MISC: Do what extent do NON writer characters have free will?

[Scott Eiler]

On 6/2/2012 7:07 PM, Martin Phipps wrote:
> Rob Rogers brought up an interesting point on the writers group.  How
> does a character in a fictional reality not go insane?
>
> I think a lot of it has to do with the writer.  Say for example the
> writer has plotted the story out already.  I mean, if the story is
> called The Death of Bad Timing Boy Part 1 then nothing Bad Timing Boy
> does in the story is going to make a difference.  He might as well
> blow his brains out at the end of Part 1 and save himself the torment
> that is sure to come.

It's not just a problem for characters who know they're fictional.

In my favorite storyline, I've had three characters (Ellipsis, Wyatt 
Ferguson, and Kristi the Animal Girl) who've been to the future and seen 
the end of the world.  Now they've lived several years since their trip, 
and they've seen the world going right back there.  Of the three, one 
has gotten fed up and gone to another universe.  Another might do that 
at any time; he's seen his future self doing that too.  The third is 
just stubborn.

-- 
(signed) Scott Eiler  8{D> -------- http://www.eilertech.com/ ---------

Let's take a look, if you will, at the Second Amendment of the
Constitution, which protects every American's right to shoot another
American.  This cherished constitutional right to shoot people and make
them dead is currently recognized in all fifty states, most recently
Florida.

- The Borowitz Report
(http://www.borowitzreport.com/2012/03/29/an-argument-against-healthcare/),
March 2012.