I’ve mentioned before that I’m a plantser, but that’s only because I’m forced to be a plantser. Ideally, I would love to make every little detail come together in a nice and neat package that I can then work into a cohesive story.
I love character sheets and background information on each character. I love to see their wants and their whys, their secrets and their motivations. I love to see the way they work into the outline I’ve made; and, of course, I like to see how the storyline flows, piece by piece, word by word.
I develop the plot first, then add the characters second–but, the more my story draws to a close, the more I realize that the characters are really driving the narrative.
They make decisions I don’t want them to and put roadblocks and detours into all my plans.
It’s funny how characters really do come alive and make their own decisions whether the writer wants them to or not. When I don’t write, I’m worried they’re just stuck in limbo since they feel so real to me.
Maybe my future works could be done without any major groundwork, since my stories like to branch out on their own anyways. It sounds scary, but sometimes that’s what it takes to create something beautiful.
Expectations vs Reality
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