How often do your characters take you completely by surprise when you’re doing the actual writing, and take you away from your outline?
They don’t surprise me very often, I’m usually aware of it long before it would actually become an issue and I’ve rebuilt the outline by then.
So you’re not ever in the process of writing and they—
They don’t do that. I cast people in my role, like not real people but I try a character out, and if they fit the role I keep going with them and if they don’t then I throw that chapter away and I cast someone else. I rarely have someone go complete crazy off what I was expecting, if they do, it means they were probably the wrong character for that role.
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