You know, I love the idea that writers are in charge of their own work. Its a nice thought, that we control the events in our work, the characters we create.
Nice thought.
Not reality.
For instance, I've had this character in my head for a couple of years. I finally found a great story for him and started my world building. One thing this guy has always been sure of is his name. Reg Morris.
Reg is going to go through some things. He'll have a symbiotic creature shoved into his chest, end up with fire magic he can't control in a place where magic is illegal, and then get dragged into a magical realm he isn't prepared for with a bounty hunter at his side.
Fun, right?
Except, the little shit changed races, names, and a few other things the other day! Now I have Rex Marin, a Mexican-American bartender who does all of the above. Am I annoyed that I have to redo all of his stuff because his name changed? Yeah, a little. But I do like the direction of the character now. He's going to be fun to write as he traverses an urban/high fantasy novel that still doesn't have a name.
My advice to writers is to get out of your own way. Maybe what you're working on isn't working because you're trying to control an element that needs to change!
Now I have work to do!