It's like One Fish, Two Fish...but Two Voices, No Voices, Death!

I have a new WIP. By "I have" I mean I have a few paragraphs--really, really good ones--and two characters who have names and an outline that one character yelled at me for a day until I wrote it down. Now, I stare at that outline and those paragraphs and wonder: WTF is going on?!?!?

It's weird. I'm not an outliner. I'm not someone who tends to plot a whole story before I write but this time, that's what happened.  I keep staring at those words and wondering how it all happens and what I'm supposed to say. The biggest problem right now are the characters. They are really annoying me.

Why? Let me tell you.

Well, when #1 (whose name I thought was E) started talking to me, her voice was strong and vividly descriptive. I could hear her yelling out in the crowded space. Then, I heard #2 (named A). I wrote everything down as #1 told me--and I was excited. Then, I kept writing and I realized that #1 and #2 were really the same person--and she wasn't the one I thought she was. From then on, there has been only confusion.

Where is #1? The story is about #1 so shouldn't her voice be there? But she's not. And I can't figure out why. I thought then maybe I was wrong and the story really was about #2. So, I asked and played around and discovered, it still about #1. Again, I ask: WTF?

The problem continued when I learned that #1 (A in this scenario in case you are lost) had two voices. How is that possible? A character can't have two voices! A character can only have one voice, one distinct voice. Yet, she has two voices and try as I can, it's unchanging.

So to recap: I have a character with no voice. I also have a character with two voices. Can't you see why I'm crazy? This is semi-ridiculous. It is going to be the death of me.

What happens now?

Well, no I'm researching. Not voices, but the other part of the story. The part that drives me to Google and to the library---where I find very little information and what information I do find, leads me only to more information. Sounds fun, huh? It is. Really,  I love it. I love it because I believe--somehow, someday, someway--the voices will get figured out, the information will be there and the story will be incredible. I can say that because I know the outlined story--and that is good. These girls have something to say and they will say it.

In the meantime, I will research. I will angrily yell at #2 and politely coax, the voice of #1 to the surface. And, after a while, they will.

I share this story because I wonder if you've ever had this problem. And if you have, please tell me that it all worked out somehow. Unlike those little fish,  I can't swim.