Paksworld

Most of us have had the experience of knowing someone so well we were sure we could predict their behavior in all circumstances….and then being shocked to the core to find out they did not behave as expected. It happened to me again this past fall. They weren’t hiding what they were–I just didn’t see it.

Non-writers sometimes think that fictional characters are entirely under the writer’s control–after all, we have a “delete” key, don’t we? (Or, in the old days, erasers and white-out.) Surely the writer can force the character to do what the writer wants…it’s not like the character is a real person who can slam the door and walk away.

Except…readers want characters to feel real. And one part of feeling real is a character’s ability to refuse cooperation. Even cooperation with the writer.

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