When Characters Refuse to Behave
I am working on a short story right now and the older woman, my supposed protagonist, has decided she won’t behave. I had a perfectly reasonable plan for her. She, however, appears to find that version of herself much too tame. Instead, she’s pushing back, and generally acting like she has read ahead and disagrees with my outline. At this point, I am not sure if I am her creator or her chaperone. I have no idea where we both will end up, but I'm not overly concerned.
This has happened before.
In The Cauliflower Ear Club, there’s a character named Wills. He’s a light-weight wrestler at 119-pounds (although he drops to 112-pounds later in the novel). Initially his role was also light weight, a supporting character within the team. A sidekick.
Wills had other ideas.
Somewhere along the way, he came out with funny wise cracks. Then he was the one asking the questions everyone else was wondering about, but had the good sense not to say out loud. Wills slowly edged his way into scenes that didn’t technically belong to him, crowding Holly’s space, the team’s the very private and reluctant team psychologist. He lightened the mood around him. He railed against his coach who wouldn’t let him compete against another teammate. He complained about how hard the practices were, about the unfairness of being repeatedly thrown to the mat. Yet he always returned, his swagger and outspoken opinions intact.
The wrestlers I originally anticipated to dominate the story do a good job. They remain strong, interesting, find trouble and solutions, and move the plot forward. But Wills? Wills makes me smile even now as I sit at the keyboard.
As for the older woman I am getting to know in my short story, I suspect she is going off script and will have her own way, off script. I suspect that this will make the story more interesting. It will also mean that I am once again no longer in charge. Maybe, I wonder, could this also be a life lesson?
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