Sometimes my stories sneak up on me and do something I don’t expect. In the novel I’m currently writing, the story just killed one of the characters. Mr. Story did it without a fuss–like it had been planned for some time. Poof. Enjoy your gruesome death, Mr. Character.

Me? I’m just sitting here, kind of stunned. I didn’t expect this, in fact, I had things for this guy to do, but now he’s dead. I want to ask Mr. Story: “How long have you been planning this?! Why didn’t you give me a hint?”

I guess I should have known when this guy got shot a couple of days ago, but hey, he survived that, right? I mean, why not kill him then, Mr. Story?

This is why I don’t plot the story first. It’s much more interesting to write it without knowing everything that’s going to happen!