Sometimes a character takes over the story

In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King says that sometimes characters "begin to influence the course of the story instead of the other way around" (p. 190) and "every character you create is partly you." (p. 191)

It's always nice to have a highly successful writer reflect my own experience. Every character has a bit of the writer in there - even villains. But sometimes a character develops in unexpected ways and takes over the story.

When I started writing Peg's Story: Detours, I was identifying strongly with Peg. While her initial relationships and situations were different from my experience, her feelings and reactions were what I'd expect mine would be in her place - until she got to the bus station and I found her behaving in ways that absolutely shocked me.

The character had taken over. I couldn't force her into behaving differently - it wouldn't fit. Knowing people always think I'm writing about myself, I was too embarrassed to continue. The manuscript got put away for many months.

Then I saw a documentary in which they interviewed women who had been trafficked, and I realized that was Peg's story - the man at the bus station wasn't just another sleaze, he was a trafficker targeting a traumatized girl to draw her into his stable.

Yes, I left home (when I was almost twenty) and took a bus to Harrisburg and my fiance, and we went through the same storm Peg experiences. However, my fiance was not a pimp; we got married that summer and moved to a college town.

Throughout the rest of the novel, I use experiences from my twenties (like sailing on San Francisco Bay) but put them into the context of Peg's journey, not mine. I also throw in a good bit I never experienced first-hand, but researched thoroughly. In the end, it's Peg's story, her detours. I like to think the part of her that is me is the part that gives her the resilience she needs.

Resources to Improve Your Writing

Writer’s Market, Writer’s Digest Magazine, The Writer Magazine, and Writer’s Digest Books.

Internet Today, the internet is my primary resource. My personal preference is Yahoo’s search engine, but I use Google Maps for maps and when I have access to Chrome, and I use Google Earth to view places. Wikipedia has an extensive list of search engines divided into useful categories to get more targeted results.

I use Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary and thesaurus when I’m searching for a word. For access to style guides, I use Purdue Online Writing Lab, but they have free basic writing instruction there, too. I haven’t used it yet, but The International Writing Program offers massive open online writing courses (MOOCs) for free – and this is supported by the University of Iowa, which is known for its writing programs, so I would expect the courses to be excellent.

You should go to Writer’s Digest Books and pick out ones that are relevant to your skill level and interests, so I’m not going to list all of mine. For fiction writing, my favorite is Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. My favorite non-WD book on writing fiction is Stephen King’s On Writing. It’s a memoir and a textbook for writers. I underlined key comments and marked them with sticky notes so they’re easy to find.

Finally, for grant or other technical writing or editing, the Allyn and Bacon Series in Technical Communication is well-designed. Whatever kind of writing you do, keep developing your skill.

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A Writer’s Journey Part 5: Keep Trying

My primary goal in life is to make the world a better place to be. Hopefully these blog posts will help another writer keep writing.

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