Mutiny!

It has been my experience that no matter how much I say "No!" my characters will inevidably proceed to disregard my ideas and take charge. The worst part is that when the characters do this the story ends up better than I could have imagined. It wounds my pride to recognize that my characters know better than me.

Somehow, when I don't plan so thoroughly, letting the characters have free reign to explode into hyper tangents, it brings the story to new levels of depth. When I try and force the story to stay on course, it kills the flow and destroys the enjoyment of writing. I've tried several experiments and it remains true. The previous novel I wrote (The Demon's Game) was forced to stay true to my notes and ended up falling short of its potential, but Paradise? wasn't supposed to be a serious project. It was an extra, but by letting it write itself however it pleased, it somehow mutated into something grand. The characters therein take all the credit.

I've learned not to argue.