I remember one time reading an interview where one of my favorite authors, Terry Goodkind, said that his characters told the story (I'm paraphrasing here). He said that he was just along for the ride, chronicling the story that those characters dictated.
Now, I've read a lot of his work, and he is one of the most talented writers I've ever read. There are some who plainly put more work into their books, and others who have knacks in different areas, but in terms of sheer writing talent, he's one of the best (in the genre, if not overall).
I say this because at the time, I didn't really write much. I was still in high school, and hadn't gotten to that point where I had realized that writing was actually fun. I knew I was decent at it, but I had never considered undertaking something so massive as writing a novel. Anyway, I read that article, and I thought, What a load of bull! I didn't think that fictional characters could dictate a story; he had to be just saying that to make his characters feel more real.
Oh, how wrong I was. Now, looking back, I know that my characters are the same way. I don't know if it's because I'm good at building characters and worlds (but not so great at building a narrative) or if that's just the way it works, but my characters most certainly do dictate the stories I write. The story progresses the way it does because I dropped my characters in a situation, and let them try to get out of it. Yes, I created them; they aren't based on real people or anything. But their every action was taken because that's how that character would react, not because it served some narrative purpose.
Sometimes, they even surprise me. Yes, I'm writing it, but sometimes, in the heat of the moment, I write something that completely fits within the scope of the story and character's personality, but which I had not planned at all.
Is this good writing? I don't know. But it's the only way I know how to do it. I know for a fact that other authors like to plan out ever single detail of their books, and for some, it works magnificently. However, I can't work that way. I like to get a general outline of situations, and let my characters lead me through the story. I like to let it grow organically.
And I think it shows with my characters' realism.
Anyway, I was just thinking about this as I was writing a particularly fun scene, and thought I'd share.
