Charlotte’s father looked pale. “I think you’d better put that piece of paper down.”
“I don’t see why,” Sheldon said, looking very pleased with himself. “After all, it’s my novel.”
“Yes, but those are not your words.”
Sheldon looked annoyed. “You know, I never liked the name ‘Sheldon’. So why should I be Sheldon just because somebody wrote it down on a piece of paper? I have the right to determine my own identity.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Charlotte said, looking thoughtful. “A novel really belongs to the person who wrote it, not to the person they’re writing about.”
“But I’m not a person, remember? I’m a ghost. The rules are different.”
“You’re playing with fire young man.” Sheldon’t mother looked more worried than angry. “You wouldn’t change the architecture plan of a building after people have moved in, would you?”
“But don’t you see?” Sheldon said excitedly. “That’s because you can’t change the plan after the building’s already built. But this is different. Think of the possibilities. Words can do anything!”
“Yes, words can hurt you,” the cat said.
Sheldon stared at the cat, as though seeing it for the first time, then slowly shook his head. “None of you has any imagination, that’s your problem. I’m right about this, I know I am. Wait, I’ll prove it.”
And before anybody could stop him, he had picked up a pen and was crossing out the word ‘Sheldon’, writing something else in its place.
This is a great essay on free will! Will Sheldon realize that it’s literally impossible for him to do something the author didn’t intend? If Charlotte knows some things about this book, does she know how it ends? Or what the book review snippets on the back of the book say? Also, a bit of a time traveler’s paradox, but if Sheldon changes the name of the book, then won’t that be the name of the book throughout all of the book’s events? Maybe in a “previous” iteration, there as an unhappy ghost who preferred the name “Sheldon” over his then-current name.