Again, thank you for your amazing advice, FencerforJesus!

Lady Galadriel, I know exactly what you mean. I like to call it "letting the characters take charge." Sometimes my characters have minds of their own! A lot of times, though, this causes your story to end up the way your character wants it to. In other words, your character is getting what they want. In a recent Q&A with a published author at my school (Nicole Mazarrella, I think was her name), she said that the best way to keep your plot moving and interesting was to determine what your MCs want the most, and then not give it to them. That way, you are providing constant frustrations and trials for your characters, which is what keeps things interesting.

I recently learned another idea from my English teacher, who is also a published author (and very talented, I might add), that I found very interesting. He said that whenever he gets stuck in his plotline, he plays a game with himself that he calls "Ten Crazy Things That Could Happen Right Now." His advice was to quickly write down anything that could happen in your current place in the plot, and to write all ten, even if number three is an absolutely brilliant idea. It helps exercise your imagination, and avoid cliche plots.

Another thing I was going to say, FencerforJesus, is concerning your view on trilogies. I must say I completely agree with you there!!!! I have always been frustrated with "sequels" that movie companies make simply because their first movie was such a big hit (movies like HSM2 come to mind...*shudders*). But, no, fortunately, that is not what I was planning on. With my story, it just simply seems to big to fit into a single book. My only worry is that with the way I plan on ending my first book (with a huge dropoff) might cause too much confusion and make it more difficult for people to read. Oh, well. I'll just wait until my first draft is done before I decide on what I'll do with that.

That would be my recommendation. Finish the draft and if it is too long, then you can split it up. I've had drafts at 250-280 pages (that is 135k to 160k words). My spiritual warfare novel is currently about 120k (ish, I haven't checked the word count in a while). My mom suggested splitting it up because I am a first-time author (to the publishing realm) and it might make it easier to sell, but when I spoke with WinePress, they actually recommended leaving it as it. So go ahead and finish your draft. Don't worry about length. That will take care of itself as you edit.

Wow! Thanks for the advice, everybody. The bizarre thing is that I am several drafts into the story and have altered the conclusion to some extent every time. Though I've really gotten into the story this time, adding more scenes and fleshing out characters. This draft is double the size of any of the others! At least when I finish this draft I hope I'll be able to just edit and not rewrite.

*begins to muse* This time, however, the problem is really that I had planned for a so-called "minor" character to enter when the story is nearing the height of the conclusion and thus "save the day" (at least for the moment, because more will happen after that. It's kind of like a false conclusion). I kind of ever-so-smoothly went past the point of the character's arrival (perhaps because I got caught up in the action and forgot about my set plan from before!). And it's not like the character is so minor that he can be skipped altogether; rather it's a character that appears in few scenes, but is still really needed.

But perhaps the character can still enter into the action that follows later....That will take some imagination, but of course imagination doesn't hurt! We'll see....

...the best way to keep your plot moving and interesting was to determine what your MCs want the most, and then not give it to them.

That's a great piece of advice.
Since I've often written short stories, any attempts at longer works often turn into episodic vignettes (sort of 'day in the life of' snippets) rather than a cohesive whole. This concept has helped me strengthen the whole plotline somewhat.

...in the story I am working on, I had a set plan, and it by itself diverted from the set scenes on me (It's not straying from the actual plot, it's just straying from the way I had planned to draw the story's conclusion in a major way).

I agree with the others who have said, "Let the characters tell the story." In my current project (which happens to be for NaNo), I've reached a crossroads - two different characters screaming that the story should go their way, so to speak. This choice will determine the entire outcome, even the possible death of a main character. That's much more intriguing than my original plotline - but I'm not ready to kill that character off yet! It'll take some thinking and plotting to resolve this conumdrum. Maybe I'll just continue writing and see what happens. As jbc mentioned above, I can always rewrite later - or even try my hand at an alternate ending to see which works better.

Exactly Star,

You can always edit it later. You can get really bogged down in trying to make things 'perfect.' As a professor once said to me, "It doesn't have to be perfect...it just has to get done."

I think that is what NaNo month is for. Keeping us moving toward the goal. We can fix what we need to later.

JBC

That would be my recommendation. Finish the draft and if it is too long, then you can split it up. I've had drafts at 250-280 pages (that is 135k to 160k words). My spiritual warfare novel is currently about 120k (ish, I haven't checked the word count in a while)....So go ahead and finish your draft. Don't worry about length. That will take care of itself as you edit.

I had never thought of that, FencerforJesus! I had always thought of my books as seperate novels, even though they were all the same story. In fact, I really like that idea (which means it'll take even longer to write, but that's okay). Come to think of it, that's probably smarter than writing the first and revising it until it works, and then the next, and so on, because this way I can revise the entire story, especially if something major comes up that I hadn't thought of, rather than having to stick with what I'd already written. Thank you!

Lady Galadriel, I'm not sure what to tell you. How far past the point did you go? All I can suggest is slightly manipulating the plotline so you can ease your character in there. I have a similar problem, but kind of the opposite. I just realized that one of my characters (very minor) is only in the story to help the plot along. What do you do about Plot-Fillers? I think that's probably the easiest way to fall into cliche characters. Should I get rid of the character altogether, and adjust the plot accordingly (once I'm done with my first draft, that is)? Or should I try to expand on that character, make them more interesting, even though they only appear in one chapter?

If you see your work as two stories, then perhaps it should be two stories. There's nothing wrong with taking the same characters and going deeper into thier world later on. The problem, as seen in bad movie sequels, is that they try to do the same thing that the first does only 'bigger and better' and it ends up being poorly done. I would make a split if the two stories can stand on thier own. If a major character reaches his climax in the middle of the story and has no room for growth, then the story should wrap up there and you can continue later.

But there is another twist of having two different stories woven together into one plot line. This is what I do in mine. I have two seemingly very different story lines (in fact they are in different time periods) in which I alternate between them as the story progresses. But starting halfway, I begin to merge them into one big thing. Which of these two fit your work more?

I mentioned earlier I thought about splitting my book in half as well. I am also working on a sequel and if I were to do that, I would re-write the whole thing to fit into a trilogy. If a trilogy is to be made, each story should be a stand alone, not have two parts be a (1/2 and 2/2). If that situation comes about, leave it like that and have a single main story cover it all. I plan to only do two books on my main characters, but I do have the option of doing individual spin-offs of each of my major characters (as was suggested by a friend). Those books would just be short novellas, focusing on each character, occasionally bringing in some others. But since my novel is based on spiritual warfare, I later plan to take the concepts of what I established and take that view to the time and ministry of Jesus while he was on the earth. I need to do some research on that, because my MC is currently slated to be Matthias, the desciple that replaced Judas in Acts 1. We don't know much about him and that would be a very interesting perspective to follow.

Gotta run to class now followed by Intervarsity Meetings.

FencerforJesus, you have no idea how helpful you've been! I find your advice very helpful. My story is just one story, from one POV (well, sometimes I flip back and forth between two characters, but they both are almost always in the same place, since they are traveling together, so it's pretty much one POV), and while there is a climax at the end of my first "book", it's not the main climax of the story. In fact, lately I've been wondering whether the end of my "book" was a little anti-climatic. A sign that I should combine my stories, perhaps? I don't know. I'll have to take that into consideration. It's a good thing you've brought this up now, though, while I'm still working on my first draft. Once I decide what I'm going to do, it'll make everything ten times easier, and perhaps eliminate a draft or two (or not...). Again, thank you so much!!!

Lady Galadriel, I'm not sure what to tell you. How far past the point did you go? All I can suggest is slightly manipulating the plotline so you can ease the minor character in there.

I didn't go too far, actually. The situation is something like this: the main character is taken prisoner in the enemy's camp (there has been a war going on between the two sides). The enemy leader is planning to execute the MC because the MC demonstrates such a big threat to him.

My Previous Plan: The enemy leader is planning to execute the MC, but right before it happens, while none of the enemy army is watching, [the MC] is rescued by the minor character.
What Is Happening Now: It's been carried a lot further than that, up to the point of the execution. A battle breaks out between the two armies in the last moment. I know it sounds cliche, but I've been twisting it and adding elements so that it really isn't. Now the problem: The minor character hasn't shown up yet!
(And it's not like a character I can just skip. It's kinda like the character that went away at the beginning of the story and is now returning, if you get the effect.)

I've been thinking that since this isn't the ultimate conclusion, perhaps the character MIGHT be able to come in a little later. It'll take imagination to find out! For example, in Lord of the Rings, the conclusion of the story is about at the time of Mount Doom, but then there's still the Scouring of the Shire afterward. (If you haven't read it, basically the plot of the story is done around the time of Mount Doom, but then the characters return home to find a problem they consequently solve.)

I just realized that one of my characters (very minor) is only in the story to help the plot along. What do you do about Plot-Fillers? I think that's probably the easiest way to fall into cliche characters. Should I get rid of the character altogether, and adjust the plot accordingly (once I'm done with my first draft, that is)? Or should I try to expand on that character, make them more interesting, even though they only appear in one chapter?

I guess it's difficult to say, isn't it? Speaking strictly from my own experiences in the past and in generalities, I would probably get rid of the character if they are really not all THAT important. But if it's a really big story, I would probably say it's okay to have an extra character, just a little point in the flow (unless it is really unnecessary to have them there).

What I actually did once is bring the character in later again, when people least expect it. People may have objections to that style, but that's what I did!

Lady Galadriel,

Is it possible that another character could fill in for that particular action and then the other character could come in a bit later?

I don't know if that would work but sometimes I've found it doesn't have to be that character and it could be someone else.

JBC

Hmmm. I'm not exactly sure what to say about that, Lady Galadriel. I guess you could introduce the character by having them save your MC, then explain why. I guess. I can't really say much about that when I don't know what your actual plotline is or the importance of this minor character. Without that knowledge, there isn't very much I can do.

As for having minor characters come back at random times, I guess that's fine, as long as it doesn't detract from the main story. Minor characters are great, don't get me wrong, but if they're too much of a distraction, then they've got to go. Just make sure you keep an eye on them so they don't steal the show from your MC.

Yup. I understand. Thanks for the advice you have given me though; I've been so far stuck that absolutely any ideas help at this point!

I was had a character that had a small role early and dissappeared for a while before coming back and played a critical role in the MC's development. She did absolutely nothing else and I realized that the action she performed later could have been done by someone else and so I had to cut here. But I still had a character I wanted to use, so I saved her for the sequel where she has a much larger role.

But that being said, there are still times where you need a character that does nothing but set up the MC for something else. I have one such character early in my story. You see him a couple times and he dies in the first few chapters. And through that scene (which some have told me brough them to tears), the real plot begins. There are other cases where a character that had little to do with the story itself is there just to sidetrack the MC or give him/her a clue. So not every character will need to be cut, but if that character has little roles, don't give them much character. I personally think that Tom Bombadill in Fellowship of the Ring could be cut out. The only thing that happens that helps the plot is that the hobbits get their weapons, and there are two very long chapters that could be done more briefly.

Now, Lady Galadriel, your idea sounds like the movie Ivanhoe. In there, Ivanhoe is captured attempting to rescue his damsel in distress. In attempt to rescue him, Locksley (Robin Hood) and Little John raise an army to storm the fort where he is held. Of course, Ivanhoe escapes during the battle which leads up to a major showdown with the villians. So here are my suggestions: the battle needs to have significance and not just a mere distractant. That is, don't have the guards look over the walls, say 'oh, nice battle. Let's watch', while unwittingly allowing the hero to escape (via the minor character or other means). That is the cliched approach. Make the battle mean something. If it is close the climax, have the battle plan be set up before the MC is captured or something like that so it would be carried out as well. Or have the battle plan be geared for the MC's rescue. The battle will need to have a purpose or it shouldn't be in there.

That's all for now. Time for me to go to bed. I have an early morning before I go out of town this weekend.

Thanks for that interesting advice, FencerforJesus! I'll be sure to use those suggestions.

Hey everyone!

I started a Topic called "Writer's World" and FencerforJesus told me that there was this one... I was so surprised to see that this one had the same name! I could hardly believe it! it was such a weird coincidence!

Well to get started in this topic:

I just started my own story like a week ago ( or less ). its been lots of fun working on a story of my own!
I seem to be able to write better the more I read books! so i think i had better start reading more books.......

Well I,m going to head off now