Perhaps you need to backtrack to chapter 7 and rethink your entire story from that point on.
Susan
[This message has been edited by shadowynd (edited June 29, 2005).]
If it helps, in the Alvin Maker series, OSC says that Little Peggy wasn't in the outlines, neither was Arthur Stuart, both of whom are now major characters.
Seriously, when characters start writing the story themselves, I believe it makes for a stronger story. That's because suddenly the characters start to act like people in their own right: making their own decisions, and acting true to their characters rather than to the externally imposed will of the author.
Once one of my background characters spontaneously popped up with something that beautifully resolved a plot flow problem that I had been struggling with for six months. The idea must have been percolating in my head for some time, but it's like I didn't have access to it until the character gave it to me. At first I was really annoyed that this nothing character was demanding so much attention. When I found out why, though, it was like the sun coming out on a cloudy day.
So I don't necessarily know what'll work for you and your story, but I tend to trust my characters when they take over. I find that there's usually a reason that they do, if I'm patient enough to find out what it is.
Save your draft as it is now, and start a new file. Write the story both ways (not necessarily at the same time), and see which you think is the better story.
Don't be too afraid of losing control. Exercise appropriate caution, but remember that sometimes good things can happen when your characters help you write their story.
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How best to get my characters back in line?
Whips are good. Seriously, I'm not sure you need to worry about it too much just yet. The best things can come of characters who have taken on a life of their own. My main protagonist for my book started out as a walk-on to give one of the other main characters someone to bounce dialog off on. Now this insignificant character is carrying the bulk of the story, and my story is better for it.
Part of what I love most about writing is the surprise when characters breath life into the story. It keeps me on my toes.
If you know you are off track, think about how you can motivate them to go in the direction you need. You can always salt the manuscript with small events to channel them into the proper course. Figure out where the decision began to go wrong, back up to that point, then take another run at it.
Just don't be afraid to experiment with going a whole new direction!
I know this works for some writers. But here's what Tim Powers had to say on this: "If I let my characters run their own lives, they would sleep till noon, be drunk by sundown, and the major action of the book would be at the end of the month when they all get evicted."
In one section the main character reads a letter. I created it as an extra indent on each side. Should I do the same for the memo? Should I use Quotations as well? I don't think I need extra quotations. Maybe just make clear where the memo ends with something like: After reading the memo...
Do yourself a favor: read TECHNIQUES OF FICTION WRITING by Eloise McGraw. A very successful YA writer. You'll find the book in a library or via inter-library loan. She usually had her stories change around chapter 7 for some of the same reasons. She talks about how to deal with this very issue. You'll not regret the time spent.
You are therefore discovering the character as you write. This is good to a degree, but not when it gets to the point of catastrophic incontinence, or in other words when it becomes unrestrained to the point of overwhelming the central motives of the story.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited July 05, 2005).]
A strong character can be a huge help in writing a story.
$0.02
On one hand Jeraliey is right: I had a character do the same thing in my novel and he ended up as a secondary main character. I actually had a reader tell me this was his favorite character. This was because he was real, therefore very strong. He almost created himself. I ended up naming the book after him and going back and highlighting him more.
On the other hand, as a budding writer, I find it difficult to distinguish between the story/characters taking over and making magic, or the story/characters running away all together and making bunk, until I've done a substantial amount of writing. This can be frustrating and discouraging at times (I still have the remnants of what started out as an amazing idea but 25,000wds into it the characters turned it into a circus--Two years later I'm still too frustrated at them to go back to it).
So, my $0.02...I think it really depends on the story. Be true to the muse...and hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the butt.
Some discovery during the writing is good and can bring vigor to the piece, but to consistently allow characters to overrun the story means you will never write what you intended when you sat down at the desk. Whether you are satisfied with having made 'something' as opposed to that which you had intended to make is up to you.
The results for both methods can be very satisfying, but one generally requires greater rigor in the process and the other carries greater risk.
Me? I generally like to let the character run away with me while writing the character synopsis, snatches of dialogue, pictures cutout from magazine etc, really go to town. If, in the end, they don't fit the story, I save them for another.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited July 05, 2005).]
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I thought the one character and her unborn baby would die.
Kill her. End of discussion. A strong character doesn't cheat death by playing on the author's sympathies.
EJS is absolutely right to bring up the Tim Powers quote here. Dying is not something this character ever had the power to control. Letting her avoid dealing with it doesn't help you show her character, it only shows your lack of resolve as an author. Kill her.
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Often a 'character running away with the story' is due in some measure to incomplete character generation in the first place.
How do you do this? I cannot truly generate/discover my characters until I get writing, because I need to see them in action. Making a list of facts and personality traits on a character sheet beforehand makes for plastic characters. They can't come alive until there is action, at least in my limited experience. Is there a way around this? Do you write throw-away scenes to discover your characters before you begin working on the actual text of the story?
But when writing structured fiction, you have to give your characters motivations and goals distinct from your own as the author. It's fine if you have a happy ending where the character ends up (mostly) happy (like that use of reiteration?), but as the author you can't let your character's desires become your own.
If you don't consciously give a character motivations that are independent of what you, the author, want, then one of two things will probably happen. One is that your characters will be passive, never really doing anything on their own. The other is that you'll start playing the character as an ego proxy in a rule-free game, resulting in a narrative that is more veiled wish fulfillment than story.
Neither is considered good. Which is why it is considered one of The Standard Deviations of Writing.
Or put another way, always think of yourself as an actor of sorts, and ask yourself "What's my character's motivation?" Understand that it will not be your motivation.
I need to use italics either more or less often 
[This message has been edited by Survivor (edited July 06, 2005).]