Characters from the Readers and Writers Viewpoint

Today I’m addressing writers and readers. It’s interesting how writers get lost in their own stories at times, even to the point of forgetting it’s their readers they want to engage and draw into the story and the lives of the character.

So I’ll focus, for the moment on characters and more specifically, the hero or heroine of the story. Characters are integral to the story. They aren’t just stick figures to be moved about, populating the world the writer has created in order to move those exciting and cool twists and turns of plot forward. 

Right readers? You’re in it for more than that. Rarely do you readers wish you could read more about the plot, but rather wish you could read more about the characters, spend more time with them, learn what makes them tick. I’ve heard that from so many readers. 

Think about the stories you’ve read and which ones are truly memorable in your mind. You know, the ones that kept you up late reading or made you forget to fix diner or for which you skipped the trip to the gym or climbed up on your stationary bike with book in hand and kept reading while pedaling. 

Plot is important, plainly, but it is the empathy with the characters and their problems to be solved that truly drags the reader in for the full ride. 

Tell me, reader, isn’t it true you like to know a bit of background, what makes a character tick so that when the trouble you know is coming arrives you can empathize and identify with that character. You can move through the action, understanding, if not liking, the hero’s response. 

Readers, all of us, identify, or not, with the actions of characters with thoughts like, “get inside stupid!” or “I sure wouldn’t do that”, or “why didn’t you kill the SOB?” What really pulls a reader into a story is the character’s actions and reactions. And knowing something about the character makes it all more real. If a character who’s a doctor comes home after a miserable day, finds the house empty, his spouse gone because he has never reconciled the tragedy of his son’s death while out surfing, then gets an emergency call from the hospital that he’s needed and puts all his personal baggage aside to go save a life the reader comes to deeply care about him. They’ll be rooting for him to succeed in whatever challenges the writer throws at him. 

 

All of this is why it’s important for characters to be real. To have flaws, to make mistakes. To have had a life before the story the writer is telling. 

Take a minute to tell us what you’ve loved about a character as a reader or what you’ve loved creating in a character for your audience. And go out there and read/write more great books!

Characters We Care About - How Writers Do It

Have you wondered how a writer goes about creating characters his or her readers will actually care about?

There are lots and lots of ways and as many approaches as there are writers. It’s simple and yet difficult. The writer wants a relationship with the reader. It’s as simple as that – and as difficult.

Characters drive the story and every character in the story your favorite writer creates must have a desire. It doesn’t matter what that is, it could even be as simple as new car, a new job, a new girlfriend or just a glass of water.  Lack of desire equals lack of story.

Think about this, readers, when the writer you’re reading now creates a story that writer thinks about all sorts of things relating to the characters. What are the fears, what music or films might the main character like. A favorite food? A strong aversion? The writer will even pass that information along to you, the reader so you understand the character and become more involved.

But everything is really secondary to the DESIRE. The desire the main character has makes him or her come to life. It can be very simple like a child’s desire for a glass of water in the middle of the night and the harried parents’ need to fulfill it. It can be a groom who simply desires to make it to the church on time. Maybe one character desires another. Perhaps it’s as dark and evil and complicated as the desire of the devil to mess up the world or a criminal who wants a big payday. 

Or maybe it's a strong desire to avoid battling bears.

 Whatever the desire, that desire breathes life into the character and creates a well-rounded human the reader can identify with. And any reader who pauses for even a moment to consider, will tell anyone who talks books that it’s the desire of the character they identify with that moves the story forward.  In fact, it’s up to the writer to not only make it clear what that desire is, but to telegraph it in such a fashion that the reader understands what the desire is and in fact begins to feel that want as well. Even if a character’s desires are not out own (remember that Satan thing I mentioned above or the criminal and his payday?) knowing the desire, understanding it draws a reader in and to the point where that reader cheers the character on.

DESIRE is the key factor and no matter how much action a writer throws into a story, how much pathos, greed, or anything else, it will just seem like one clip after another, one thing after another, unless like pearls on a string they’re linked by the character’s desire and through that desire the necessity of making choices and taking action.

             

             

Facing Conflict For Writers

Have you really given thought to conflict? It’s the life blood of your story creation.

I mean think about it. When people have something exciting/terrifying/ dangerous happen to them and they survive to return home to their regular lives what do they talk about? Their regular lives of the out-of-the-ordinary thing that happened? The fact of the matter is, people generally relive those scary/exciting times even when it’s something they might like to put behind them (like a factory explosion, or wartime experiences of a soldier or the collapse of the towers on 9/11).  Why are we like this? A psychologist might be able to tell you but I can’t.  The obsession people have with thrills is something that’s been around forever.  Consider the Romans, the Spartans…us!

But conflict isn’t just one person batting another over the head. There’s all kinds of conflict. And even if you’re the mellow sort who avoids conflict in your life, you can’t avoid it altogether because sometimes it’s brought to you. Additionally it would be silly to try to avoid conflict in your storytelling because you’d end up with no story.

So, let’s talk about the types of conflict. Convincing conflict for your characters.

There can be broad conflict with society.  This happens frequently in science fiction or fantasy but it can be in the everyday world as well. It’s a situation where the protagonist doesn’t fit in. A ‘hero’ or ‘heroine’ your readers can identify with is like a fish out of water. Ender in Ender’s Game ends up in conflict with not only the aliens he’s out to defeat, but with the militaristic society he lives in. There are many others. Study them.  Perhaps a character is mentally or physically different and doesn’t fit in Perhaps the character is out to change the society he or she lives in. Think about it.

There’s the good old fashioned conflict with an enemy. That enemy might be the next door neighbor or it could be Godzilla.  Could be the evil forces in the Harry Potter Series or the master of the ring in Lord of The Rings. Could be Godzilla.  Stakes in this kind of conflict are very high creating a very tense story. It’s a little more straight-forward than some as usually it’s pretty plain what has to be done, i.e. eliminate Godzilla. And, the good thing about this kind of conflict is your hero can be as bad ass as you like, fighting, killing, destructing and there’s no associated guilt so no extra stuff you as the writer has to work through in order for your hero to remain heroic and not wallowing in a pool of self-doubt and guilt.

Then there’s the conflict with a friend or loved one.  Or the age old conflict between parent and child.  Friends and relatives don’t  always (read hardly ever) want the same things. And the results can range wildly from hurt feelings to murder. And, think Civil War, this conflict and result in heartbreak if brother fights brother or cousin kills cousin in a dispute. You can create all sorts of twists and turns when you delve into relationships and truly wring out a gripping story.

And, it’s not unusual for someone to have conflict with him or her self. The hero may not be certain as to what is the correct path. Should he kill Godzilla or is the monster an amazing gift which should be captured and studied? Or a character might be clinically mentally ill, suffering from any range of illness causing complications. Or she might be possessed if you’re going paranormal. Or the character may feel torn about a decision needed to choose between one thing and another; love or a career,  an addiction or the path to sobriety.        

And, don’t forget even though conflict can be as direct as hero vs. Godzilla, it can also be much more complicated just as life is. What happens to Godzilla when you involve a scientist? Or a politician who’s against whatever plan there is to kill the beast because it’ll affect his home turf? Or what if a kid loves the giant beast and is continually in the way, trying to prevent others from hurting it? It’s the ol’ what if scenario again. Play with it. Work with it. Just make sure the conflict you create is convincing and consistent with the characters you’ve created. How you’ve created your characters will be a major influence in this area. You don’t want the reader saying, “he wouldn’t do that!.”

And remember all conflicts don’t have to be major, but your reader has to be kept guessing, as to who’s going to win and how it’ll all turn out.

Go for it and come drop a few comments below on conflict problems you’ve experienced.

The Characters We Create – A Writer’s World

Writers take us to many places from far off lands, to city streets, to other dimensions to outter space. And it’s interesting and entertaining and fun.

They also take us other places with their development of character. The inner world can be as entertaining, chilling, exciting and gripping as the outer world.

Whether we writers realize it or not, we have to cultivate a basic understanding of what it is people really want and need. There’s a sort of a basic five.

Human beings are a predictable lot and it makes sense that we are. We need things in life  to keep things running smoothly, things like:

Safety and security- ever had your house broken into? Yeah, like that. It’s a basic need that we feel secure and safe in our lives, that those around us we love like friends, family, even pets are in that same safe space. 

We’re always looking for love – sometimes in the wrong places, right? We need love from spouses, family, close friends and even, again, those pets we take into our homes. People need to feel they belong somewhere to someone or something. Thus, families, organizations, churches, whatever.

People also need to secure basic biological needs. We need to eat. And that ties into safety and love. We need to not be in pain, to be physically mobile, all the things we barely give a thought to throughout our day if we’re basically sound and healthy.

Folks crave recognition from the simplest pat on the head from an employer to the full blown power mad dictator.  I’d classify that as a need. Along with that comes the need to reach our potential and strive for and reach some sort of personal fulfillment.

But sometimes, as authors, a drastic shift in morality is exactly what we want for our characters. This kind of change doesn’t occur easily, but it can happen under the right circumstances. This is where basic needs come into play.

Take any one of the above things away from a person or hold it just out of reach and there’s going to be created a seismic shift in the  personality of a character to get that need back.

Just staying alive is the most crucial need – Life in danger, loved ones in danger always strikes a chord.

But it goes deeper. What if the main character is a moral stand-up kind of guy trying to protect his (or her) family? What if there’s no cooperation from authorities and suddenly that person has to consider and do things that normally wouldn’t be considered? What changes happen? What if a city slicker is thrown into a wilderness survival situation – and there’s a person intent on murder hot on his heels? You’re removing his safety and security and just staying alive doesn’t seem so simple any more.

We writers are constantly throwing curves at our characters. It’s our job. It’s through adversity of some kind that the inner workings of our characters are revealed.

So know what the needs of your characters are. Know their moral compasses. Then pick one or more of the above needs, take them away or jeopardize them and play with your characters heads. How many times have we all thought, “I would do….” Whatever in that circumstance? Put your characters to the test and take your readers along for the nail-biting ride. You can chortle heh, heh, heh if you like while your characters flounder for their new equilibrium.

Think about it and give us a few examples of need removal you’ve experimented with.

Writers take us to many places from far off lands, to city streets, to other dimensions to out space. And it’s interesting and entertaining and fun.

They also take us other places with their development of character. The inner world can be as entertaining, chilling, exciting and gripping as the outer world.

Whether we writers realize it or not, we have to cultivate a basic understanding of what it is people really want and need. There’s a sort of a basic five.

Human beings are a predictable lot and it makes sense that we are. We need things in life  to keep things running smoothly, things like:

Safety and security- ever had your house broken into? Yeah, like that. It’s a basic need that we feel secure and safe in our lives, that those around us we love like friends, family, even pets are in that same safe space. 

We’re always looking for love – sometimes in the wrong places, right? We need love from spouses, family, close friends and even, again, those pets we take into our homes. People need to feel they belong somewhere to someone or something. Thus, families, organizations, churches, whatever.

People also need to secure basic biological needs. We need to eat. And that ties into safety and love. We need to not be in pain, to be physically mobile, all the things we barely give a thought to throughout our day if we’re basically sound and healthy.

Folks crave recognition from the simplest pat on the head from an employer to the full blown power mad dictator.  I’d classify that as a need. Along with that comes the need to reach our potential and strive for and reach some sort of personal fulfillment.

But sometimes, as authors, a drastic shift in morality is exactly what we want for our characters. This kind of change doesn’t occur easily, but it can happen under the right circumstances. This is where basic needs come into play.

Take any one of the above things away from a person or hold it just out of reach and there’s going to be created a seismic shift in the  personality of a character to get that need back.

Just staying alive is the most crucial need – Life in danger, loved ones in danger always strikes a chord.

But it goes deeper. What if the main character is a moral stand-up kind of guy trying to protect his (or her) family? What if there’s no cooperation from authorities and suddenly that person has to consider and do things that normally wouldn’t be considered? What changes happen? What if a city slicker is thrown into a wilderness survival situation – and there’s a person intent on murder hot on his heels? You’re removing his safety and security and just staying alive doesn’t seem so simple any more.

We writers are constantly throwing curves at our characters. It’s our job. It’s through adversity of some kind that the inner workings of our characters are revealed.

So know what the needs of your characters are. Know their moral compasses. Then pick one or more of the above needs, take them away or jeopardize them and play with your characters heads. How many times have we all thought, “I would do….” Whatever in that circumstance? Put your characters to the test and take your readers along for the nail-biting ride. You can chortle heh, heh, heh if you like while your characters flounder for their new equilibrium.

Think about it and give us a few examples of need removal you’ve experimented with.