Shirley>:
How about I start the chat with a presentation about characterization, and
perhaps more will join us along the way. Questions welcome at any time.
Shirley>: I'd like to talk about how to
build a character from the skeleton up. Then talk about techniques for
developing that character within a story. The bones of a character are goals
and conflicts, stakes, and motivation.
First, goals and conflicts. A character
should need to accomplish, or want to accomplish, or be desperation to
accomplish at least one goal. A goal might be graduating from college or
ruling the world. It just has to have strong personal significance for the
character. A character can have many goals, some of them conflicting with
each other perhaps.
A conflict occurs when goals can't be met.
For example, if the goal is graduating from college, the conflict might be
inability to read. Big conflict there!
Action in a story derives from conflict.
The character must do something when goals cannot be met. If not, we have a
pretty dull character.
Next come defining the stakes for the
character.
rosie>: How do you define stakes?
Shirley>: What is at stake must be
something large, something that will tremendously better the life of the
character, or loved ones, or the entire country or world.
rosie>: What about internal conflict as in
a romance, etc.
Shirley>: For example, if the character
does not stop the plot to assassinate the president, world conflict may
erupt. Inner conflict can be just as compelling. As long as it is not a
trivial thing, such as which dress should I wear. Goals and stakes are
intimately related.
Shirley>: The stakes should be something
that may require total redemption (not used in the religious sense, but in
the sense of working through a crisis by the character).
rosie>: I'm working on a book where there
is a language difference. This is causing my conflict. Do you have any ideas
on resolving it easily?
Shirley>: A language difference presents
problems in that communications go awry and characters get the wrong
impressions.
Shirley>: This alone is not a sufficient
conflict to carry a character, but one aspect. Resolving it requires action
on the part of the character to learn enough of the new language to convey
ideas accurately.
rosie>: I have one character injured. The
language barrier is only one conflict.
Shirley>: So the goal is learning the
language, part of which may be reliance on body language until the words
come. Good, rosie, tossing in another conflict like the language problem to
make things harder on the character.: If the conflict can be resolved
easily, it isn't worth including in your story.
Shirley>: How about having the characters
use body language and a simplistic form of sign language until they can
learn to communicate verbally? It would be an interesting progression,
with the possibility of humor, anger, etc. playing out during the process.
rosie>: That's a good idea. Thanks,
Shirley. I haven't seen your books down here [New Zealand]; what sort
of mystery do you write?
Shirley>: I write suspense novels, and I
am just branching out into sf and adventure romance.
Shirley>: The third piece of the skeleton
is motivation. The character has to have a powerful motivation to face the
things they encounter in the story.
rosie>: My character is motivated as he
fancies the woman he's rescued
Shirley>: Love is a great motivator. But
not the only one, of course. Motivation requires deep knowledge of your
character's background. For example, let's take two attorneys who want to
become judges.
Shirley>: One is motivated by a desire to
snub his father, who said he would never amount to anything. The other is
motivated by a strong sense of justice and fighting for the innocent in a
sometimes indifferent world. Both are powerful motivations, but the
characters would be entirely different because of them.
Shirley>: The human triumph in a story is
what makes readers care, and that is strongly connected to motivation.
Readers have to connect to a character on a universal level that comes from
understanding the character's motivation. Both of the lawyers in the example
might have strong goals, conflicts, and stakes. But the reader's attachment
and understanding comes from the background of knowing the motivation, the
"why" of it all.
Shirley>: Once you have the skeleton
defined, you need to put some flesh on it. "Flesh" includes name, gender,
where the character lives, how he dresses, what kind of car she drives, what
kind of food eaten, birth order, music listened to.
Shirley>: I'm saying that I start with the
characters goals, conflicts, what's at stake, and motivation. If I don't
know those, I have no business worrying about whether my character drives
too fast. Two reasons for that: The first is that those three things, in my
opinion, make for a well-rounded character that the reader can care about.
Secondly, goals, conflicts, stakes, and motivation bear strongly on the
plot.
Vicky>: do you also pull together the
other characters that are involved in the conflicts, etc?
Shirley>: Yes, I work on other
characters, not just the main character.
Vicky>: how do you keep it all straight?
ellko>: Do you use a separate sheet
to just devise your character before your story unfolds?
Shirley>: Conflicts may be internal to the
main character, but there may also be external conflicts with other
characters. For example, a woman wants to graduate from college. She's
strongly motivated because no one in her family did and she yearns to learn.
Shirley>: I'll come back to the
questions, ellko and vicky.
Shirley>: So we know her goal and her
motivation. The stakes might be that she has to get a good job to
support her two children. Conflicts might be both mild and severe. Mild:
having to get a loan to pay for college Severe: She illiterate and the man
she thinks she loves doesn't want her to be better educated than he
is. Do you see a plot coming into view?,
Shirley>: All you have to do once you have
a clear idea of this character is start asking yourself "what if" to develop
a plot.
Shirley>: Ok, back to the questions. I do
use a separate sheet for each character, and that is done before I begin
working on the story line. My personal preference is to write a synopsis
ahead of actually writing the book. It contains brief character bios and the
high points of the plot. There is still plenty (believe me) to develop as I
write the book itself, but at least I have some sort of road map.
ellko>: I'm curious about how long you
might spend on the character before you write the book
Shirley>: Vicky, that also answers your
question about how I keep things straight.
Shirley>: I've got sheets with character
info and a synopsis in front of me when I begin to write the chapters. Of
course, it's possible along the way that I will think of better ways to do
things, or my characters will, and that changes the story line from the way
I originally wrote the synopsis.
ellko>: Yes, thanx for the insight
Shirley>: Some people use elaborate
interview sheets to get down the basics of a character and then flesh the
character out. I don't use an interview format, but it works for some
people. In fleshing the character out, be sure to include prejudices and
passions. People have prejudices even if they tell you they are not
prejudiced. It doesn't have to be racial. It might be social class, or
education level, or whatever.
ellko>: have you had story lines develop
before having characters?
Shirley>: Yes, I have, ellko. I have had
an idea for a plot and then had to go back and figure out what characters
could make that plot happen in a meaningful way. If that is your
orientation, that works out well, too.
ellko>: that seems to be my main weakness
Shirley>: I suggest you start with a
synopsis of the story line. While writing it, it may become clear to you
what characteristics you need in your people to make it happen.
ellko>: but I haven't sat down to describe
any characters, so yes, I believe you are right
Shirley>: At some point, ellko, you will
need to put a great deal of thought into devising your characters.
Otherwise, you will have a plot with cardboard figures going through it, and
readers won't be able to care about your book - no one to strongly identify
with.
vfm>: How do you research the typical
prejudices and passions of characters in different eras, i.e. when writing
historical fiction?
Shirley>: vfm, to research p&p's from
another era, I would read biographies from that era. And autobiographies, if
available. It is the surest way to get ideas of how people felt at that
time.
ellko>: i'm sorry I wasn't here at the
start - Shirley, do you strictly write mysteries?
Shirley>: I have four mysteries and one
thriller published. I am moving now into adventure romance (alpha female,
Lara Croft kind of thing) and sf. I believe in growing and trying new
things. Stretching my wings!
Shirley>: Ok, more on p&p [passions and
prejudices]. They can get in the way of relating to others and provide gobs
of conflict. Think about having your character have a dark secret. Many of
us do, although the degree of darkness might vary a lot. So the reader
thinks they know your character, then another layer peels off and the secret
is revealed. This makes a character seem very human. We hide things, don't
we?
ellko>: yes, i like that
Shirley>: The villain must be worthy of
the hero, but not more interesting than the hero. The reader wants to root
for the character at the center of the story, and that should be your
protagonist. Don't make your villain steal the story entirely. Make sure the
villain has a valid logic structure in his own little world. So that the
things she does spring from her own discernible goals and motivations.
Shirley>: Let's talk about how to develop
characterization in a story. First think about how an artist paints a
portrait. 1. Bold outline of the person; 2. Sketching in face, body,
and clothes (or no clothes!); 3. Add the light in the eyes, the upturned
mouth, and the wrinkles on the back of the hand. You need to develop your
character at all three levels.
Shirley>: Broad strokes, fleshing out,
then the small, telling details.
ellko>: makes sense the way you say it
Shirley>: Remember that an artist doesn't
create a portrait overnight. Have patience. Your reader doesn't need to see
your finished "painting" at the end of chapter one. So you'll be adding
nuances to your character throughout the book, and there may still be a
surprise or two left at the end. Isn't that they way we get to know people
in real life? Superficially, then friendship, then intimacy.
ellko>: can you get into how to add a
minor story to your main story
Shirley>: Oh, a subplot. Subplots
frequently show another side of your character to the reader that
doesn't have a chance to become evident in the main line of the story. For
example, a family relationship, a hobby, a complication in the person's life
that doesn't have a strong bearing on the main plot. You use subplots as
breathers in your main plot.
Shirley>: Your main plot develops rising
action as tension increases, then has a mini-climax. (not the main climax at
the end of the book) After the mini-climax, the reader gets a breather.
That's the time to work on a subplot. Think of blowing up a balloon halfway,
then letting the air out. That's your first tension/climax. Take a
deep breath (breather, with subplot) Then blow up the balloon to a bigger
inflation, and let the air out.
Shirley>: Keep that up, filling up the
balloon bigger each time, letting the air out, taking a breather. That's
pacing in a nutshell. The intervals between breathers gets shorter and
shorter as the book progresses. Finally, in the last 30-50 pages, don't let
the reader have a breather at all!
Shirley>: Ways of developing characters in
a story:
1. By showing the character in action.
This means showing, not telling. Action is what happens after a conflict is
set up.
2. Introducing back story about the
character Back story is literally everything that happened to your character
before the point you chose to start the book. Some of that is vital, some is
unimportant. You be the judge. What you choose to tell is very revealing
about the character.
3. Revealing the character's inner
thoughts and emotions These may vary from what the character is
actually doing. Do one thing, think another. Very revealing. And we all do
it! 2
4. Show the reaction of other characters
to your main character This is especially important if using multiple
points of view. But even if you do your entire story in a single POV, you
can still show other peoples' reactions to what your character is
doing and saying.
5. Dialogue is a crucial tool for
developing character. What your character says and how she says it.
Use lots of dialogue!
6. Finally, description, both physical
and the setting Physical description of your character probably isn't
as important as you think it is. But give the reader enough to form a mental
image. Describing the setting is extremely important for character
development. A person's home is his safe place, where he will have things
that comfort him. That can tell a tremendous amount about a character: the
things she surrounds herself with.
vfm>: I have trouble with creating
characters who are very real but then there is a lack of tension because the
protagonists become too sympathetic, as most of us are in real life.
Shirley>: Your protagonist has to have an
appeal to the reader. Most people don't want to spend 300 pages in the
company of a disgusting person. However, your protag should have faults.
Don't make him perfect.
vfm>: My protagonist become predictable
though.
Shirley>: I suspect that you are making
your character too predictable because of a lack of faults. Not all of a
character's motivations have to be really nice ones. Sometimes even good
people can be motivated by desire for importance, or money.
vfm>: Thanks! This has been very good!
Shirley>: Examine the motivations of your
characters. Don't make them all lily-white and shiny.
Shirley>: Thanks for coming, people.
JeanneMC>: Thank you, Shirley.
Karen>: This has been marvelous. So clear
and logical. Thank you.
ellko>: we love you, come back
Shirley>: I will be back next month
talking about another aspect of writing, such as plotting
