Is your story taking an unexpected detour? You may have started out with the most detailed outline for your novel but sometimes your characters may be leading your story in a different direction. Now while I am all for sticking to an outline, it is, after all, the foundation of the story. However, if your story is taking on a life of its own (as stories often do) and it is pulling you in one direction, it is completely counterproductive to resist that pull.
Your characters will always be the one’s responsible for telling the story that you are trying to convey. A lot of times the story you thought was going to be told in the beginning changes into a completely different story, possibly focusing on a different character as the main character then you had originally intended. Don’t fight wherever the story is leading you.
If you resist the pull your readers will more than likely be able to see the struggle and it will leave them wondering if the story they read was the story that should have been told. Follow wherever your story is taking you and just enjoy the ride!
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310
Write 2 Be 
Are all those links yours?
Excellent blog post, I look forward to reading more.