Run right out and tell someone to do something, anything.

I'll wait...

How did it go? Did they comply with you without questioning? The chances are slim that you would've gotten blind obedience on the first try.

The same goes for characters you are writing in a story. It was a big problem I had sending my diligent fry cook Cal Ryder off on his motorcycle journey. I knew him too well. He's set in his ways. I wanted him to go off on this crazy insane dangerous odyssey but the thought of writing a line like, "Uh, okay, whatever" made my blood curdle. How do I make him move? How do I get Calvin out of the kitchen strictly by his own will? I thought and thought for days without coming up with an answer.

Then it hit me. If I know him so well, why don't I just leave him alone? In other words, what would happen if I (momentarily) stopped playing God and let go of the reins of the story, and let it go wherever it went? Here's what happened...

Thanks but no thanks.

Up to that point Lenny the con-man was wanting Calvin to ride south on a road trip to celebrate his 17th birthday -plus some cash. I knew exactly what Calvin would do: he said he wanted more money and Lenny pays for the gas. Lenny says go to hell. Calvin slams the door in his face and goes back to running the diner. End of story.

But wait.

... later that night the payphone rings. It's Lenny again, giving in to Calvin's requests and the trip is on! I was much happier with the outcome; Calvin is acting more like a real person, giving Lenny a push-back. He didn't say no exactly, but didn't blindly follow him either. By making the payphone ring I showed Lenny as more desperate than he let on, AND it's the frickin' phone booth in the parking lot! Once the game was on he proceeds to smuggle two bags of cocaine in the storage compartment of Calvin's motorcycle.

By 'letting go' of the story I accomplished a few things:

• Calvin's not so excited about getting mixed up in Lenny's business.
• Lenny is actually quite desperate about using getting Calvin to come along on the trip.
• Lenny gets to set his devious plans in motion.
• Lenny consequentially has to explain to his boss the missing bags of cocaine

Let it go.

None of this would've happened so smoothly without letting the characters have their way once in a while, and allowing the story's existence be fragile -in the sense that at any point something could happen that would wipe it out completely. Something to keep in mind if you're ever composing a story or coming up with the next sequence of actions. Let it go.

T-SHIRTS!

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... or just buy the comic. What the hey?