Do you have runaway characters?
I thought I had a plan for my novel, plotted out 15 story beats, whole 9 yards. Then I started writing it, and my characters started making their own choices as I helplessly watched, screaming "what are you doing?!?!"
Do I need a therapist? Or is this normal?
@DanIsWriting Welcome to pantsing. Imagine you're the director of a movie and all your actors are method. They will insist on what their characters will and won't do, but you're still the director, you have a movie to make, and you need to find a compromise, put your foot down, or rework the script.
There. That's what an author does. Now, action. :)
@jeffschanz_author I like that way of looking at it. I really feel like I'm dealing with a Marlon Brando / apocalypse now situation and I'm like "We'll fix it in editing" 😆