I should show readers how I go about putting together a novel. I read about (and listen to) how authors do this all the time. It’s as unique as the individual. In my case, I have a spreadsheet set up with a row per chapter. My chapters, ICYMI, are alternating by point of view, and for the most part, under 2000 words in length.

I know where I want to go because I have a column that tracks plot directives and movement. For example, there’ll be one that says something like “Ashley reveals her plan,” and regardless of POV, I know that Ashley’s going to be in that scene and her plan will be revealed. I review the rows above and see when Ashley last ‘had the mic,’ and decide from there if she’s the POV or if it’s someone else in the scene. That helps me keep it fresh and reduces entire chapter rewrites (which happen rarely, usually when I do scrap a POV and regroup around another).

So my scene has an objective. The POV and the objective are neatly nested into the spreadsheet, and the fun begins. Sometimes I’ll dovetail or overlap the telling of the story (we may already know, for instance, that Rory is going to Ashley’s party from a previous chapter from his POV, so when we get to the one where she reveals her plan, it might be during the party on the front porch or something). Sometimes I’ll write the entire scene that satisfies my directive about Ashley and her plan, but then for sake of pacing or detail or sometimes just for fun, I’ll revisit the spreadsheet and insert a new row before her plan reveal and write something else.

Rarely am I writing away and finding myself at the mercy of the muse.

However, last night it happened. Two characters were having a conversation over breakfast, and it was obvious from their dialogue that a lot was going unsaid. Krystal was behaving out of character. It was Stu’s POV (a rancher, and not the most insightful sometimes) and so we were left with his impressions and guesswork as to what was up with Krystal.

The edict from my spreadsheet row simply stated that Krystal and Stu were going to forecast trouble.

The next thing I knew, Krystal was changing her affiliations. Not only was she out of character, she was downright duplicitous in her revelations. I was shocked. So was Stu. We went along with it. Stu invited her to a place removed from public (and technological) eavesdropping. That was his idea. I did not even know there were Lead Rooms in Laramie, Wyoming. Then the reveals kept coming.

Krystal is taking the whole plot into (literally) uncharted territory. I now have some revising of the rest of the spreadsheet to keep up with her whims. Everything she said and revealed is fitting into the logic of her character and the plot. In fact, thank you Krystal, it’s going to amp things up substantially with even more plot twisting pyrotechnics. It was just unexpected, and from my view, entirely the character’s volition.