]

Thank you for your comments and for reminding me that characters rule. And a woman with a gun is not entirely devoid of erotic possibilities.

JBJ: I find if I'm a slave to my outline and ignore where my characters take me, they get mad and even and I end up with bullshit. I like to stay open to how my characters develop and wondered what other writers do when their characters want to change course.

Write what you want to write and write it your way. Here on Lit. we write for fun and to learn.

Take JBJ with a dose of salts and a couple of aspirin. They won't do anything to or for him but they will make your stomach and head feel better. Check out what he has posted to this site. If you were writing for publication with specific guidelines then he might be right but most of us are here to have a little fun.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thank you for your comments and for reminding me that characters rule. And a woman with a gun is not entirely devoid of erotic possibilities.

JBJ: I find if I'm a slave to my outline and ignore where my characters take me, they get mad and even and I end up with bullshit. I like to stay open to how my characters develop and wondered what other writers do when their characters want to change course.

You can do it however it pleases you, but when you come here and solicit advice dont play the YES, BUT! Game with respondents.

WHEN YOUR EFFING CHARACTERS TAKE OVER YOU CONTROL THEM WITH AN OUTLINE AND A PLOT.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Write what you want to write and write it your way. Here on Lit. we write for fun and to learn.

Take JBJ with a dose of salts and a couple of aspirin. They won't do anything to or for him but they will make your stomach and head feel better. Check out what he has posted to this site. If you were writing for publication with specific guidelines then he might be right but most of us are here to have a little fun.

My advice is correct regardless of what I do or dont post here. The stupid bitch can have an orgy of loose associations and tangential word salad for all I care, but if she wants out of the problem she needs to learn to outline and plot. Silly shit that you are merely encourages her to keep doing the same.

 

[DearEmma]

Alrighty then.

 

[scouries]

AHland isn't the best place to ask advice about our readers...

QUOTE dearemma My concern is that it is not what my readers will expect. Hey, it's not what I expected. I don't want to disappoint.

What do you do when your characters go off and you need to rein them in a bit? Do you? Will my audience understand/forgive me? Should I write it out her way and then write an alternative?

Good for you! At least you’re asking the question. You’re one of the few AHers who has grasped the concept that an author does have some responsibility to her readers.

Don’t even listen to these three. They’re simply out to lunch. They publish their work here on LITEROTICA and bask in every adoring comment. Then lie in bed at night in a near orgasmic state as they think of the hundreds or thousands of reported readers their stories have garnered. But when they receive the slightest criticism?

QUOTE MISSbadAVATAR If the reader doesn't like what they write, fuck um. As far as the question of how does this fit with the rest of the stories? Why worry? Each chapter posted on Lit is taken to be an individual story anyway. Don't worry about what the reader expects. The reader is a low live, uneducated wanker anyway

QUOTE appleboy like jen says - fuck um

QUOTE 1313 very few of even our low life wankers expect each and every chapter to have sex…So don't worry about either disappointing the wankers, or failing in writing erotica.

Don’t worry about the readers they advise. Utter idiocy…

Of course you have to think of your readers. And doubly or triply so for a story you’ve already published parts of. Our readers aren’t fools my dear.

You have every right to do what you want with your story. Just remember that if you fuck with them they may never read anything else you write and publish in the future.

james r scouries

 

[sr71plt]

I mostly agree with JBJ on this one--and outlining the story to death isn't the only other option.

If an author warned me when they posted the first segment of the story that they hadn't written any more of it yet, I wouldn't even start reading the story.

Emma's first sentence is true, I'm afraid. It really is her fault she feels in this bind.

 

[NoJo]

I have that problem with my characters. And it IS actually a problem, which requires reigning in, otherwise your "story" is in danger of meandering, losing dramatic direction.

Of course, it's fun to watch your characters develop as you write, and writing should be fun.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Unless your brain is controlled by space aliens what your characters do or dont do are your expressions; its fun to pretend characters are different from us but they erupt from our skulls. If you cant control a character, the bottomline is you cant control yourself.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I have that problem with my characters. And it IS actually a problem, which requires reigning in, otherwise your "story" is in danger of meandering, losing dramatic direction.

Of course, it's fun to watch your characters develop as you write, and writing should be fun.

Life meanders. Why shouldn't a story? I never outline. I do admit to going back to the beginning when I'm finished in an attempt to make the story coherent. But if the characters have their own ideas of how a story should go, how much different is that from children? Just because you start something doesn't put you in control of it throughout its lifetime.

 

[lance gt]

Emma, writing should always be fun, regardless if your story veers off in a direction you hadn't planned on. I agree with Jimmy on some points, (not his verbal abusiveness towards you, bad Jimmy) and agree with others on theirs as well.
You should always have a conceptual idea of what your story is about and don't deviate from it. If you've found that your character development has taken a new path, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
You must make sure that the twist in the plot fits the idea of the story and doesn't detract from it's intended purpose. This can lead to more chapters having to be written to explain it and conclude it in the story. KISS is a good rule to follow when this happens and don't let it side-track your story to another level.
Erotic writing comes in many shapes and forms and as long as this new development fits in to what the character's personality is established as, it can work. If it doesn't, save it as a plot bunny for another one. I've had this happen to me as well and I'm quite sure most other writers too.
I agree whole-heartedly with writing for yourself and not your readers. Your job is to write, theirs to read. Stay focused and in control of your developments and don't let yourself be dissuaded by comments or suggestions.
It's your story. Write it, and write it well.

 

[NoJo]

Life meanders. Why shouldn't a story? I never outline. I do admit to going back to the beginning when I'm finished in an attempt to make the story coherent. But if the characters have their own ideas of how a story should go, how much different is that from children? Just because you start something doesn't put you in control of it throughout its lifetime.

That's a very different style of writing than I aspire to. I like to have a pretty clear idea of the end when I start to write. The protagonists have to talk and act "in character", true, and as active agents they will have a strong effect on the story. Moreover the main protagonists will almost certainly be changed by the time the story ends. But I strongly disagree that writers should be "surprised" by the protagonists' behaviour. That to me just indicates that the writer doesn't actually a story in mind

 

[driphoney]

Life meanders. Why shouldn't a story? I never outline. I do admit to going back to the beginning when I'm finished in an attempt to make the story coherent. But if the characters have their own ideas of how a story should go, how much different is that from children? Just because you start something doesn't put you in control of it throughout its lifetime.

You can do whatever the heck you want with your story, that's what I'm doing. And the readers can do whatever they want, too. Like back click.

I'm sure there are many excellent writers who can create an intriguing and complex tale that thoroughly satiates the reader without doing anything more than moving from scene to scene until the conclusion. As a beginning writer, I allow myself to roam around--shoot, I don't know how to do much else--but I'm always reminded of Swiss Family Robinson when this topic comes up. That started out to be a great children's tale. I loved it ... until it was so unbelievable it had me grinding my teeth and I had to stop reading and wonder why on earth it was considered a classic. Talk about losing your head as a writer! What's that called? Verisimilitude? If you allow your characters to run off too far, or the plot to meander too much, you've lost it. And what if you end up with my problem and no action shows up? Talk about dull.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Unless your brain is controlled by space aliens what your characters do or dont do are your expressions; its fun to pretend characters are different from us but they erupt from our skulls. If you cant control a character, the bottomline is you cant control yourself.

It is, of course, not really a matter of controlling your characters. You're a writer: they'll do what you say. If you want them to all die in the quicksand, they will. Rather, losing control of your characters is a sign that you're allowing the creative process to take over during the writing portion of story construction.

In engineering, they call such a deviation from plan an "excursion", which is a perfect description of what happens. In jazz they call it an improvisation. In writing it's what happens when character trumps plot. Your characters aren't as developed as your plot, and so as they develop personalities, they suddenly balk at what you'd had planned for them. This happens because it's a lot easier to outline plots then it is to develop characters. That's probably why so many characters are cliches, and why the more involved the plot is, the more cliched they seem to be.

The kinds of stories I tend to write are pretty simple and certainly don't need an outline. Two, maybe three people, an occurrence, and their reactions. That means I can give my characters lots of room in which to develop, and I need that room. I can't feel a story until I start to write it, and try as I might, I just never know my characters until I'm writing them.

So I start with a rough plot, then let my characters decide what happens, then once I see what the story's about, I go back and spruce up the plot so it looks like it was all a clever plan.

I guess I outline by writing.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Life meanders. Why shouldn't a story? I never outline. I do admit to going back to the beginning when I'm finished in an attempt to make the story coherent. But if the characters have their own ideas of how a story should go, how much different is that from children? Just because you start something doesn't put you in control of it throughout its lifetime.

Then I guess you have space aliens in charge inside your skull, and if you dont, then what happens is all your's, dear.
When the story deviates from the outline or plot, you change the outline to get an idea if the train is off the track.

 

[TxRad]

It is, of course, not really a matter of controlling your characters. You're a writer: they'll do what you say. If you want them to all die in the quicksand, they will. Rather, losing control of your characters is a sign that you're allowing the creative process to take over during the writing portion of story construction.

In engineering, they call such a deviation from plan an "excursion", which is a perfect description of what happens. In jazz they call it an improvisation. In writing it's what happens when character trumps plot. Your characters aren't as developed as your plot, and so as they develop personalities, they suddenly balk at what you'd had planned for them. This happens because it's a lot easier to outline plots then it is to develop characters. That's probably why so many characters are cliches, and why the more involved the plot is, the more cliched they seem to be.

The kinds of stories I tend to write are pretty simple and certainly don't need an outline. Two, maybe three people, an occurrence, and their reactions. That means I can give my characters lots of room in which to develop, and I need that room. I can't feel a story until I start to write it, and try as I might, I just never know my characters until I'm writing them.

So I start with a rough plot, then let my characters decide what happens, then once I see what the story's about, I go back and spruce up the plot so it looks like it was all a clever plan.

I guess I outline by writing.

That's the way it works for me. Short story or novel. It doesn't matter. Since I've sold all three novels, I guess it works for publishers also.

 

[sr71plt]

You should always have a conceptual idea of what your story is about and don't deviate from it.

I think you can deviate from your original concept as you write--and if/as you find a better story going off on a tangent. If you do, I just think you need to carefully make sure that what you have already written serves the story as you have reconceived it--and recast if it doesn't. THAT's why it's a bear to post earlier parts of a story before you've actually completed a story.

(And I must say, coming out of the OP, if an author is only beginning to put in a plot in chapter 3, I also would rather not read that story. I'd rather watch wallpaper peel.)

And on that meandering bit brought up by VM, stories are not a duplicate of life at all. If they were, most words in a story would be Ummm or Ya Know? and everyone would repeat the same thing three times all the time but no character would complete a sentence before another character butted in. A good story does not just meander around.

On characters just doing what they want to do, I say that too because it really sounds nice. But I don't kid myself that that's what's really happening. My mind is working stories beyond my consciousness. Characters can go in directions my consciousness didn't take them--and I try to keep my mind open to that and let it happen--but it's still my mind that has given any action or characteristic to the character at all. At some level I'm still in control--I'm just keeping that control loose to be open to the possibilities and the creativity my mind is capable of.