Holey moley, this post is FANTASTIC! Probably the most important thing I’ve learned thus far in my writing ventures is that “characters poop plot, plot does not poop characters” ( … thanks, Chuck Wendig), which is the exact point made here. Knowing my characters inside and out, and all of their backstory, has made the plot of my current WIP, now at 99k words, a BREEZE compared to my previous novels. When I do get stuck, I’ve found it’s because I’m trying to FORCE the characters to do something that’s out of character for them. When I realize this and remove myself from the story, and let THEM then take action, they ALWAYS get me unstuck, and quickly, and in ways I never would have thought of myself. And the story flows on again with surprisingly little effort on my part. It really is almost like they are real people of their own, over which I have no control. It is INCREDIBLE. The single best tool thus far for me as a writer has been this discovery. Therefore, I had to share with the rest of my writing community at large!
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the points made in this post can be related back to my own NaNoWriMo Boot Camp Lesson 2: Characters and GMC. 😀
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