Feeling a bit "forced"?
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- H0LD0Nthere
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Re: Feeling a bit "forced"?
- moderntimes
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When I first started writing fiction, I often tried to force my characters into performing at my "will" by trying to make them behave like marionettes. And this led to problems, because my characters wanted out! Of course, this all happened in my fevered brain but it did seem that the characters had a will of their own.
Eventually I learned to sit back and essentially "take dictation" and just write down what the characters said and did after I launched them into a story line. This seemed to work the best and I was able to write much better as a result.
Of course, it was all bubbling around in my subconscious and there were no separate entities at all. The dictation taking was simply a technique to allow me to release the bonds. Nowadays, I know how to write more controlled fiction. I just concentrate more on developing the character first, and this helps. So yes, I write character bios for my principal characters. I'd recommend this technique for long fiction, novels and such.
Another point is that your principal characters also evolve as the story proceeds. I'm the author of a mystery series, with 2 novels published and the 3rd in progress. My protagonist is a modern-day private detective. He started out a very impulsive guy, immature. And amazingly, throughout the first novel he matured and at the end, he was a far more sensible man. In the second novel he of course has exciting adventures but he is also more controlled. He's matured as a human being and if I look back to my early first drafts, I'm surprised that the principal character is so different.
My advice is to "allow" your main characters to grow as they will, understand that this is actually your own brain trying to help, and perhaps modify the character as he/she wants to.
Hope this helps.
- Arkmansmith
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I was stuck at 7500 words for years, and when I did write it was terrible. (Forced, cliche', or just plain bad.)
The key for me was forgetting about writing a novel and simply telling the story I wanted to tell. I decided I had to be happy with the work, no matter the length, and began fresh.
The funny thing is, with that intimidation removed I quickly surpassed 40k words, and the final first draft tipped the literary scales at 130k. (yikes!)
Thankfully, my editor's input helped me trim that, and my novel was ready to send out into the world. Now all I can do is hope people like it.
Maybe this approach can help other writers.
- Brandi Noelle
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-- 27 Oct 2017, 01:27 --
But I have question. In my every day work I recognized that sometimes it's very useful if someone forces me to work better. Isn't in this case the same?
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My goal is to basically keep writing and not stop. I want to create a habit so I can feel comfortable writing in most times.