Writer Wednesday - Stories That Take On Their Own Lives

What do you do when you have a story that goes in a different direction than you planned?

I have a story about a girl, her best friend, and a boy. I envisioned the girl and the boy being together...but the story pulled me in another direction--in fact I stopped writing because I didn't want to write it the way it was heading.

It's not my normal teen book. I guess this would be called emerging adult? It's a story of friendship and love and of course a medical crisis. But, the characters are in their early twenties instead of teens. I have no idea if there's an audience for this or not. It's half written and I think I'd like to try and finish it, but I need to drop my plan for it and let the story take on a life of its own and I feel bad for my characters. LOL!

It would also be my first solo book that would be in third person. Mesmerized is written in third person, but I cowrote that with another author. I like writing in first person. It feels more natural to me.

Anyway...what do you do when your story goes another way? Follow it? Or guide it back to where you want it?

Writer Wednesday - I Want To Know...

What makes you decide to buy a book?

Is it...

• the cover
• the blurb
• a review
• the author's reputation
• a few pages you read inside
• something else entirely

Please leave a comment and let me know why you buy the books you do.