Self-inventing character!

[pet-lunatic.livejournal.com]

I had a vague outline for a scene where my MC is interviewing a random selection of people. None of these people were supposed to be proper characters, just catalysts for plot development. But one of them suddenly started developing a personality of her own, and now she's a major supporting character :D

I love it when that happens! Anybody else had similar experiences?

Comments

[mteson.livejournal.com]

Yeah I had someone who was only supposed to be around for one scene, and it turned out she worked perfectly for a second, more involved scene. I doubt she'll come back after that though. That is fun when you find a character that has a lot to write about.

[agdhani.livejournal.com]

oh yes! when I started book one in my series, my harper was suppose to be a supporting character. Before I knew it, it turned out that he was the MC...and it has spawned three books now. I love it when a character develops a life of his/her own.

[pet-lunatic.livejournal.com]

Fantastic!

[agdhani.livejournal.com]

lol! Don't I wish!

[randomdream.livejournal.com]

HAHA!

Seriously, though. That would rock.

[claudia6913.livejournal.com]

For some reason the 'random young girl' that my FMC was supposed to save so there was a witness as to her coming into a power suddenly turns out to be the little sister of my MMC! I had no idea.

[mitsuko-chan.livejournal.com]

My story has three main characters, and the female main character is engaged. Her fiance wasn't even really in my plan for the story as a character, he was more there as a catalyst for one of the other main characters. But now I've found that he's befriended the third main character, and actually is playing a big part in his development. It's really gratifying for me to watch their friendship as it expands, since I wasn't expecting it at all.

:D

[ladysugarquill]

Yep, I have a character who was supposed to be just a pair of eyes through which I would present my MC, but he's somehow sprouted a backstory and a personality; I already finished his first scene without using him for the exposition I wanted, his own thoughts got in the way. Now I have to find another character to use... *sigh*

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I started out with two main characters --- my Texas Ranger criminologist and his River Delta heiress --- with his partner and assistant as basic throw-away characters so that it didn't look like they were living in a vacuum.

Both of them have since developed their own personalities and histories and moved on to become a solid part of the story. They constantly surprise me as they reveal bits and pieces of their personal histories I hadn't thought about or hadn't suspected.

[ninkasa.livejournal.com]

I developed a character, the fiance of the brother of my main character. (How's that for a family tree.) She was just supposed to be in the background, not really doing much, but as the story went on, she developed her own personality, developed a friendship with my main character and now she's actually one of the ones helping to drive the plot along.

And I agree. I love it when that happens. :)

[arrows4pens.livejournal.com]

I had things vaguely planned out for my novel, and it was going okay. Just before it was time to introduce the MMC, I realized that I didn't know very much about him beyond his situation. I came up with something quick, but the moment it was time he waltzed on stage fully-formed, sarcastic, and more clever than I am. He's had a new surprise for me every once in a while since then.
Yup, I love writing this way, and I hate him for it.

[randomdream.livejournal.com]

Can I ask what your icon means? I'm an archer, but I also happen to like swirlies. I'm tempted to snap it up, but if it references something I probably ought to know about it before I use it. :)

[tixxana.livejournal.com]

It's a mutiny.

[randomdream.livejournal.com]

LOL... a reporter was interviewing my two main characters. He was totally in the periphery. Unimoprtant, barely developed at all.

Turns out he's the father of my secondary character's baby. The baby that she is about to have an abortion to get rid of. So not only do I have a character popping up and making more of himself than he ought to, but one of my main girls goes behind my back and sleeps with him! I'm trying to hide it from the readers as long as I can, but it's gonna be a whammy of a surprise when they realize it and go back to re-read all the tiny hints this jerk has been dropping throughout my novel. MY NOVEL, dammit, not his.

I swear I'm not writing in the "telenovela fiction" genre. It just sounds like it. Goddamn uncontrollable characters taking over behind my back. I can just hear her crying now, "Es... tu... hijo!"

*slaps forehead on desk*

[alpha-orionis-v.livejournal.com]

I've a character that wasn't even supposed to be in my story. He was going to be mentioned once, in passing, regarding my MC staying with him during a trip to London.

The next thing I know, he's a major character, showing up in nearly half of the scenes, and the godfather to my MC's little boy.

He's also amazingly likable, which is an awesome turn from how he's usually written in the fandom. The problem with a character whose role spans maybe five minutes, is that you only see them for a very limited amount of time, so they're always going to be exactly how they were for those five minutes.

[step6error.livejournal.com]

Yep. My MC's brother wound up being a main character instead of just a briefly occurring entity like he was supposed to. I think I'm going to kill him off though so... all for naught.

I have another story where two characters were only supposed to exist in a section of the story about four or five paragraphs long, and they wound up being major characters, central to the plot. I made the mistake of giving them personalities and I just couldn't let go of them. Heh heh.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

I randomly started writing a scene that I hadn't planned at all, inspired by my other hobby, folk dancing, and now I apparently have a new supporting character in a random Norwegian dancer dude. WHUT.

[golden-purple18.livejournal.com]

My MC was randomly getting groped in a bar just for her to have some ass to kick and blow her cover, and it turns out, he's actually a criminal and old lover, and now my secondary main character. Ha!

And then there was the random apprentice that turned out to be a child of a goddess...