Is this fate? (Looking for that Great Author in the Sky)

I didn't think I'd find the time to write a post today, yet here I am. Something's been bugging me, something that my friend and fellow freewriter @marie-jay wrote the other day:

but in the end we all make it to the road we were supposed to take.

Ever since I read that sentence yesterday, I haven't been able to get it out of my head, which I suppose is a compliment to her. See, I don't think that's true. I don't really think we make it to where we're supposed to, because if that's true, then what about choice? Why should we make any decision in our lives, if we're going to end up in the same place, anyway?
Why should I choose between two people, between doing a good thing or a bad thing, between going to med school or drama school, if I'm going to end up in the same spot either way?

Let's be clear, I'm not talking about the end, here. I don't mean death, I mean what happens before that, you know, while we're still here.
About the choices we make and how vital they are to our destination, to this supposed road. Because if I make a bad decision and take a different path in life, then how can I possibly get to the same spot? This brings up the idea of fate, an idea I've never been able to get behind.

As a writer, I can see the beauty behind the concept of fate, how amazing to imagine a predefined path and destiny. And yet how improbable. Because, as a writer of fiction, I assume I have the reins over my characters. I set out a track for them, I outline their fate from the get go.

My hero's name is Steve, he's an accountant who's visited by the Devil on one strange, stormy night and strikes a pact to get the woman of his dreams and bla bla bla.

Setting out, I know the path my hero will take and what will happen to him in my book. And where he'll arrive. Or I think I do. But I'm pretty sure any writer would agree that my above statement is very wrong.
I, the author, do not define my characters' fate. They make their own fate throughout the book. I may think that when they reach the crossroad on page 29, they'll go South. I may feel very sure of that, but as the story progresses, I may just find that they decide to go East instead. And what seemed like the best idea (South) has been altered by the people my characters have become.

It's not my decision, it is my hero's. I may think it's a great idea to have a character who's a selfish prick, but he may turn out to be a most selfless man, as I write. And this has nothing to do with me. Characters take on a persona as the story progresses, they develop on their own.

And it's the same with us, people. After all, who's to say we're not just characters in a story? Do you really think that the guy who's writing all this is certain where each and every one of us is going? I think it's a nice idea, very reassuring, but I can't believe in it.

Why? Because it's bad writing, in my opinion. Why did he waste twenty pages to show my struggle to decide between X and Y if I end up in the same place anyway? If that decision did not add to the story, then it's a waste of space in the book.

And besides, don't you see that this idea, that we end up where we're supposed to regardless of our actions, robs us of responsibility for our actions? Now, I can't really believe in something that does that, how could I? It just seems too good to be true.

There's a point to making choices and our choices are our responsibility. If Jean makes a horrible choice in her life, such as hurting someone or staying in a bad relationship, Jean is the one who'll have to endure the consequences, which is why Jean needs to take responsibility. Wouldn't really be fair if the author chose for Jean and made her go through years of mental scars and attachment issues, would it?

I mentioned a bad relationship. But, if there is a predefined fate and road on which we all end up, then the ideas of 'good' and 'bad' don't have much of a purpose. If you steal a car (do something bad), you go to jail (the consequence of your bad deed). But if you're going to go to jail anyway, regardless if you're innocent or guilty, then what's the point?

We tend to look at things from our own angle. How will this action affect me? Is this a good choice or a bad choice for me? That sort of thing. But if the end is already decided and some author out there knows whether our ending is good or bad (again, I'm not talking afterlife here), then why should we bother choosing and struggling to make the right choices?

We broke up and we have spent years away from each other, missing one another. Sad and in pain. We broke up out of a stupid thing, a childish argument that neither of us was mature enough to overthrow.
You can't say oh well, it would've happened anyway. Maybe not. Maybe if you (or I) would've calmed down and went to hug the other person, we'd still be together. Maybe one simple action would've spared us years of longing and regret.

That's where thousands of 'what if...' scenarios come from. 'What if...' scenarios defy the idea of fate, because if there is a fate, that 'if' doesn't matter. I don't really like to make up 'what if...' scenarios about my past. Things are what they are. My current condition is the sum of my choices and actions.

I believe that the whole concept of fate was created by people who are afraid of regrets. If it's not your responsibility, then you can't even come to the conclusion that you might've made a mistake. You can't regret not hugging me because it's not your decision. So, you spare yourself.

But what if it is your decision?

Thank you for reading,

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