Too Much??

[Elizabeth]

Hi, everyone!

So some of you might know a little about my WIP, Allora, and the struggles I’ve had with it over the past few months as I’ve tried to get a grip on the characters, world, and plot. Allora has given me nothing but problems since the idea came to be, but this most recent bout…ugh. Lemme explain.

The first thing you need to know is that some of the character roles have changed. Remember Evyn, my darling MC? She was formerly the princess of Allora, an archer, and a soldier. Most of that has changed. See, I swapped her position as royal with that of another MC, Everett, who was (formerly) a soldier and Evyn’s love interest. Now, Everett’s a prince, and his role in the story has gotten a lot smaller, for now.

I swapped their roles because I’d already written three chapters and it wasn’t working. The more I wrote Evyn, the emptier her character became. She didn’t have much to her, and her overall voice was really, really awkward. And dull. So I had a crazy idea and scrapped everything (which, in my defense, I didn’t really mean to do) which in turn got rid of the plot I had. Which brings me to my current dilemma…

I have no idea what my plot is anymore.

I had a plot, and then I changed my characters, and now I have a mess–or at least, a messier mess. I need help. Maybe just some encouragement right now, but some help.

What do you do when nothing in your WIP seems to cooperate?

@daeus @dekreel @dragon-snapper @ethryndal @anyone

 

Writer. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.

[Ethryndal]

@That_Writer_Girl_99 Oh gosh, I feel ya. This has happened to me several times, except it was my plot that left the characters nonexistent, not the other way around. So lessee:

First of all, are you completely positive that Evyn’s role in the story needs to change? If the entire plot hinged on her being a royal, then perhaps it would be better to keep things that way and simply revamp the character instead of the plot. As painful as that might be, depending on how attached you are to her, sometimes the answer to a problematic character is training your mind to stop thinking of them as that specific character. Explore different possibilities and personalities, experiment with different goals. Sometimes, the reason a character won’t work is because we won’t let them out of the box our imaginations originally created them in. I recently came to the conclusion that one of the most seemingly logical (and flat) characters in my story is actually insane, and that one little idea revolutionized the entire character and suddenly made his place in the story clear. Perhaps if you gave Evyn a different set of goals or changed some things up in her personality/backstory/motivation, she might work in the original plot after all. And instead of having to scrap it and create a new one, you can simply rework some of the story threads to accommodate the changes in character.

BUT if that really just doesn’t work, or (more to the point 😛 ) you like the new idea better, then I think the key to straightening out your new plot is still Evyn. Since Plot hinges directly on Character Goals/Character Arc, then those should be the guidelines that shape the new plot. Ultimately, where did you want this story to go, and has that goal changed? If not, then look at Evyn. How do her new goals and arc play into the story goal? In what ways does the previous plot correlate, and how can you tweak things to salvage it/evolve it into the new one?

Once you have the story goal back in place, then it’s once again simply a matter of “how does Character get from A to B, and what obstacles can I throw in her way?”

And, you know, take time on this. Sometimes it takes two weeks of hard braining to find that one little idea that fixes everything. Solidify your thought processes by talking to yourself on paper. Ask questions. Compare the old story to the new one. I don’t know if you outline, but I’ve recently taken it up, and it helps this kind of thing So. Much.

I hope this is actually helpful. *resigned sigh* If it completely misses the point, you’re allowed to call me a Sneaky Little Hobbitsessss.

INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/

[Ethryndal]

Yo, I just became an Eccentric Mentor.

INTJ ➸Your friendly neighborhood mastermind. ➸https://thesarcasticelf.wordpress.com/

[Daeus]

@that_writer_girl_99 Oh, dear. Sympathy is not really my strong suit. Maybe it will get better? It will probably get better. Yeah, it will get better.

Boy, I wish I knew more about this.

I suppose though this isn’t much different from coming up with a brand new story idea though, is it?

I might follow a process like this.

• Get #1 really awesome piece of inspiration. For me, this is usually a great idea for a story ending. It doesn’t have to be a story ending though I think knowing your ending first thing really helps bring cohesion to a story. This is the “peg board” so to speak everything else gets attached to during the planning stage.
• Determine my characters’ external and internal goals. I want to know what they want to change in the world (their external goal — i.e. finding a lost friend) and what they yearn for that they think will bring them fulfillment (their internal goal — i.e. to overcome a habit of fear). This gives me a good sense of my characters and if I know a bit about their backstory, that’s even better. I also like to get a good grasp on the sense impression a character gives me and if I can keep that vibe in mind as I write I can keep them in character.
• I find that outlining my story before I write it fosters my imagination. I like to follow K.M.Wieland’s structure and get the basics down for most or all of the plot points before I start writing.
• I get a lot of my inspiration from reading other books. I take elements I like or rework elements that I don’t like and try to weave them into my story if I can. Since I already have a basic outline, it’s easier to decide where things should go.

Hopefully something in here helps!

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

[Rochellaine]

@that_writer_girl_99 I think @catwing did something similar with her WIP, Firebird, so she might like to talk about it. 🙂

"Sylvester - Sylvester!"

[NC Stokes]

@that_writer_girl_99 *gives you a heaping box of sympathy with extra raspberries on top* This has happened to me before. Characters switching roles, and personalities(!), plot devices that were central to the story here one day and gone the next. *muffled gasps* It’s enough to drive you insane.

Something that really helps me is to find one little thing, just one, that the story absolutely needs. If I try to change it I throw myself in jail. 😛 Like a character, or a big middle scene, even the villain. It’s central to the story, and the story can’t go on without it. does that make sense?

Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/

[Catwing]

@rochellaine Correct… But I really don’t have any advice. I wish it would work with me, but it doesn’t… *reads other people’s advice.

@that_writer_girl_99 What I do when I my books give me trouble…

You ignora me, I ignora you! *works on different book*

I’ll still work partly on Firebird, but it mostly is just slogging around. To nowhere. But I try to push it out of the mud.
Working on other stories in the mean time. 😀

IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!

[Author]

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