Rebellious women and fractious men

Once upon a time I was writing a book and I couldn't seem to get the heroine onto the bus that would take her and her co-workers to a company picnic in Montauk, New York.  I literally had to put the book aside because nothing I did worked.  I wrote three books in the meantime before it suddenly came to me that Jake wasn't supposed to get on the bus.  She was supposed to have a painful attack of appendicitis that would require not only surgery but for her and her niece to move into the hero's penthouse while she recovered.  How did I finally figure out this sea change in my synopsis?  Jake told me.

I sat down and had a conversation with her in my mind and asked her what she thought should happen.  I couldn't believe she actually wanted to have and operation right after upchucking all over the place, but there's no accounting for what a woman in love will put up with.  Needless to say, this turn of events changed my whole story.  However, I went with it, knowing the book was headed for a better place.  

I've heard other authors lament that their characters became rebellious and refused to follow the script, so to speak.  That sees reasonable to me.  When we create characters, make them three-dimensional and real, we give them energy.  And like anything else that holds energy, we can't make it be or do what we want just cause we say so.  You have to let your characters do what is natural to them.  This is why it is so important to know and develop your characters as fully as possible before you write and leave yourself some latitude for your character's to have a change in attitude.

Here are a few character development worksheets you might find helpful:

character development worksheet
writer's craft
character profile


  And yes, that book was Could it Be Magic?  Ten points for anyone who guessed it.