Don't Lock Into A Story Point That No Longer Serves Your Plot

Too often authors think of themselves as slaves to their stories. They claim they aren't responsible for the actions of their characters, for the holes in their plots, or for the walls they're running into. And if you find yourself trapped in a situation where you feel like your plot is slithering away from you, or you can't figure out a way to get from where your characters are to where you want them to be... take a moment, and remember that you are in charge of things, and you can change them as needed.

It's a heavy responsibility, but you're the captain of this ship... whether you like it or not!

It really is all up to you.

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It's Your Story, And You Can Change Anything About It

Let's say you're writing an epic fantasy story. You've assembled a party of skilled and daring adventurers, and part of the plot for your story is that you want the former thief to betray their companions. But as the story goes on, and you get a better sense of that character, that face-heel turn just feels less and less authentic. However, you need the party to fall into the clutches of the enemy so they can be dragged in chains to the dark fortress where they meet a wizard that's been locked up in the dungeon. No matter how you turn things, though, it just feels like a sour note in the narrative.

So change it.

Gun to your head, you can do anything.

For example, do the characters get captured by a bounty hunter that you introduce as a new antagonist, and he hands them over to the villains? Do the characters find out where the wizard is and get themselves captured to enact a jailbreak? Or does the wizard manipulate things with minor magics to bring the characters to their side, allowing the plot to get back on track?

All of these are acceptable changes and shifts. Or you could do something even bigger if you want to! It's your book, and no one can stop you.

If there's a character you were going to kill off who'd be more useful alive, you can just have them not die. If there's a motivation that doesn't make sense, or which has been rendered moot by a direction the story has gone in, you can come up with a different one. If there is a character who feels too much like an exposition dump, you can remove them entirely and find a different way to get the information to your reader.

I've said it before, but think of your book like it's a road trip. You know where you're starting, and you know where you're going. Your outline is your preplanned route. And some of us can just follow that route, get where we're going, and that's a wrap! Sometimes, though, you find there's construction and you have to take a minor detour. Other times a bridge will be out, and you've got to take the scenic route. Sometimes there's a natural disaster like a flood or an earthquake, and you have to completely reimagine your route.

You are in control of where you go. And if a road you were planning on taking is no longer serving you or your story, take a different route. If the book hasn't been published yet, then nothing is set in stone, and you can do whatever the hell you want!

More importantly, no one is going to know if you don't tell them. So keep your initial drafts and outlines so you can share tales of what might-have-been on podcasts or during YouTube interviews, but remember that these are just ideas and plans... if you get to chapter 17 and the bridge you were going to drive over is out, you don't turn around and go home. You bust out your map, look for a detour, and ask what other way could you get to your final destination?

Because sometimes the road is rocky... but you'll get there in the end.

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