Regaining Control

I wonder if other fiction writers struggle with losing control of their plot to their characters.  This is hard to describe to a non writer and it might sound like a very weird thing to happen.  After all, doesn’t a writer create a plot, create characters, then fill in the details?

Not necessarily.  Or, maybe I should say, not strictly.

My stories usually have a plot with a beginning and an end already in my mind and even in an outline on paper.  I also have the main character(s) detailed to a certain extent, also in the outline.  Some of the minor characters and minor sub plots are also already thought out as well as most of the setting/locations.

But, what happens in the writing process is this:  I start the story, I detail the character(s), I plot the action, things run smoothly, THEN, a character becomes so strong the plot starts taking off in another direction.  I don’t know if this means I am a bad writer.  After all, it is MY story and I know what is supposed to happen.  How can a character develop habits or characteristics that would let him/her take over?  I had one main character a few years ago I had to kill because she was taking over and would have caused the story to have a totally different ending.  I was so disappointed in her actions and how she was manipulating the other characters, there was nothing left for me to do but get rid of her.  She wouldn’t straighten up and she was corrupting the other characters.

Does this happen to other writers?  I just don’t know but imagine it must.  Could it be that I simply don’t have a good enough control of my craft?  Or, could it be that I get so wrapped up in the action of my story that details can get away from me?  Or, and I like this one best, could it be that as I develop the characters, they start to become real and do develop a life of their own?

What ever the reason, I know that for me to complete a novel and be satisfied with the results, I need to gain and retain control.

Right. I’ll see how it works with the next story.