These Characters...

My muse finally returned from holiday or hibernation or wherever she's been, so I've been doing more writing than usual this past week. And-- surprise!-- it's causing me some angst.

Sybil, more or less. I
have a picture of Greg
 in my mind, but haven't
found a good one on the
interwebs yet. Source.

You see, I've known my characters Sybil and Greg for a long time. I started writing them when I was in high school, and have hung on to them this long because I like them so much. The first thing I wrote about them was their senior year of high school, and then moving on to college. Eventually, they're going to live happily ever after. I hope. In the meantime, I'm writing them a freshman-year prequal (it was my NaNoWriMo project last year), and they're in an awful mess.

In the earliest stages of her written life, Sybil was not destined to be with Greg. I had her dating someone else, but then I liked her and Greg together so much that she broke it off with the other guy. In the prequal, of course, she has to be with the other guy, who I've more or less rewritten. And my life circumstances have changed since I wrote him the first time; I'm a happily married woman instead of a lonely and hormonal teenager. Result: I've accidentally written my husband into the story, and that's who Sybil is dating. A 16-year-old version of my Chadwick. Le sigh.

So, not only do I have Sybil with this guy who I think is perfect for her, but I've also realised that 14-year-old Greg and Sybil may be the least compatible people I've ever heard of. Why? Why have I done this to myself? And more importantly, why have I done this to these characters I have loved?

As ever, the only way to find out what happens next is to keep writing and (possibly) get us all out of this mess.

Do your characters insist on doing crazed things?