Did you know that the chocolate chip cookie was invented by
accident? In 1930, at the Toll House Inn in Wakefield , Mass.
What does this have to do with writing? If you're a baker,
probably nothing, but, if you're a writer, everything has to do with writing.
My plots rarely turn out exactly as I plan. Sometimes I
introduce a character, thinking I know exactly how he or she fits in the
overall plan, only to have the character take over and re-write their part,
giving themselves a more important role in the story. In my most recent work,
LOVE AND NOT DESTROY, the victim demanded to tell his own story. I thought the
manuscript was finished and was starting the editing process when (in the very first
chapter!) this dead man seemed to guide my fingers to certain keys, spelling
out words, stringing themselves into sentences and paragraphs. Turns out he
needed to explain how he came to commit the act that started the sequence of
events that form the backbone of the plot. I couldn't have been more surprised.
Come to think of it, he was surprised himself by the turning of events. He may
have guided my fingers to explain himself, but what he needed to explain was a
plan that didn't work out. Long story short, I let him have his way and there
are fourteen short scenes told from the victim's point of view. (I guess it's a
small enough favor to grant someone you've just stabbed through the heart and
left in the corner of a shed.)
I knew all along that the information in these scenes was
necessary, but I had planned to reveal it in a different way. However, once I
stopped fighting with my character and let him tell his own story, he became
much more vivid to me and his death more poignant. (I can only hope readers
feel the same.)
Characters with minds of their own are just one example of
the surprising twists that occur during the writing of a novel. A book left
open on a table can take a scene and, ultimately, an entire plot, in an
unexpected direction. A line of throwaway dialogue can suggest a secret that
leads to a subplot.
As a writer, I love it when these little surprises pop up. I
think readers like surprises too. I know I do. However, as much fun as
surprises are, once they have occurred, they should seem inevitable. John
Irving is a writer who does this well. Dickens is another, maybe the best ever.
And Jane Austen. I doubt any reader can anticipate all the twists and turns in
her stories. Did you anticipate that Lydia would elope with Wickham?
Once it happened, didn't it seem inevitable?
So, if you're a writer, and your story won't follow your
plan, maybe you need to need to let the elements blend (or not) according to
their own needs. Who knows? Maybe you'll create an American classic.
The link to LOVE AND NOT DESTROY is http://amzn.to/
