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Posted By : crystalwizard - 5/12/2008 1:28 AM
I sat down the other day, roughed out a plot for a short story and mentally did a rough character sketch of the MC. But when I started writing I discovered that somehow I'd hired the wrong actor! Instead of a bright, enthusiastic clueless kid, I got a middle-aged depressed wimp. I made the mistake of going ahead and trying to write the first few pages anyway and wound up with a horrible mess.

So, much as I dislike firing my characters, he's out of a job and I'm starting over.

My question to you is:

How often do you wind up with the wrong actor cast in the lead role of your story and how often do you just try to muddle through anyway?

Posted By : darkbow - 5/12/2008 1:34 AM
I'd say about a third of the time. That might sound like a lot, but I generally start with plot ideas before coming up with characters. Sometimes I have to sit back and take stock of all the characters involved in a tale, then work out who should really be the focus of the story. Most times I can figure this out within the first few graphs of a tale, but on occassion I've gone through three or four drafts of a story before getting it right.

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Posted By : tchernabyelo - 5/12/2008 4:54 AM
Very raerly, for me, but then a lot of the time I'm writing about serial characters.

I do have one novel (30k written - about a third) where on eof the main supporting cast turned out to be far more interesting than the intended pair of main characters. When I replot and rewrite I shall address the issue. In the meantime, said member of the supporting cast has featured in other stories, including the one in FS#9...

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Posted By : crystalwizard - 5/12/2008 4:57 AM
tchernabyelo said...
In the meantime, said member of the supporting cast has featured in other stories, including the one in FS#9...


Which it would be good for you to give a link to...

Posted By : DAWaverly - 5/12/2008 8:24 AM
This has happened to me and in each case (so far) the original MC slid into a minor/secondary character role. I have have yet to replace a character totally. So, while not muddling through, I do use what existed before and just change the POV to the better character. I discovered that it is not so much that the character needs fired, it is just that they are better at another job. I am still struggling with things like POV and voice. Like Ty, I sometimes need to sit back and figure these things out.

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Posted By : Hermit - 5/12/2008 12:05 PM
I've had it happen a couple of times. I cut 30K from my second novel for that reason, and gave the job to a ten-year-old girl. She was remarkable! The previous became a supporting character and caught a lot of grief. In another instance, I began with one who got himself killed and left the MC position to his sidekick. It's usually the sidekick that buys it, though.

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Posted By : SJHigbee - 5/12/2008 12:47 PM
It's sometimes hard to distinguish between getting to know a character - and having to go back & rewrite bits you got wrong before you thoroughly nailed him - and when a character is just WRONG. My instinct is to persevere, which can lead to quite a lot of rewriting... Or re-editing...

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Posted By : Greybeard - 5/12/2008 9:18 PM
I suspect I'd be a better writer if I fired more protagonists.

Edwin


Posted By : Hermit - 5/13/2008 1:25 PM
You can evolve a character, too. Just get him beat senseless by something or another that changes his perspective of himself in relation to the world. I've done that to a couple of characters. My all-time-favorite supporting character (deus ex machina) tends to botch things and redirect all the time - usually taking a great deal of pain and trauma on himself to protect the MC from his misdirections or from consequences he foresaw but was powerless to prevent. He's constantly evolving in both directions, situationally Machiavellian at times and other times more Apollonian/Socratic/passive. He's very consistent, but it's not at all obvious in what way; on the contrary, he comes off as a bit of a crackpot most of the time. And the situations he gets himself into . . . I do a lot of work figuring how to extricate him from it. And that is where I truly live!
"The schizophrenic is drowning in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight." --Joseph Campbell


Posted By : Greybeard - 5/13/2008 6:23 PM
MysticWino said...
I do a lot of work figuring how to extricate him from it. And that is where I truly live!


Everyone needs a hobby.

Edwin

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