<div id="ectocontent">
<div>

I'm 35K words into the book for 2013 now, a point at which it's worthwhile to sit back and review the progress so far. As usual there's plenty of work to be done. But here's an interesting problem to fix, one that can be tackled in several different ways.

The story has an important character who, when I first dreamt up the tale, was going to be young, say 22 or 24, a little naive, straight from university, a little lost in a big and complex world. When I review the way that character appears in the book so far, though, I find he/she doesn't quite fit that description. The voice is older, more comfortable with itself, more in control.

What do I do? Here are the options, at least the ones I can see...
<ol>
	<li>Leave things as they are and effectively say to the reader, 'Look, I know most twenty-two-year-olds aren't as sure of themselves and seemingly adult as this. But some are and this is one of them. OK?'</li>
	<li>Do the above but insert some kind of back story which explains why the character's like this.</li>
	<li>Go through all his/her appearances in the text and change them to match my original concept for the part: young, naive and sounding it.</li>
	<li>Change the character's age to reflect the way he/she sounds in this first draft.</li>
</ol>
So which one is the right approach?

</div>
</div>
<!--more-->

That was a trick question. There is no right approach. The answer will depend on many things. How happy you are with the story so far. What kind of writer you are. How confident you feel about the future direction of the story.

Here are my gut feelings about these four possibilities.

<em>Leave things alone and say that's how the character is.</em>

I don't like that. Readers aren't dumb. If you're seeing this bit of grit in your well-laid plan by 35K words they will be seeing it too, and noticing it all the more as they progress. Yes, some characters of that age would talk and act like this. But in my draft it still doesn't feel right.

<em>Put in some explanation for why he/she is this way.</em>

I'm squirming on my seat with this one too. Characters should emerge naturally from the page, not carry labels attached to them designed to explain why they act the way they do. We all explain things a bit, of course. But those explanations should be part and parcel of the narrative itself, not functional devices designed to fulfil some specific dramatic function. Stories come from the imagination, not IKEA. They're meant to be dreamt, not assembled.

<em>Rewrite the dialogue and action to make the character fit the original template.</em>

This is a possibility, perhaps a sound one. It depends on a single question: how convincing is the character in his/her present shape? The clash between voice and age apart, does the character work? If the answer's no, then this would seem to be the option to take. But in this case the character <em>does</em> work. He/she has emerged organically from the narrative, developing a unique voice, fitting in with the principal character with whom he/she has to interact.

In circumstances like that I really have only one option. Go back into the story and revise the age references and anything else that needs changing. I'll make him/her twenty nine or so, and instead of being straight from university someone with a shattered career behind them, perhaps, one that's sent them back to doing that postgrad degree he/her had been promising themselves one day.

I really like that idea. It gives the character more depth and it means I don't have to introduce any artificial devices to make the story work.

But that's me. For you it could be different.