Follow up to yesterday's post

This was in response to NiWo21k's question about not writing yourself into a corner if your story evolves with the characters' choices, and I figured I should post it here just in case people miss it as part of the comments from yesterday:

 A good question! Really, if you're writing based on a character's reactions, then they'll always do what you expect them to do in any given situation, and if they do the opposite, it needs to be a big deal. I think it helps if you have a general ending that you're aiming for (for the whole story or just the arc), in which case, most of your writing is just the process of getting the character to that ending. Thus, the obstacles you throw in their way should lead them there. If they're a very reticent character, but your end goal is them facing off against their enemy, then your plot should put obstacles in the character's way that leads them to grow in courage.  

 Then you've got to consider Acts. Most people write in three acts, but I personally think you should write as many as needed. But an act is first and foremost a point of no return. Malaya meets Elias, and she waffles on whether to bother with him. Malaya meets Aubrey and fully transforms...she's reached a point of no return. She sees the full extent of her power and there's a threat against her family's life, end of Act 1. Act 2 then follows her learning more and accepting her power. Everything that happens in the plot is to give her situations to react to towards that goal. (Like, if I put the shopping montage right after she meets Aubrey, that doesn't serve the character or the plot...whereas putting it in Chapter 7 makes it a character bonding interlude...so now it serves a Purpose.)   

Basically, if you're writing with your characters in mind, and where they're going, you shouldn't write yourself into too many corners. Your plot can stay pretty thin and still be interesting. The idea is not to throw out too many things that limit your future options without thinking it through first. ("This magic orb controls time!" Okay, well, why not go back in time and fix everything? Why doesn't it come back again when we need it in the future? Etc.) Like, the werewolf council existing created a limit -- Now Elias's mom and friends can't just come fix the situation so our protagonists have to. Well, now I have to deal with the werewolf council existing, so that's a limit on the story I had to think through a LOT before I ran with it. I have a list of details that I reference to help give it some basis in real bureaucracy. But, I don't throw out too many details into the story that readers don't need, because that puts limits on things that I can't change later if I have to.   Hopefully all that made sense!