Who Is in Charge?

I started writing my current novel using some character sketches and short stories I had written several years ago. I've wanted to write this book for some time, but had no real idea as to how I was going to do it. The novel is based on my mother's childhood and I have at hand a lot of oral history. But where does reality end and fiction begin? My fellow writers advised me to go for straight fiction and not worry too much about historical accuracy, at least not in the first draft, and that is what I have done.

The interesting thing is that the characters I have created have taken over. As I started on the most recent chapter, I knew where the characters were and what had happened to them already, but I had absolutely no idea what would happen next. I knew where I wanted to be at the end of the novel, but no idea how I was going to get there. But as I started working on the chapter, the characters told me what they had to say and how they felt. I was not really "in charge."

Of course this is only the first draft and quite possibly I have too many characters. Maybe the last chapter will come first and the fifth chapter last. Maybe more incidents are needed, and maybe some have to go. But in the revisions to come, I'm going to do the same thing: listen very carefully to my characters. They know their story better than I do.