Anyone ever lost a character?

[Colleen Thomas]

I was working on a story from an idea in the story discussion thread. I finished about 16 word pages in the first sitting, went to bed really psyched up to finish it today and I woke up to find I had totally lost the main character. Her motivations, ideas, plans, every handle I had on her is gone, even after rereading it's almost like readin someon else's character. I've had writer's block many times, but never such a complete blank on the personality of a character.

Has anyone else ever experienced this and if so any ideas on how to find her again?

-Colly

 

[wornoutkeyboard]

I have had this before....several times.

My best advice is that you just give it a day or two and try to think things through a little....but without over thinking them (does that make sense?). Just don't actually try to write anything until you can re-grasp your characters.

And then, I would suggest writing a few things that feature your character but aren't actually included in your story. Just things to get a feel for who your character is.

Don't dispair... I have never lost a character entirely.

~WOK

 

[sirhugs]

Good Idea.

Try writing part of the character's life story, unrelated to the Lit story, though you might end up using some of it.

What was her first kiss like?
Did she go to the prom? With who?
What was her best summer vacation?
where was her first job?
Write a para on any of those, or all.

Then pick a point in your story and explore her reaction to the events.not just what she feels but why- was her Mom distant? Dad domineering? Brother a teasse?

 

[pop_54]

I was working on a story from an idea in the story discussion thread. I finished about 16 word pages in the first sitting, went to bed really psyched up to finish it today and I woke up to find I had totally lost the main character. Her motivations, ideas, plans, every handle I had on her is gone, even after rereading it's almost like readin someon else's character. I've had writer's block many times, but never such a complete blank on the personality of a character.

Has anyone else ever experienced this and if so any ideas on how to find her again?

-Colly

As the others say, sit back and think about it, and for goodness sake don't panic, she'll come back to you eventually.

Maybe a good idea to develope her some more out of story, maybe even re-write a few little snippets inside the tale to make her come back to life.

I never lost a main character, but I have lost a few minor one's and supporting cast as it were. Sudenly thought what the f*** is he/she doing in this tale, no real worthwhile contribution to the plot so out they have to go, I tend to over complicate things for myself by chucking too many characters into the melting pot.

I wrote a couple of experimental tales a while back, dialogue only, not one word of descriptive narrative in them, One wasn't too bad with just three characters, the other went out of control and I wound up with about six characters. Making sense of their conversations and what the hell was going on without being able to say other than via their words was a nightmare.

I wasn't over happy with either story, but I posted them and as long as they sit above 4 in the voting etc I'll leave them in, my point here is, during the writing I kept losing characters and then finding them again, I wrote one guy out, then wrote him back in later in one story of mine.

Your lady will re-appear love, give her time.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Thanks to you all. The character I am writing has recently lost her leg. In writing her I was highly concious of her disfigurment and how it would effect her as a person and especially in a sexual situation. At some point I slipped out of remembering that and it is such an intregal part of her that I lost her.

Stepping back and writing a bit about her life when younger failed to get her back because I was loosing the main focus of her personality. It isn't that her handicap defines her, but more that her dealing with and growing past it was the driving force in my consideration of her mind set.

Thanks Wok, knowing it has happened to someone else helped a lot, I was feeling a lot more like a ditz than I usually do. And quite out on a limb alone.

Thanks hugs, while working with her earlier life didn't help me get back into her, it did help me eliminate the things that weren't the problem.

Thanks also to you Pops, working some dialogue unrelated to the story helped immensly when I realized she/I was avoiding discussing her handicap. In trying not to let her handicap define her I was loosing the very focus that made her such an interesting character when I started.

y'all are all great, hopefully I can help you guys out sometime in the future

-Colly

 

[oggbashan]

Lost and confused

I have "lost" characters and ruined the story. The characters started behaving totally unlike the originals and there was no way their actions could be consistent with the start.

I went back to earlier drafts until I found the characters again.

Then I had to restart that story. When finished I had a different story to write with the "new" characters.

I have also had characters become confused. I had a hairdresser and a beautician. Each was supposed to be different but I confused their names, their work, their sex lives, their partners. It took me weeks to sort out the mess.

On another occasion I had five women and one man in the story. The story was from the man's POV. Women #4 and #5 were very shadowy. Woman #1 was very definite and clear but a minor character. Woman #2 was the main interactor with the man. Woman #3 was the stooge to women #1 and #2, explaining things in the man's hearing that the other women wouldn't know otherwise.

I merged women #4 and #5 into one. The story would have been better if I deleted both of them but would wreck the basic premise. Sometime I will rewrite with just 2 or 3 women and change to 3rd person POV to avoid the unnecessary complications.

I distinguish between round characters who exist fully and cardboard cut-outs who play walk-on or extra's roles. Losing a round character is disastrous. Losing a carboard cut-out isn't.

Og

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I don't remember ever losing a character, but I have been in the situation where the character takes over and makes the story develop in a totally different way than I had intended it to, thereby at the sam time developing the chracter itself in a way I hadn't foreseen.
I just had to listen to him, and let him do what he wanted. Hey, what could I do? He had a wand!

 

[sanchopanza]

there is one character i really wish i could lose. he is a real bastard. he upstaged my part in the story and has taken over.

 

[Chimney Sweep]

I find that I have lost the connection between the character and the intended story. I generally plan a scene ahead of time, then work to get the character into that scene. Sometimes I get there and realize the character would not have come to this place rationally, so I have to either alter the character or alter the scene.

Of course, I work on a fairly small scale and with characters based somewhat in fact, so I've got strong templates to work from and short time spans to keep them on track. That helps a ton!

 

[Quasimodem]

I have never actually lost a character, but the hero in a rather lengthy short story I once wrote turned out to be such a pill that I transformed him into a villian, to get even.

Almost got that story published, in an paper-based magazine. What's that supposed to teach me

 

[Guest]

 

[sirhugs]

The big problem I have is keeping a character consitent - for some reason or another they get schizophrenic or develop multiple presonality disorders. Either that or I am too much of a control freak. Anyone else have problems with unruly characters?

Lime

only the women, just like real life (jk)

 

[sanchopanza]

i've killed a few good characters - then people tell me it just aint porn

 

[Guest]

i've killed a few good characters - then people tell me it just aint porn

You're in good company, Sanch; Shakespeare killed off many a great character and still kept it bawdy.

Perdita