I'm still working on revisions here, big shocker. My biggest concern right now is tweaking some of the mystery elements to make the ending more fun for the reader, and a large part of that has been changing my characters. Not swapping out Bob* for Joe, but turning Bob into a different person than I first thought he would be. Sometimes I need to do this to alter the reader's perception of him, and sometimes because I realize that it just makes the story work better.
This is something I find pretty difficult. For the past year or more, Bob has been living in my head as an intense, commanding, moral person, and suddenly I need him to be friendlier, more down-to-earth, more sly. It takes me a while to get used to the new Bob. I like it though--especially when a character change makes a whole other row of other logical changes snap into place.
Do find that you need to change the personae of your characters during revisions? Or do you generally stick with them as you originally envisioned them, and change other things?
*Not the real character names, I'm still too chicken for that. Also don't want to give anything away. Just, ya know, in case... ;)
I've had characters show me who they are during the course of the novel and through revisions. I'm not sure I've ever made a conscious effort to change a character's personality, though. I bet it would be very difficult to change a character and have that new personality reflect through the writing. I'd be worried I would miss something or the old personality would seep through. I commend you for being able to do that. :)
ReplyDeleteI've done a mix of both. I had to change the way I told a story for one of the characters because she was soooooo whiny. (She had a reason to be, but it was annoying) For me it was a relief to change her role in the story so I could write and read less of her, but if it was a character I really liked, I think it would be hard to change them in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding not that I need to change their persona, but that I need to add MORE to make that persona clear. It's clear to me because the person is in my head, but won't be to readers.
ReplyDeleteI think my problem is that when I start, I initially want a lot of my good characters to be good people, and at some point I start to realize that they are all getting a little boring. So I guess I'm ramping up the flaws in a way that serves the story better :)
ReplyDeleteI always end up changing a bit about my characters during revisions. Sometimes I need to weave in some new characterization to fill a plot hole!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog! New follower! Stop by and say hi if you get a chance!
ReplyDeleteKristin
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