Sylum Clan

There are a lot of things that can irritate an author when they’re working on a series, especially one that is as involved as Sylum. *looks at Gil’s glare and cackles evilly*

One of the bigger irritants is the dreaded curveball. What’s the curveball? It’s when something – usually a character, but sometimes a storyline – sneaks up and derails the story in some way. Sometimes it’s minor, such as a person just showing up when they weren’t supposed to, but doesn’t alter the story much. Sometimes it’s major, like when characters show up and alter an entire storyline that affects more than one arc, and you find yourself throwing out future stories and adding a dozen more. In other words, your story goes left or flips a U-turn when it should have gone right, and the writer is sitting there wondering what the hell just happened.

Why this subject? Because this has happened in the most recent story Gil is working on. A character was supposed to only make a small cameo, once the character was approved. Now? Well, now he’s horned in on the entire plotline, so Gil’s had to rearrange everything that was previously outlined to fit him in, and who the hell knows what else will change with the new additions. It will definitely change the group dynamic. Dread and excitement are pretty much present in equal amounts, because even I have no idea what’s going to happen.

*cackles gleefully again and watches Gil glare* What?

Anyway, Bob threw a curveball a couple of stories back when it was suggested (Oh, look, Gil is eyeing Nico pointedly) that Brian would look good in a military uniform. There was a lot of rearranging and adjustments to future stories and storylines that happened because of that. It’s actually done a lot for this storyline in Border, but boy, was it a pain in the ass to get it to the final draft. Even I had issues with it, and I was the one who lobbed the plotbunny at Gil’s head.

You don’t even want to know the trouble Bob and Bob 2 have caused for their writers.  *high fives Bob and Bob 2*

So what does a writer do when their bunny wranglers throw them a curveball? *tries to look innocent and fails utterly*

Honestly, just go with it. The thing is, if an idea comes up and it just clicks and it works, don’t fight it. In the end, it’s more than likely it’s going to make your story better, and if you try to stop it, to force your story a certain way just because that was the original plan, it’s not only going to be much more difficult to write, it’s very likely going to show in the final product, because it usually shows when you’ve written a story you really don’t want to write or don’t really believe in.

If it does end up you don’t like it, you can always backtrack and rewrite. Sometimes that happens. Even I have my off days, and things don’t turn out so well the first time, but the point is, with writing, you have to try things out, even if it means more work in the long run. You never really know what’s going to work, but if you really care about your story and want the best you can tell, you have to get in there and do the work: the writing, the editing, the rewriting…. Even when we’re evil and throw you the dreaded curveballs of doooooom.

*lobs a plot bunny at Gil and runs*