This is definitely a question for the writers rather than the readers out there.

Sometimes it really does seem like characters are living, breathing entities with a mind of their own.

I’m hands down a planner when it comes to writing, as I’ve frequently discussed. So, on the whole, I’m not waiting for inspiration to strike in order to know what my character is going to do next. I’ve already done that kind of plotting by the time I put the first sentence on the screen. Yet sometimes, despite my best intentions, at certain points in the novel, I find my characters wanting to do something other than what I have intended for them.

Cue a tug of war between me and them. Given that both exist solely in my head, if it wasn’t part of the writing process it would clearly be a psychiatric disorder of some sort.

Some people argue that if the character isn’t completely under your writerly control, then it is merely a symptom of poor planning. I think that can sometimes be the case, but not always. After all, part of the joy of writing is the excitement of finding out what happens next. Even with deep structure and plot points, you never know until you start writing how the words are going to line up on the paper. You don’t know what new influences you will be exposed to as part of the process. After all, for most people it takes at least six months to do a first draft. Sometimes it can take years. It would be foolish to expect not to have changes in perspective during that time.

For me, working on book two of one series and book four of another, the more I go along, the more likely these characters seem to want to play their own game. Perhaps it is because as they become more rounded they become more real. Perhaps it is because that the arc I originally envisaged for them is changing. Or maybe, when you create independent women who you love because they do whatever the hell they want, then sometimes they might just do that right back at you.

I didn’t want the Teddie McKay series to be more romance than cheeky, cheesey crime with some thriller tension thrown in there. Yet, as book two draws to a close, she seems determined to have a some fun. In my head, saying ‘aw come on, how about you let me live a little, huh?’

It might not be in the plan, but you know what? I think I might just let her…