How to remain in control of your characters.

Fiction Craft: New Year's Resolutions; Character vs. Author

By

Robert Ferrier
(Robertlferrier.aol.com)

Did you make any New Year's resolutions about writing?

Sometimes we delay writing because we're running from something -- a plot problem, a weak premise, a demanding scene. If that's the case, resolve to place writing higher on your priority list.

Question: Aloha, Robert. I'm struggling with several ideas for novels, and have gotten them started, but I am perplexed by something. How does a character lead the writer into the story? I hear about people saying they had one idea about a story but ended up writing something completely different because their characters had other ideas. (Paula Gillingham Bender, paula.hawaii.rr.com)

Answer: Aloha, Paula. In a struggle of author vs. character, the author must win. Prevent characters from taking over by constructing story people from your heart, passions, strengths and weaknesses, and those of imaginary people. You may use certain traits from real people, but never copy a person. By building characters from the inside out, you know them; they represent an extension of you. Thus, you drive them through the story rather than riding as a passenger.

Reinforce your role as commander by focusing on a technique from author Dwight Swain, the story's Starting Lineup -- Character, Threatening Situation, Story Goal, Opponent and Disaster. Then use techniques of viewpoint, scene and sequel to move characters through the story.

While following the above advice, remember three caveats:

1. Wrong Protagonist

If a supporting character muscles in and takes over the story, shift the story goal (and hero's mantle) to the stronger character.

2. Murky Scene

When you can't project through a scene demanding great imagination, get into viewpoint, trust your characters and start writing. True, the characters may seem to be dragging you along. However, you created the characters, story goal and obstacles. Your subconscious will kick in, and you'll write some of your best work.

3. Flawed Starting Lineup

Sometimes you face structural problems as you begin. Your characters lack focus. They control you, rather than the reverse.

Did you create a flawed Starting Lineup? If the Threatening Situation and Story Goal lack drama, strengthen them. For assistance, read "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations," by Georges Polti. Make sure your Story Goal fits one or more of Polti's premises. Then ask yourself, "Whose story is this?" Make that character the protagonist. Match him or her against a strong Opponent (seen or unseen) and begin the story with a Disaster for the hero.

In summary, by building characters from within and focusing on your story's Starting Lineup, you'll stay in charge throughout.

Question: A friend asked, "How can I write a novel without worrying about what my family and friends will think? Will they search for themselves in the characters?"

Answer: Such concerns drain originality from your work. As a result, you won't sell the book. Avoid censoring yourself by remembering:

1. Fictional Characters Aren't Real People

Real people never work as story people, which must be larger than life. Fictional characters blend pieces of real people with imagined traits. Hero and villain roil in a complex brew of strength, courage and intellect, seasoned with human frailty, resulting in three-dimensional characters.

One caution: creating believable, sympathetic characters requires courage. To make them original, you must search the darkest corners of your life and harvest some weeds. Using those warts doesn't "identify" you or any other real person on the page; rather, you've separated yourself from other writers.

2. Readers Care More about Stories than Authors

Readers crave original characters facing a threat to their well-being. They care little about you as author, except for the publishing date of your next book. The work outranks all. If you reach Stephen King's status, and you get hit by a van, your readers will feel that they know you and care about your welfare. Until then, stop worrying about what your mother thinks. Once she opens your book, she'll lose herself in the characters.

3. Egotistical Authors Lose Sales

Ego can ruin authors. Compare yourself to a projectionist at the theater. In other words, why fog your "screen" with excessive research and weighty vocabulary? When the audience exits, they don't praise the projectionist, they talk about Harry Potter.

Suggested Reading:

Polti, Georges. "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations." Boston: The Writer, Inc. 1977. ISBN 0-87116-109-5.

Swain, Dwight. "Techniques of the Selling Writer." Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965. ISBN 08061-1191-7.

Copyright 2002 by Robert Ferrier