Must Have Character
“Story is what happens to people.”
-from The Writer’s Little Helper, 5)
Design, Describe, Develop
But First Some BRAIN Research….
MRI studies have shown that when we are lost in a story, our brain lights up the same way as if we were participants rather than observers of the action taking place.
(Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal, Story Genius, 13)
So….
“The purpose of story - of every story - is to help us interpret, and anticipate, the actions of ourselves and of others.”
(Story Genius: How to use brain science to go beyond outlining and write a riveting novel - by Lisa Cron, 16)
And What Exactly is Story?
“A story is about how the things that happen [plot] affect someone [protagonist] in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result.”
(Story Genius, 17)
But what does this have to do with CHARACTER?
Everything!
Events by themselves mean nothing; it’s what those events mean to someone that keeps us reading.
The AHA
What events mean to someone depends on who that someone is.
“Writing about someone isn’t the same as writing about anyone.” (Story Genius, 56)
DESIGNING CHARACTERS
Who’s Story Is This?
The What If?
What’s Your Point?
Hint:
the answer is what is borne out in
the protagonist’s inner struggle.
The What If provides the external plot that triggers the inner struggle -- which ultimately provides the point of the story.
So Whose Story is it?
The person / character who stands the most to lose or gain.
Know The Why
How to identify that inner struggle:
Who they were is who they are
“The Past is never dead.
It isn’t even past.” - William Faulkner
What would literally have to happen in order for that protagonist to get what he/she wants and thus be happy? (Story Genius, 75)
What stands in the way?
Where/what did that misbelief stem from?
DESCRIBING CHARACTERS
“Show me what a man owns,
and I’ll show you what he believes.”
Pertinent
Details
I use Character Cards to keep track of the basics, the pertinent details.
(card adapted from The Writer’s little Helper, 93)
Avoid Cliches, Stereotypes, & Flat Characters
Creating Believable Characters
“Beginning writers often think that characters are what the narrator tells us about them. That’s a mistake.”
“Beginning writers often think that characters are what they say about themselves. That is also a mistake.” (Portable MFA,44)
DEVELOPING CHARACTERS
A large part of an iceberg is underwater.
So too,
a good amount of character development should focus on what happens internally.
Layers Upon Layers
Action & Detail
Show the characters in action -- and from that action the reader will determine their traits and quality of character.
Example:
Bernstein cared a lot about his golf game.
Bernstein slammed his Ben Hogans into the trunk of his Toyota. - (The Portable MFA, 38)
Dialogue
Dialogue
Body Language
Thoughts/Narration
The way the character views the world and everything in it. Perspective.
So I didn’t handle the mugging as well as I could have.
Flashbacks
Further Information
Books:
Story Genius: How to use brain science to go beyond outlining and write a riveting novel by Lisa Cron
The Portable MFA in creative writing by The New York Writers Workshop
The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith
The Emotion Thesaurus (and other books by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglist)
Character Naming Sourcbook by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Bullies bastards & Bitches by Jessica Page Morrell
Questions about my writing process? Check out my website @ www.sarahmcelrath.com
Your Turn
Write a What If and then develop a quick sketch of a character that would stand to gain or lose from this turn of events.
Think of a main person/character in your current story. Explore his/her deep-seated desire and the misbelief that keeps him/her from attaining that which is desired.
The Character Interview (Portable MFA, 42-43)
Imagine you are an interviewer on assignment. Your point-of-view character (or a secondary character) is your subject. Before beginning the interview proper, provide some backstory for the caracter. Write one paragraph of setting (Where does the interview take place? I recommend setting it where your character lives, “now” or at the time of the story), one paragraph concerning conditions (What day is it? What is the weather like during the interview? What is around: pets, liquor bottles, et? What is the subject wearing?”, and one brief paragraph highlighting significant events or accomplishments in the character’s life. Keep each paragraph short (five lines maximum).
Interview Cont.
Now begin the interview with a series of questions designed to help your character relax, to trust you. Where do you live? Work? Where do you see yourself in five years? You ask the questions, the character answers. And in the answers, you’ll hear your character speak.
As the interview proceeds, make the questions increasingly tough: For you, what defines live? Is there anything your creator doesn’t know about you? Is there a secret you’re keeping from him/her? Is he preventing you from revealing that secret in the story? Is he/she being fair to you? If you could tell the story, what would be different?
Interview Cont.
Besides helping you get to know your character better, to learn his/her secrets and fears (and to confront perhaps, some of your own), the interview exercise also enables you to step out of the anxiety of the perfect scene, the perfect sentence, and to allow your character to speak in his/her own voice--and for you to hear it. Give it at least thirty minutes, although you’ll probably find that thirty minutes is nowhere near enough.