Aaargh! My stories are turning on me. They are staging a bloody coup, and I'll be lucky if I survive this one. Can you die from sheer confusion? Two of my stories have recently up and decided that they are in control of their own destinies. Who knows how many will jump on the bandwagon?
One of them has decided that it is not about the character I thought it was about. A peripheral character has taken over and he's holding on tight, insisting that this is his story, dammit. Although the story continues to be told by the same narrator (formerly protagonist), she has deferred to the authority of this other guy. Now everything is slipping and sliding around, motives are changing, dialogue is disappearing, and huge chunks of text are flying into the dustbin. I was going to try to workshop this story this week, but after this happened, I decided the story didn't deserve it, citing lack of loyalty as my reason.
So I turned to another story, a story that I thought loved me. A story that was "almost done" (hah!). A story that, although I felt that it was a little flat for reasons I couldn't pin down, I thought had gotten it as far as I could by myself. I felt secure, and maybe a little cocky, that I had this story in the bullpen. It was my safety, and I loved it like it was my gifted child.
As it turns out, a DEMON gifted child (as so many of them are). This story decided that, in actuality, it wants to now start in the middle of what I have already written. The middle. Not only that, but one of the characters has been relegated to mostly flashback and summary, and another has stepped in to perform most of the scenes he was involved in (primadonna). So what I have on my hands is a major remodel here, involving cramming major chunks of story from the first half into the second half somehow, while rearranging dialogue and several key scenes. For a story that’s due on Thursday.
It might be okay if I actually knew what I was doing, but every time something like this happens I usually have to go through a period of readjustment, study, etc. Now I don’t have that luxury. I tell you, its all part of their plan to slowly drive me insane. Maybe they’ve teamed up with the Jeep. Maybe its bigger than I even realize, a global conspiracy on the part of my possessions and creations to take over. Maybe I should let them. It might be easier that way.
