Everybody has an agenda. We all have desires, hopes, and dreams. We all have principles. We all have goals, whether we formalize them or not. We all have a background and a historical perspective that shapes our actions and our outlook. In our interaction with others, we are at least somewhat aware that the person we are interacting has views and goals that may or may not be the same as ours.
Even the people we love, the people we support, and the people we usually agree with are individuals with their own way of thinking. Every interaction we have is colored by the perspectives and viewpoints of all people involved.
How often have you argued with somebody or watched two people argue when both sides are saying basically the same thing? That happens because we are all individuals and we each have our own agenda, and to some extent, we recognize that our agendas don't always agree, even when the points we are trying to make are the same.
So why should the characters in our stories be any different?
If you want your characters to ring true, they must each have their own world view, their own wants and needs, and their own goals. Their own agendas.
Characters on the same side take that position for their own reasons. Characters on opposite do the same thing. Your protagonist and antagonist might seem like enemies, and since your story is told from the POV of the protagonist (probably), the antagonist may seem evil. But from his point of view, he's probably taking his position as a matter of conscience, because he thinks it's the right thing to do. From the antagonist's point of view, and that of his followers, the protagonist is the bad guy.
But agendas are not limited to main characters. Every time a character appears in our story, even in the most minor of roles, we need to consider what that character wants. Maybe we don't need to create a detailed character analysis of our most minor characters, but we do need to know what each character hopes to achieve. Each character has a life outside the story, even if we don't know anything about it.
Too often, we write a character out of convenience, to fill a story need, without thinking about that character as a real person with hopes and dreams of her own. Usually, when we read and come across a character like that, we're unsatisfied. But still we write them.
Each person in your story world is there for a reason. Not just your reason, to fulfill a story need, but a reason of his or her own. Each character wants something out of his interaction with your other characters or your setting, or whatever he is there for. Even if the character is there solely to offer support to another character, he is offering support for his own, usually selfish, reasons. Even two characters who agree can have agendas that create conflict, and conflict creates story.
So remember that as you write. Every time a character is in a scene, consider why that character is there and what he or she hopes to get out of it. This is one of the most effective ways to turn characters into people.
Showing posts with label character development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character development. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Monday, February 11, 2013
What Filming Taught Me About Knowing Your Characters
By Julie Daines
I've always considered myself very well acquainted with my characters. After all, we've lived together in my head for several years. I know what they like and hate, what bugs them, and what they really want from life. I thought that was enough.
Until now.
As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working with a film director to create a book trailer for my latest release--A Blind Eye. It's been a very eye-opening (pun intended) experience to look at my story and characters from a visual/film perspective. The director is asking me a lot of questions that are making me rethink my relationship with my characters.
What would Christian have hanging from his rearview mirror that tells us something about who he is? What might be laying on the seat beside him that gives us a glimpse into his personality? What music would he be listening to as he drives away? (Okay, that one I can answer.) What would he . . .
Anyway, as we went through some of these questions, I thought: These little details give wonderful insight into my character and would be great in the book too! They are a perfect way to show who your character is without telling.
Someone once said you should understand your characters so thoroughly, you know what secret object they have hidden in the back of their closet.
How well do you know your characters?
Monday, January 14, 2013
What Is Your Character's Shire?
By Julie Daines
I've been reading several stories lately with struggling characters. And by struggling, I mean characters that are inconsistent and hard to believe.
If you are struggling to make your characters come across as real, believable, and engaging to readers, here is a little piece of advice that might help.
Establish what each character's motives are. What is the one thing that that character wants, and why? Once you figure that out, everything a character does should be to achieve that goal. Even if the choices they make aren't always the smartest, in the character's mind they should be to achieve that one, all important goal. This will keep your character consistent and believable.
Your main character's objective should be obvious to the reader in the first chapter.
Example: The Hunger Games
What one goal of Katniss's drives the story forward and is at the root of nearly everything she does? Her desire to protect her sister, Prim. She volunteers to go to the games in place of Prim, and she wants to win not just to survive, but so she can be there for Prim.
Example: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
What is it that Mary longs for? To see the ocean, and thus have a connection with her mother. This is what drives Mary out when the walls are breached and keeps her going. In my opinion, this comes across as a selfish motive, but at least it is consistent. And let's face it, teens often have selfish motives.
Example: The Lord of the Rings
What objective does Frodo have in his heart that keeps him going on his impossible quest? The Shire. He wants to get back home to the Shire, and he wants the Shire to be safe and uncorrupted by Sauron.
You have to find your character's Shire.
I've been reading several stories lately with struggling characters. And by struggling, I mean characters that are inconsistent and hard to believe.
If you are struggling to make your characters come across as real, believable, and engaging to readers, here is a little piece of advice that might help.
Establish what each character's motives are. What is the one thing that that character wants, and why? Once you figure that out, everything a character does should be to achieve that goal. Even if the choices they make aren't always the smartest, in the character's mind they should be to achieve that one, all important goal. This will keep your character consistent and believable.
Your main character's objective should be obvious to the reader in the first chapter.
Example: The Hunger Games
What one goal of Katniss's drives the story forward and is at the root of nearly everything she does? Her desire to protect her sister, Prim. She volunteers to go to the games in place of Prim, and she wants to win not just to survive, but so she can be there for Prim.
Example: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
What is it that Mary longs for? To see the ocean, and thus have a connection with her mother. This is what drives Mary out when the walls are breached and keeps her going. In my opinion, this comes across as a selfish motive, but at least it is consistent. And let's face it, teens often have selfish motives.
Example: The Lord of the Rings
What objective does Frodo have in his heart that keeps him going on his impossible quest? The Shire. He wants to get back home to the Shire, and he wants the Shire to be safe and uncorrupted by Sauron.
You have to find your character's Shire.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Self Editing for Fiction Writers, Chapter Two
(Come on, get your own copy, will ya?)
Characterization and Exposition
Before I start, a few comments. Of all the lessons I have been given along my writing path, the one about exposition was the most profitable. It makes so much sense to me. The trouble is, it is now getting me into trouble. My thinking is evolving to the point that I detest conversational exposition. My mind keeps seeing Jack Webb sternly stating "Just the facts, Ma'am". (IF and when my wife reads this, I will be sleeping downstairs for awhile.)
Anyway, I cannot preach exposition enough. So pay attention. You will know when you have it right when you can quit your day job. I still do not have it right. Otherwise I would not be up at midnight writing.
My thoughts are in parenthesis.
(The chapter starts out with a few, very dull paragraphs about Eloise.) After reading the these paragraphs, you know something about-possibly something very important-about Eloise. But do you care? (I didn't.)
In fact, the show and tell principles underlies many of the self-editing points we will talk about from now on. But there's a second problem here: the writer introduces Eliose to h is readers all at once and in depth-stopping the story cold for an overview of her character. (Next time you are reading a book and you come up short, as if you have been jerked out of the story and back to your reality, stop and ask yourself why. Then take a look at what you have just read. Very telling.)
It is often a good idea to introduce a new character with enough physical description for your readers to picture him or her.As with describing your settings, all you need are a few concrete idiomatic details to jump start your readers imagination. (I tried to do this in my novel, only giving what is needed but nothing more. I want the character to become the readers character, not mine. Too much detail about physical appearance and the character is mine, not the readers.)
If your characters actually act in the way your summaries say they will, then the summaries are not needed. If they do not, then your summaries are misleading.
When you (completely) sum up your characters, you risk defining them to the point that they're boxed in by the characterization with no room to grow.
Allow your readers to get to know your characters gradually, each read will interpret them in his or her own way, thus getting a deeper sens of who your characters are.
Delving into your characters past can be a good way for you to understand the character in the present. But though it may have been helpful for you to write a character's history, it may not be necessary for your readers to read it. (I like this. In fact, I did not write out a history for any of my characters in The Sin of Certainty. After reading this point, I like it even more. My characters are still alive to me, growing and in a few cases, dying.)
Since you bring your present story to a halt whenever you start a flashback, it doesn't take too many flashbacks to make your story jerky or hard to follow. (This is taught in Writing to Sell also. Good advice. I used one and only flashback in my novel. I could not find a way around it and the information was pivotal. In fact, without it, the reader will never learn the answer to the mystery. Let the reader learn about the character from the present, not the past.)
If you want to learn who someone is, watch what they say and do. If you want your readers to get a feel who your character really are, show them through dialogue and action. (This is true in life, in a movie, and in a book. And remember, action speaks louder than words.)
The information your readers need in order to follow and appreciate your plot...should be brought out as unobtrusively as possible.
Give your readers only as much background information or history, or characterization as they need at any give time. (I really like this.)
When your characters start talking solely for the sake of informing your readers, the exposition gets in the way of believable characterization. So be on the lookout for places where your dialogue is actually exposition in disguise.
Readers can best learn about your locations and background not through lengthy exposition but by seeing them in real life.
B Y Rogers http://www.byrogers.com/
Characterization and Exposition
Before I start, a few comments. Of all the lessons I have been given along my writing path, the one about exposition was the most profitable. It makes so much sense to me. The trouble is, it is now getting me into trouble. My thinking is evolving to the point that I detest conversational exposition. My mind keeps seeing Jack Webb sternly stating "Just the facts, Ma'am". (IF and when my wife reads this, I will be sleeping downstairs for awhile.)
Anyway, I cannot preach exposition enough. So pay attention. You will know when you have it right when you can quit your day job. I still do not have it right. Otherwise I would not be up at midnight writing.
My thoughts are in parenthesis.
(The chapter starts out with a few, very dull paragraphs about Eloise.) After reading the these paragraphs, you know something about-possibly something very important-about Eloise. But do you care? (I didn't.)
In fact, the show and tell principles underlies many of the self-editing points we will talk about from now on. But there's a second problem here: the writer introduces Eliose to h is readers all at once and in depth-stopping the story cold for an overview of her character. (Next time you are reading a book and you come up short, as if you have been jerked out of the story and back to your reality, stop and ask yourself why. Then take a look at what you have just read. Very telling.)
It is often a good idea to introduce a new character with enough physical description for your readers to picture him or her.As with describing your settings, all you need are a few concrete idiomatic details to jump start your readers imagination. (I tried to do this in my novel, only giving what is needed but nothing more. I want the character to become the readers character, not mine. Too much detail about physical appearance and the character is mine, not the readers.)
If your characters actually act in the way your summaries say they will, then the summaries are not needed. If they do not, then your summaries are misleading.
When you (completely) sum up your characters, you risk defining them to the point that they're boxed in by the characterization with no room to grow.
Allow your readers to get to know your characters gradually, each read will interpret them in his or her own way, thus getting a deeper sens of who your characters are.
Delving into your characters past can be a good way for you to understand the character in the present. But though it may have been helpful for you to write a character's history, it may not be necessary for your readers to read it. (I like this. In fact, I did not write out a history for any of my characters in The Sin of Certainty. After reading this point, I like it even more. My characters are still alive to me, growing and in a few cases, dying.)
Since you bring your present story to a halt whenever you start a flashback, it doesn't take too many flashbacks to make your story jerky or hard to follow. (This is taught in Writing to Sell also. Good advice. I used one and only flashback in my novel. I could not find a way around it and the information was pivotal. In fact, without it, the reader will never learn the answer to the mystery. Let the reader learn about the character from the present, not the past.)
If you want to learn who someone is, watch what they say and do. If you want your readers to get a feel who your character really are, show them through dialogue and action. (This is true in life, in a movie, and in a book. And remember, action speaks louder than words.)
The information your readers need in order to follow and appreciate your plot...should be brought out as unobtrusively as possible.
Give your readers only as much background information or history, or characterization as they need at any give time. (I really like this.)
When your characters start talking solely for the sake of informing your readers, the exposition gets in the way of believable characterization. So be on the lookout for places where your dialogue is actually exposition in disguise.
Readers can best learn about your locations and background not through lengthy exposition but by seeing them in real life.
B Y Rogers http://www.byrogers.com/
Monday, January 7, 2013
Building Better Characters with Mr. Potato Head
How do you build a better character?
What does your character see?
- How does he perceive the world? With paranoia or rose-colored glasses?
- What does he need to survive?
- Look outside the character to how the setting affects him.
- Is it an urban setting? Rural? Alone?
- Think how the boy who lived under the stairs saw Hogwarts. When a character moves to a different environment, he will naturally compare it to what he has seen before.
- Look inside.
- Use introspection. Does the character have to plan everything?
- Are they confidant in themselves?
- What are their flaws? Exploit them!
What do they hear?
- Do they only hear complaints? Compliments?
- What does the character say when they talk to themselves when they are alone?
- What do they think about? Process?
- Do they believe they are good? Bad?
What do they say?
- Pet phrases
- Slang
- Do they lie?
- Prefer silence?
- Dialogue reveals something about the character like education level, beliefs, prejudice.
- Words can hurt AND heal. For some, words are weapons.
- Voice is one of the best ways to showcase a character
What dreams or goals do they have?
- What are they reaching for?
- What is their hearts' desire?
- Evaluate 'nice to haves' and 'have to haves'.
- Dreams drive us! Withholding the fulfillment of dreams will force the character into action, into growth
- Be specific about dreams!
Where is the character going?
- What actions will they take?
- Motivation is a powerful tool for revealing character
Where does your character stand?
- What does he believe in? Fight for? Die for?
- Where is their boundary? Push them over that line over and over again
Characters with well-defined values--even if you don't agree with them--make compelling, interesting and memorable characters.
Characters with conviction are characters who move the plot.
Monday, December 3, 2012
The Power of Three
One of the hardest things to write is good characters, all of them.
How many times have you read a book and only one or two or three
characters have any life to them? The rest are just...there?
Do you have trouble filling out your characters?
Have you tried the Power of Three for your characters?
Try these ideas on ALL your characters:
Three wishes
Three fears
Three flaws
Three heroic qualities
Here are ones I did for my MC, Angelica:
Three wishes:
To be a normal girl
For her dad to not have to work so much
Get her sister out of an abusive relationship
Three fears:
She really is a serial killer
She will lose her family
She is a monster
Three flaws:
Set herself up to be unlovable so no one else dies
Distrustful
Chooses to be a wallflower
Three heroic qualities:
Loyal
Brave
Smart
Now your turn.
Choose one category and share with us in comments!
Or if that is too hard, tell us your favorite character.
Do you have trouble filling out your characters?
Have you tried the Power of Three for your characters?
Try these ideas on ALL your characters:
Three wishes
Three fears
Three flaws
Three heroic qualities
Here are ones I did for my MC, Angelica:
Three wishes:
To be a normal girl
For her dad to not have to work so much
Get her sister out of an abusive relationship
Three fears:
She really is a serial killer
She will lose her family
She is a monster
Three flaws:
Set herself up to be unlovable so no one else dies
Distrustful
Chooses to be a wallflower
Three heroic qualities:
Loyal
Brave
Smart
Now your turn.
Choose one category and share with us in comments!
Or if that is too hard, tell us your favorite character.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Avoided Moments
Years ago I heard Richard Peck say, “You learn the most from
the experience you would have avoided if you could.” In the same keynote
address I also heard him say, “You are only as good as your opening line”. Although
the second quote is one of my favorite, that will have to be a discussion for
another post.
Think about the experience you would have avoided if you could. We all have things in our lives that fit this description. What emotion is connected to that experience? What would you have done to avoid it if we had known it was coming? Who would you be now, if that experience had not existed in your life?
Think about the experience you would have avoided if you could. We all have things in our lives that fit this description. What emotion is connected to that experience? What would you have done to avoid it if we had known it was coming? Who would you be now, if that experience had not existed in your life?
Your character needs an experience like that. They need to
be faced with something so terrible or terrifying that they would have avoided
it at all cost. Maybe they are trying to avoid it. Perhaps they know, and
understand what is at stake.
How do we help our character find that experience? Is it
something we have experienced in our own lives and know about? Not always.
Maybe you are experiencing this situation for the first time through your
character and are trying to understand the emotions connected to this
experience.
I’ve been trying to create a character that is dominating
and has an entire community under his thumb. He would have to be so controlling
and scary that nobody dared cross him. The problem is, fortunately, I’ve never
experienced such dominion. However, as I’ve struggled with this character, I
realized that there are moments in my life when I was terrified of a situation
or person. Especially as a child. I’ve examined those experiences and the
emotions that go with them and tried to transfer them to this fictional
character that plays such a critical role in my novel.
Transferring these emotions does not mean transferring the
exact experience. But the emotions can help you to create this character and
give him real traits. You will better know how the characters around him will
react as you pull from these emotions and then interview your characters. All
your characters. How are they feeling? What are they thinking? How will that
cause them to react to the particular rough spot where you have led them? Friday, February 10, 2012
What is an Antagonist, Really?
by Scott Rhoades
It's fun to make your bad guy an evil villain, wicked through and through. The kind of guy who ties young maidens to railroad tracks for the fun of it, and throws the hero on to the slow-moving conveyor belt at the saw mill, just because he can. You know: the kind of bad guy who spends his time laughing maniacally while he twirls his 'stache.
This kind of villain is motivated solely by the fun of being e-vile. Yeah, he might want something. Maybe he wants the hero's girl. Or the gigantic diamond. But he only wants it for the sake of being wicked. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids. But this kind of villain is one dimensional, and doesn't work well in most books.
All an antagonist is, really, is somebody who either wants the same thing your protagonist wants, or who has a good reason to stand in the way and keep the good guy from achieving his goal. The antagonist could be a good person, but we're rooting for the other guy, so we don't like him. The antagonist could even be a better person than the protagonist.
The important thing when you're writing is to keep the motivations of both the protagonist and antagonist in mind. Chances are good that your bad guy wants to stop the good guy from winning for reasons that he thinks are good. He might be right, or he might be misguided, but he's convinced.
The bad guy almost always sees himself as the good guy. That means he sees the good guy as the bad guy.
I'm sure Sauron thought he was doing Middle Earth a favor by taking dominion, while Saruman thought he was doing good by trying to stop the Black Lord and taking the power himself. Darth Vadar probably saw the Jedi as nefarious rascals, upstarts who wanted to thwart his plan to make the universe a better place.
My favorite example is politics. Whatever your political position, you believe your candidate is right and the others are wrong. The others see their side as right and the others wrong. For the most part, all sides believe they are going to make the world a better place if they win. If you are interested in politics, you no doubt see a good side and a bad side, and think of people on the other side as misguided at best, but most likely as people who are out to intentionally destroy the country. Guess what. The other side sees you the same way.
That's how it is with your antagonist. He believes he is right, that's why he is so determined to stop your protagonist from succeeding. During the course of the story, your reader might even start to wonder if the antagonist is right, because he clearly means well and is not such a bad guy. Meanwhile, your protagonist's flaws cast doubt on just how good a guy he is.
When two people want the same thing and both believe they are right, you have interesting conflict. As a writer, you can play with that. Maybe your narrator is unreliable. Maybe you play your reader so he thinks the bad guy might actually be the better man. Maybe your good guy does something that's easy to interpret as evil, even if his motivations seem honorable.
In other words, your antagonist is the good guy, at least in his own mind. His wants are every bit as valid as the protagonist's. It's just that he wants the same thing.
If you keep that in mind, you are sure to have an interesting story.
It's fun to make your bad guy an evil villain, wicked through and through. The kind of guy who ties young maidens to railroad tracks for the fun of it, and throws the hero on to the slow-moving conveyor belt at the saw mill, just because he can. You know: the kind of bad guy who spends his time laughing maniacally while he twirls his 'stache.
This kind of villain is motivated solely by the fun of being e-vile. Yeah, he might want something. Maybe he wants the hero's girl. Or the gigantic diamond. But he only wants it for the sake of being wicked. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids. But this kind of villain is one dimensional, and doesn't work well in most books.
All an antagonist is, really, is somebody who either wants the same thing your protagonist wants, or who has a good reason to stand in the way and keep the good guy from achieving his goal. The antagonist could be a good person, but we're rooting for the other guy, so we don't like him. The antagonist could even be a better person than the protagonist.
The important thing when you're writing is to keep the motivations of both the protagonist and antagonist in mind. Chances are good that your bad guy wants to stop the good guy from winning for reasons that he thinks are good. He might be right, or he might be misguided, but he's convinced.
The bad guy almost always sees himself as the good guy. That means he sees the good guy as the bad guy.
I'm sure Sauron thought he was doing Middle Earth a favor by taking dominion, while Saruman thought he was doing good by trying to stop the Black Lord and taking the power himself. Darth Vadar probably saw the Jedi as nefarious rascals, upstarts who wanted to thwart his plan to make the universe a better place.
My favorite example is politics. Whatever your political position, you believe your candidate is right and the others are wrong. The others see their side as right and the others wrong. For the most part, all sides believe they are going to make the world a better place if they win. If you are interested in politics, you no doubt see a good side and a bad side, and think of people on the other side as misguided at best, but most likely as people who are out to intentionally destroy the country. Guess what. The other side sees you the same way.
That's how it is with your antagonist. He believes he is right, that's why he is so determined to stop your protagonist from succeeding. During the course of the story, your reader might even start to wonder if the antagonist is right, because he clearly means well and is not such a bad guy. Meanwhile, your protagonist's flaws cast doubt on just how good a guy he is.
When two people want the same thing and both believe they are right, you have interesting conflict. As a writer, you can play with that. Maybe your narrator is unreliable. Maybe you play your reader so he thinks the bad guy might actually be the better man. Maybe your good guy does something that's easy to interpret as evil, even if his motivations seem honorable.
In other words, your antagonist is the good guy, at least in his own mind. His wants are every bit as valid as the protagonist's. It's just that he wants the same thing.
If you keep that in mind, you are sure to have an interesting story.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Developing Fun Characters Children will Love and Relate To with Molly Nero, Author of Smarty Pig
Your characters must come to life for young kids. By drawing on my teaching experience, I have developed a family of pigs that children will hopefully relate to and love. Teaching kids for many years helped me understand that Power Rangers, SpongeBob, and the name of Disney’s newest princess must be in your vocabulary. The latest DS, XBOX, and Wii games also get young people to look at you as though you actually are attempting to understand their world a little bit, though they know you are really an outsider since you’re older than 11 or 12! If you try to listen to kids at their level, you will begin to understand their world better, but it’s hard for adults to do that. We are lost in our own world of IPads, IPhones, emails, and daily demands. Trying to remember what it’s like to be 7 or 8 becomes difficult.
My classroom, filled daily with various aged kids, allowed me the chance to find a way to connect to be an effective teacher. To have validity with my audience, I use those details. Attitudes and situations that kids understand or experience themselves help create depth in my characters. Smarty Pig‘s family has given up on school. They simply don’t care and show that by not doing their homework. How many kids give up on homework sometime? How many kids wish they could just not do it at all like the pigs do? This is relatable for young students and helps my characters come to life. Pigs playing video games, watching tv, playing tag are all current and relatable activities. The natural consequence of failing their subjects is another relatable situation. How many high achieving students are teased with “Nerd, Goody-Goody, or Smarty-Pants” by others who don’t or won’t put forth the same effort? Again, a very typical classroom situation that is represented in Smarty Pig except it’s portrayed in the home instead.
Beyond the words, you need to find an illustrator who has the correct vision of your character. Monique Turchan provided me with a couple of different versions of Smarty Pig. I immediately gravitated to the one that we ended up using. I wanted a character that was pig-ish, but childlike at the same time, again hoping to help the kids relate to her and her pig family. In this type of book, the marriage between words and illustrations must come together creating the complete package of lovable, relatable characters that kids will love to read about.
About the author: Molly Nero loves to sing, dance and read. She spent over 18 years teaching elementary school. Reading to her own children, she was inspired to write. The second book in the Smarty Pig book series Smarty Pig and the Test Taking Terror releases in Spring 2012.
Smarty Pig is the only one in the pig family who hasn’t given up on school and doing her homework. Although she is teased, her report card shows her hard work, while the others fail. The other pigs reach out to her and she becomes their tutor, by creating games in their home. They all realize learning can be fun and that it’s not just for school, it’s for life.
Get a sneak peek of the book at http://youtu.be/E2L_NS2QqgM
You can find out more about Molly Nero’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour schedule at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/MollyNero.aspx. There will be giveaways, reviews, interviews, guest posts and more. Make sure to stop by and interact with Nero and the hosts at the different stops by leaving comments and/or questions.
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