The Character is Always Right...

So I have a new character, kind of. I had come up with the idea for him a few months ago, decided his character wouldn't work and got rid of him all in a period of 30 minutes. But he's forced his way back now and I decided to let him in since he wants a role so bad. The funny thing is, now that he's in the story, all these half finished dialouges are being continued and millions of puzzle pieces are coming together. This causes him to gloat quite a bit, but it's worth it.
-Heather

Writer FAQ: How can your character's suprise you?

So I recently had this question asked of me by my brother. I was talking about how I couldn't believe that my characters had done something and he had expressed how he never understood the "character's surprising you thing". My mom also made a comment about how I could just make them do what I want.
So I felt the need to add this new topic to the plate along with Novel Updates, Character talks, and Book Reviews, Writer FAQ's.
So here's where the answer lies for the question, How can your characters surprise you?
The answer all lies withing character development. You get to a certain point in your writing where your characters really are their own people, who make their own decisions that you have to go with or face the wrath of breaking the character! As you write you realize that because that character is who they are, they have to do something, and even though that may not be what you had in mind, to do anything else wouldn't be being true to the character.
So that's pretty much the answer I could probably write more on it, but I should probably go to bed or something.
-Heather
P.S. Went to the book store today and got two books I haven't read yet, so reviews coming soon.

Novel Update

I am so psyched right now. I've gotten to some interesting points in my novel where 1) it's less making up what happens and more following through events in a logical course based on what's already been established, and 2) tons of stuff keeps clicking together in new mind boggling ways. Things have started making more sense because of these two things which makes me very very happy, despite how much rewriting it's caused.
So just an update. I'm thinking about posting my "character ringtones" soon, if I can finish going through all my music looking for the songs. Hannah has most of hers done while I don't even think Adelene or Tyler have any. Oh, well.
-Heather

Refusing to be an Extra

Hello, once again Internet people,
So, I was writing along, working on a scene that had a few extras who were just there for not much more of a purpose than to prove that one of my main characters had friends, and one of them decided that she had a back story and was influential to the plot. It's one of those fun and frustrating things as a writer because you have to rework plot areas to fit this new puzzle piece, but it's so great to have someone new to work with.
-Heather