Characters and plans

“No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” – Helmuth von Moltk

People in general do not do things completely at random. There may not be much conscious, deliberate planning involved in stumbling out of bed in the morning and getting the coffee or tea started, but the intention of getting hold of a caffeinated drink ASAP is unmistakably present. The process of going to the garage, starting the car, and driving off may be on autopilot, but when I do that, I have a place in mind to go and a reason for going, whether that’s “to the store for milk” or “to the park for a walk.” In short, I have a plan, however rudimentary.

I also have expectations around whatever I’m doing. I expect the electric teapot to still be working. I expect there to be tea in the tea drawer and water coming out the faucet. I expect my car to be in the garage, with enough gas in it to go places, and I expect the garage door opener to work. I expect the store to be open and I expect to be able to find a parking place.

Characters are people (even if they have green blood and pointed ears, or four paws and a tail). They do the same things, have the same kinds of problems, and make the same kinds of mistakes that people in general do. Which means that they do things for a reason. They have intentions; they make plans; they have expectations.

Just as in real life, the plans characters make often don’t work out as smoothly as the characters were expecting. The coffee tin or tea drawer is empty; the electricity is out; some other member of the household has taken the car (or forgotten to fill the gas tank); they are distracted by the sound of sirens and flashing lights in the street outside. Having a plan, intending to do something, expecting it to work, doesn’t prevent things from going wrong, and it certainly doesn’t prevent other people’s actions from screwing up whatever the character’s plan was.

Authors are also people. They do the same things, have the same kinds of problems, and make the same kinds of mistakes that people in general do. They have intentions; they make plans. Things happen that prevent those plans from moving along smoothly.

There are three major things to remember about all these plans. The first one is that there are a lot of them, and they’re all different. Some are only slightly differences – six characters may all plan to go to the movies together, but have different expectations about whether to share a giant bucket of popcorn or each get their own bag. Or the differences may be significant: the villain intends to blow up the rebel moon, while the hero intends to prevent this by blowing up the Death Star.

Because different people have different intentions and plans for what to do next, it is highly likely that at any point in the story, these plans will interfere with each other. Sometimes, this is obvious – if the hero blows up the Death Star in time, the villain will not be able to blow up the rebel moon. Sometimes, it is less obvious – if one of the movie-goers was hoping to see Episode Three of a series nobody else is interested in, they’re not going to be happy with the sappy romantic comedy the others decided on. And sometimes, it is completely unexpected – if the author had intended the scene to be a quiet conversation ending with the revelation of a dark secret from the sidekick’s past, they’re going to be taken aback when the sidekick shows up roaring drunk and wanting to do a can-can on the dining table instead of talking.

Minor differences between the characters’ plans and intentions can often be ignored or negotiated. Major differences between characters’ plans and intentions tend to drive the plot, especially when two characters are working toward opposite outcomes (blowing up the moon vs. blowing up the Death Star). Major differences between the characters’ plans and the author’s plans are almost always a case of the author’s backbrain being smarter than the author’s plan, and as such, are opportunities for the author to have a better idea.

The second major thing to remember is that plans change. Sometimes it’s because circumstances change (hence the quote that started this post); sometimes a person – character or author – gets partway through something and loses interest or simply changes their mind. Most authors are fairly well aware of this when it comes to their protagonist. A large part of many plotting systems involves the author forcing the characters to change their plans. (The protagonist planned to travel up the coast on horseback; the author decides to force them to travel by boat instead, so the road is washed out, or blocked by a volcano, or blockaded by an army.)

Unfortunately, authors often overlook the ways that a secondary or tertiary character’s change in plans can affect events, throwing a monkey wrench into the protagonist’s (or antagonist’s) careful plans. This can, in turn, result in the author suddenly realizing that the obvious thing for the secondary character to do will not only upset the protagonist/antagonist’s plans, it will upset the author’s plans. Again, this can be an opportunity, if the author recognizes it in time (though it is almost always an extremely frustrating opportunity, but that’s how it goes).

The third thing to remember is that authors can force their characters to recognize their poor planning and deal with their mistakes, but nobody but the author him/herself can force a truly stubborn author to admit they’re getting something wrong, much less correct it.