By Glynn Young @ gyoung9751
A problem developed while I was writing my fifth novel. The problem had to do with what I conceived as a minor character – a four-year-old boy who would grow to adulthood during the story. But he wasn’t the main character; far from it, in fact. He was supposed to have a bit role.
Unfortunately, he had a different idea.
I kept floundering with the manuscript because this kid kept sticking his head in. It was as if he was demanding a bigger part of the story. I was hitting dead end after dead end, and my writing was going nowhere.
I did the only thing I knew to do. I gave him a larger role, if nothing else just to keep him quiet and out of my head. It was all the opening he needed. He promptly took over.
When I realized that he was evolving into the central character, the main character, the hero of the story, I knew had two options. I could immediately fire him or reduce his role. Or I could listen to him and trust him to know what he was doing.
I surrendered.
I’ve learned there are two approaches to writing fiction. One is to work from an outline, sometimes general and sometimes highly detailed, but a careful plan for the story. The other is to start with an idea or an event or a character, and simply start writing. My friend Harvey Stanbrough, who’s written a book on the subject called Writing Better Fiction, and publishes a daily blog** on writing, believes there’s really only one way to write fiction, and that is “writing into the dark.” What he means is to trust your writing subconscious, and let your characters tell the story.
When I first read about writing into the dark, I had to think about how I write (and note this only applies to fiction, not non-fiction). I realized I’d never used an outline. Not once in five published novels, three completed manuscripts, and several “in progress” books. I had used particular scenes from my imagination to start, but I had never planned them out. I thought I had imagined my entire first novel before I ever typed the first word, but going back over notes and early versions showed me otherwise.
I write into the dark. That’s how that four-year-old kid ended up causing so much trouble. (And I trusted him!)
That doesn’t mean I’m always writing from a blank slate. I usually start with an image, or the image suggests itself. My first novel started with listening to a music program on a flight to San Francisco and one song evoking the image of a priest dancing on a beach. (The song was about neither a priest nor a beach.) That’s how it started, and it was a decade in the making. But I never outlined the story. I never wrote down a plan. Instead, I trusted this character. I allowed him to lead me where he wanted to go. And I tried to stay out of his way, knowing what would happen when I tried to control things.
Dead ends, every time. Every single time.
I write into the dark. I let my characters tell the story. I stay out of their way.
But I have a sneaking suspicion that the four-year-old is laughing at me.
Glynn Young is a national award-winning speechwriter, communications practitioner, and novelist. He’s the author of five published novels, Dancing Priest, A Light Shining, Dancing King, Dancing Prophet; and Dancing Prince; and the non-fiction book Poetry at Work. Visit Glynn on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, his blog, the Dancing Priest book page, and his business web site.
Comments 10
I’m a cross. I’ll do light outlining and oftentimes halfway through the book write a synopsis, but some parts of the story I like to figure out for myself. For my current gaslamp fantasy Skybound, I did a bunch of worldbuilding on a yellow legal pad when the idea hit, and then did some general fleshing out of the plot points. I haven’t really outlined beyond that, but this story wants to tell it’s own, so I’m letting it do so.
I’ll have an idea in my head, start writing towards it, and then the charactrs decide to add their two cents.
I very much enjoyed the article about writing in the dark. I usually start with an image, as well. Then characters show up to fill that image. Then, a couple chapters in, my rational self takes over and I develop an outline. That’s when the fun begins, as my characters wrestle against that outline. And they always win, taking my stories in directions I didn’t imagine, and making them better, more organic, and interesting. Thanks for your article. It let me know that maybe, just maybe, I’m not so alone in my approach to crafting fiction.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I think I know what the story is about, and I start writing towards it. Then the characters start arguing with me. I’ve learned to listen to them.
I love this article. “Writing in the dark.” I never thought of it that way, but I believe that’s how I work. Image first of the characters, and I develop an idea where the story is going and how it might end. A light outline in my head with soft edges. I jot a few ideas down, and here I go. Walking along a darkened path as I look for God’s clues; sparks that turn to steady flames guiding me to my destination.
Thank you for this, Glynn, and thank your friend.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
For my first novel, I used K M Weiland’s positive character arc questions to give a structure to my story. All went well until the characters showed me a clear ending before I had quite gotten there. My manuscript ended up a little short but in editing I hope to remedy that. I enjoying “writing in the dark” for the rest as my imagination has a little more freedom to take the manuscript in certain directions
I should know better by now, but it always surprises me when the characters start to take over. I’m writing a new manuscript right now, in which a new character appeared rather suddenly and solved a narrative problem. How does that happen?
A four-year-old that grows up during the story and is the MC? I love the sound of that!
And he was a very determined 4-year-old character.