WIP Challenge - Check In Day 5 - Friday

[the_rck]

Poll #15882

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

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Today I

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planned
2 (66.7%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

wrote
1 (33.3%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

edited
0 (0.0%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

rested
0 (0.0%)

did something else
1 (33.3%)

The way I feel about that is

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Mean: 5.50 Median: 5.5 Std. Dev 0.50

Terrible 1		0 (0.0%)
2		0 (0.0%)
3		0 (0.0%)
4		0 (0.0%)
5		1 (50.0%)
6		1 (50.0%)
7		0 (0.0%)
8		0 (0.0%)
9		0 (0.0%)
Wonderful 10		0 (0.0%)

Do you ever run into times when you know the story requires that something happen but you can't make it make sense with the characters? Which wins, the plot or the characters?

I tend to make up the plot as I go along, so this doesn't often happen to me. When it does, at least in a longer work, I come down on the side of the characters. If I can't square my plans for the plot with the way the characters would act and react, I've obviously taken a wrong turn.

I do sometimes, with a short work, approach it from a what if angle-- What if this character were the type of person to do thus-and-so? How would that fit with what I know from canon? That can make a fascinating story to write.

Comments

[linaewen]

I've had this happen, where the story requires something, but it's out of character for it to happen. I will stick with the characters in that case, and tweak the plot until it does something close to what I wanted but is still in character. When I've had to change my plot plan for the sake of characters, I've always had it turn out for the better -- it usually reveals that maybe my plan wasn't quite good enough!