I was chatting with one of my friends the other day, and she
asked a question that got me thinking, “Do your characters share your beliefs?”
“Sometimes,” I said, “it depends on the story.”
There’s a whole debate out there as to whether or not entertaining
stories should have a message or not. Personally, I lean toward a message, but
not necessarily a forced one. I like to slide it in-between the theme so that
those really looking for it can find it. These themes usually show up halfway
into draft one and get fully fleshed out in drafts two and three. I don’t
usually pick a theme in advance but let one develop naturally in my story.
The same applies to the characters. I don’t necessarily set
out going, “Okay, this is what you believe. Go. Act.” I prefer to discover what
my characters believe as the story goes on, then I’ll delve into those beliefs
a little more throughout the drafts. This process allows me to come up with
something naturally. It feels more genuine that way. I don’t like stories that try to shove a message
down a reader’s throat.
Here are a couple of examples of my protagonists with different
beliefs.
Adult Sci-Fi: Edge of the Solar System
Cory, the protagonist of this story, is a
fresh-out-of-college graduate who’s starting a new job. I’ve been there, done
that not too long ago. But that’s about where the similarities end. She comes
from a different background than I do, and her personal goals are purely
career-driven.
She first sets foot in a religious building during the
narrative itself. Some of her coworkers are Christian, and some are atheist.
Cory herself is searching, still figuring out what she believes.
YA Contemporary Fantasy: Water Sprite
Astor is just starting high school, and she is being raised
in a Christian military family. I drew a lot from personal experience in this
particular story, but as a result, I worked hard to make her different from me
in other ways.
Personally, I don’t like it when a writer inserts themselves
into a story. Then, all they have to do is ask “What would I do?” in regards to
certain situations, which is kind of boring. It’s much more challenging to ask,
“What would this character do?” Besides, another danger of self-inserting is
wish fulfillment, where everything magically works out in the end for that character.
As a reader, I find this trope terribly annoying and unrealistic.
So yes, Astor and I share similar background and beliefs but
our approaches to certain situations are different.
More…
In my latest story (where I just finished the rough draft!) my
main character is also raised in a Christian household, but there’s still plenty
that’s different about her life.
As for my next project, who knows? My characters often
surprise me. I like to write with themes and a purpose, but starting out, I
just want to tell a story. Everything else develops as it goes along.
Let’s chat! Writers, what about you? Do your characters
share your beliefs? What’s your writing process for developing them?
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might have
guessed I like to categorize things. If this is your first time here, surprise!
I like to organize, to categorize, to figure out how things work. Such
categories apply to character too. (This year I even started a collection of
some of my favorite character types.)
The only problem with categorizing characters is that
they’re supposed to be like people, and if you’ve ever met one, you may have
discovered people are hard to put in a box. Trust me, I once tried to put my
sister in a box, but she did not like
that. I even hid in a box, but within the first ten seconds, I was getting
awfully sweaty. Okay, so you can put an actual person in a box, but they don’t
belong there. Moral of the story: you can’t always categorize characters.
Today, I’m here to write about the difference between
developing a character and assigning them a role.
I did something different when I plotted out my last novel. Instead of going with notecards to plot out my story—which is incredibly time
consuming to say the least—I wrote out the plot in a notebook. I discovered the
plot and the characters as I went along and because I was writing everything
down instead of typing it up, I discovered my characters as they appeared in
the story rather than throwing them in there.
This gave each character a little more freedom to be
themselves. One character turned out to be a bookworm who lugged around a
backpack full of books, and another turned out to be obsessed with coffee and
music. Come to think of it, I don’t think I labeled any of my characters
“villain”, and I definitely didn’t include “love interest” in my plotting like
I usually do. That isn’t to say these types of characters didn’t appear in the
story, but that I allowed them to establish their personalities before they
revealed their roles. It was as much of a discovery process for me as it should
be for readers.
Character
Development: What is it, and why do writers need it?
“Who are you?” “No one of consequence.”
“I must know.”
“Get used to disappointment.”
(The Princess Bride)
Character development is the way writers make their
characters seem more human. Writers give their characters dreams and
aspirations, heartbreak and vices just like in real life. Typically, the best
developed characters are the protagonists and their allies, but you’ll
occasionally come across a well-developed villain.
Writers need character development because it helps readers
connect to the story. If a character is poorly developed or “flat”, readers
won’t care about them.
Have you ever connected with a piece of paper?
How about a paper airplane, each crease pressed by the
fingers of a five-year-old who dreamed of flying?
Which example did you connect with? You can make people care
about your story if you take the time to choose the right words.
There are many ways to get to know your characters, and
they’re not unlike getting to know people. You have their appearance and
general small talk questions—their name, hometown, age, etc. Then you have my
personal favorites, the deeper questions—their philosophies, passions, and motivations.
Some people like to jot down the basics, and others like to
interview their characters, asking them questions they can answer for
themselves. Personally, I like to throw my characters into a situation and see
how they react. Maybe they’ll freak out, maybe they’ll strike up a
conversation, or maybe they’ll turn into a dragon and blast somebody with fire.
It’s a tossup.
Character Roles:
Again, what is it, and why use it?
“‘Inkheart.’ Fenoglio
rubbed his aching back. ‘Its title is Inkheart
because it’s about a man whose wicked heart is as black as ink, filled with
darkness and evil. I still like the title.’” (Inkheart)
Most stories have a protagonist and an antagonist, at least
when it comes to adventure stories. Identifying these characters typically
isn’t too hard. But a well-developed character should transcend character roles
and their stereotypes. Not all protagonists (the main character) are heroic,
and not all antagonists are villainous.
The difficulty with categorization comes if one considers
the adage “each character is the hero of their own story.” In other words, when
writing characters, writers shouldn’t just treat one character like the love
interest and another like the villain. If characters are to seem more human,
they should be treated like people, not chess pieces.
To Steal Walk
in a Character’s Shoes
“Don’t judge a man until you have walked two moons in his
moccasins.” (Walk Two Moons)
Funny story, in my latest novel, I actually stole my main
character’s shoes wrote a couple chapters where she had to go barefoot.
Writers, even if your character has to go without shoes, put yourself in their
place and try to understand their perspective. I’m not saying your protagonist
has to think and act exactly like you, but it’s always interesting to get into
the heads of your characters. Once you establish who your character is and what
they think about, it’s a lot easier to write about them.
Who before what.
“I’m Agatha Jordan.” “What does that mean? Who are you?” I’m the daughter of divorcees, a part-time mechanic, and a high school graduate who has no idea what to do with her life. Who am I? I don’t even know. But I’m not about to say that. (Just Breathe)
When I took journalism in college, they taught us when
conducting an interview to focus on “The Five W’s and an H”, also known as who,
what, when, where, why, and how. When it comes to developing your characters,
whether or not you choose to conduct a character interview, make sure you
establish who your character is before that what role the character plays. Just
as the who comes before the what in the Five W’s and an H, so the development
should come before assigned roles.
Give your characters a chance to be human before you try to
shove them into a box. Focus on writing about people. Supersede stereotypes.
And your characters just might surprise you and
your readers.
Let’s chat! Which do you work on first, character
development or character roles? How do you develop your characters? Do you
interview them or just jot down the basics? Which is your favorite character
type to write about?
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I recently added a new type of post to my blog: character
types! So far, it seems to be a success. Last month, I wrote about The Best-Friend-Turned-Evil-Villain (aka. BFTEV). Another one of my favorite
character types is the Pessimistic Mentor. You know the one. They’re typically
condescending and will point out every single way the heroes fail.
Some examples of the Pessimistic Mentor include Puddleglum (The
Silver Chair), Hamish (The Hunger Games), Han Solo (The Force
Awakens), and Hub (Secondhand Lions). But there’s more to the
Pessimistic Mentors than just being down all the time. In fact, they tend to
have some admirable qualities.
They’re straightforward.
They tell things the way they are. If they think the
protagonist is going to die or at the very least be mortally wounded, they’ll
tell the protagonist. After all, what else would they do? No sugarcoating
involved here.
I really like the scene when Jill and Eustace first talk to
Puddleglum, and they can’t tell if he wants to come on their adventure or not
because he sounds so pessimistic about their prospects of success:
“Now a job
like this—a journey up north just as winter’s beginning looking for a Prince
that probably isn’t there, by way of ruined city no one has ever seen—will be
just the thing. If that doesn’t steady a chap, I don’t know what will.”
Pessimistic Mentors tend to be honest.
Because they tend to be so blunt about the truth, it means
more. If they tell the protagonist there’s a 99% chance of death, the
protagonist will take EXTRA caution (hopefully). If they praise the protagonist
for something, it may come as a surprise, but it means so, so much.
Of course, there are exceptions. Hamish isn’t exactly
honest. Not if you consider he lied to Katniss for basically the whole of Catching
Fire.
They’re stubborn as a rock.
Chances are, if a character ever lives long enough to be a
mentor, he or she is probably going to be set in his or her beliefs. This
character is no exception. When it comes to cheering them up, forget it.
But they tend to teach the protagonist from lessons they
learned themselves.
Walter helped teach his great-uncles that there’s more to
life than just hording wealth. Sometimes you have to experience life.
Not that it got rid of Hub’s crazy nature.
Walter: “Why not see what he’s selling? …what’s the good of
having all that money if you’re never gonna spend it?” Hub: “Well. “We’ll see what the man’s sellin’. Then
we’ll shoot him.”
Okay, that… works?
Pessimistic Mentors tend to have interesting backstories.
Which may be why they’re so stubborn.
Throughout the film, Secondhand Lions, Garth tells
Walter Hub’s story. But Hub also sums it up pretty well in a fight with some
rowdy teenagers:
“I’m Hub McCann. I’ve fought in two World Wars and countless
smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with
everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I’ve seen the
headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen
before. I’ve won and lost a dozen fortunes, killed many men and loved
only one woman with a passion a flea like you could never begin to
understand. That’s who I am. NOW, GO HOME, BOY!”
Although the Pessimistic Mentor may not develop much as a
character in the current narrative, he or she might have already done so in the
past. Yet even for the stubborn one’s, there’s room for growth. Sometimes the
protagonist may surprise them.
They’re loyal to a point.
Even though they know the situation may be helpless, they
will stand with the protagonist to the end. Hamish advised Katniss when he had
to as her mentor, then stood up with her against the capital as her friend. Hub
and his brother Garth took their great-nephew under their wing when his own
mother didn’t want him. Han Solo still loved his son despite everything that
happened.
They get some of the best lines.
Whether it’s a funny or serious, mentors tend to get some of
the most memorable lines.
In The Force Awakens, Han Solo knows a lot more about
the Force than he used to.
Finn: “Solo, we’ll figure it out. We’ll use the Force.” Han: “That’s not how the Force works!”
Thank you, Han. I’m sure we’re going to be hearing that line
a lot now…
Then you have Puddleglum who stands up to the Lady of the
Green Kirtle, even though his own mind is convinced she’s telling the truth:
“I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead
it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any
Narnia.”
There are so many more lines I could reference, but I won’t
here for the sake of conserving space.
Sure, the Pessimistic Mentor can be as annoying as an alarm
clock, but at least they’re consistent. They may be as touchy-feely as a
cactus, but at least you know where they stand.
Film references: The Force Awakens and Secondhand
Lions
Literary references: C. S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair
and Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games trilogy.
Who is your favorite Pessimistic Mentor? What’s your
favorite quality or line by him or her? What type of fictional character do you
want to read about next—That Guy Who Just Won’t Die, The Humble Heroes, or
somebody else?
