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Blogs by T.J. Garrison
Losing Your Character's Grip on "Reality" 2/15/2013 5:13:25 PM
Readers engage characters waiting for them to change and antagonists engage characters hoping they won't. While this statement may seem vaguely familiar to some, there's something deeper at issue. But first, back to "reality"...
Why is it sometimes so hard to have someone see another point of view? Have them step out of their comfort zone? Change their perception? Because our world as we individually know it, is based upon what our brain says is a series of facts. If something a person holds as a 'truth' (e.g. an impression of someone, 'fact' of an event) is successfully demonstrated otherwise, it can force that person's subconscious brain to pose the question, "Could other guarded perceptions held as 'real,' not be real?" For better or worse, this could possibly change that person's whole view of the world. ...Or, at least as they had known it.
Now consider the character Scrooge in, A Christmas Carol. Why do we stay with that cold, unlikable character through the story? Perhaps the first time we experience it, we're waiting for Scrooge to get his punishment. But would it have been the classic it is if author Charles Dickens had Bob Cratchit pick his moment and then beat Scrooge with Tiny Tim's crutch? I think what makes it so good is that we experience not only an enjoyable character arc, but the profound change in the reality for Scrooge. The world changed for the character and the character then changed his corner of the world letting go of what he had been certain was previously concrete.
While achieving this in reality can be difficult at times, it's one of the most satisfying reading experiences when plotted well. It is by our favorite stories and the characters we craft, that we test our own waters, inching up to the possibilities of our own perceptions through those characters - and hopefully, becoming better for it.
