Whine with Character(s)

This is probably the third or fourth time I've whined about my characters, but I truly do wish they would behave. It's extremely rude, I think, that while being intricately painted, they should snatch the brush out of my hand and proceed to paint themselves. I've even had a few paint themselves out of the picture. Imagine that - suicidal characters.


What the characters come up with is never what I originally envisioned and I then have to refashion the story around them. My worst critics, they then start to change the story until it suits them. Sometimes several characters want to pull it in different directions, installing new dramatic conflict that I then have to adjust the story to handle. No wonder 'writing is rewriting'. I may as well just hand them my laptop and have done with it.