Two Year Novel Course: Set 2
By
Lazette Gifford
Copyright 2011 Lazette Gifford
An ACOA Publication
www.aconspiracyofauthors.com
ISBN 978-1-936507-13-9
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Copyright © 2004, 2006, 2012 Lazette Gifford
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2YN: Set 2
Characters, Weeks 6-13
Introduction
Welcome to the second set of classes for the Two Year Novel Course. Set 1 covered the basics of idea, theme, genre and more. Now we will begin focusing on the first of the individual pieces which go together to make a good story.
We'll start with characters because we have to start somewhere. Some people may usually start with plot or world building before characters. However, when doing a set of classes like this, I had to make a decision. Characters come first for me.
I am not going to tell you what you have to do to make a perfect character. I can't because characters are individuals which must fit your stories, not mine. I can only give you suggestions on areas in which to look to make each character into someone interesting. Another place to look is at characters you like in books and other media. What draws you to them? How can you adapt that to a character or two of your own?
Study people as well, but in truth studying characters in books will give you the best idea of how to create interesting characters with words.
Character creation is perhaps the most intensely personal part of writing. The good guys and the bad guys all come from somewhere within us, and how they act and react is a mirror of our own experiences and expectations, even when the circumstances are not the same.
With that in mind, there can be no truly 'wrong' characters -- only ones we have not explored and written well enough to convey what we want the readers to feel and understand.
As with anything writing-related, learning to portray those characters in an intriguing way will take practice. The material in the next few classes will help you create the characters you want, but in the end, you have to make those characters come alive with your writing.
There is one more matter to consider when you create characters for your stories. Are you going to enjoy living with these people for the next year or two as you write your novel? Contemplate this as you create your characters. While you don't want to write nothing but 'sweet' characters, you still need to consider how much time you will be spending with them. If your main character has no redeeming qualities you like, chances are you will get bored with her story.
Please note that there will occasionally be references to material in set 1. All of the examples at the end of each class are based on the same stories begun in set 1. At $0.99 each, it might be worth it to you to pick up the earlier set as well.
Week 6
Characters, Part One
Creating Characters Who Work with You
Characters can hinder plot development if they are not created with care to meet the needs of the story. Even a character-driven writer (like me) should make drastic changes to the characters if that means the author can tell a better story. The plot has to be the line against which you measure everything you create, including character traits, interactions and histories. That means when we get to the plot part of writing, be prepared to change anything you come up with here.
We're going to do this through Zette's Theory of Character Creation. This may suit you, or you may adapt parts of it to your own needs . . . or you may have an entirely different way which already works for you. Read through the material anyway, because sometimes something new can help in unexpected ways.
Since I am a character-driven writer, I start with characters. I see them in a situation, and I build a story around this first vision, learning who they are and what they are doing as I look beyond the first scene. This doesn't mean that either the characters or the situation will not change as the story itself grows.
So if I see a character staring in shock at a television news report or a tall, lithe alien coming unexpectedly into a room, startling someone, then I begin by asking myself the inevitable question all writers ask. . . . Why?
A plot-driven writer may start out with a series of events instead and then create a character to fit those events. For this type of writer it is the story which sparks the initial inspiration and creative response.
Either way will produce a good story. A reader can rarely tell -- at least if the story is well-written -- which process the author used. In the end, all novels are about characters reacting to situations so both have to be equally important by the end.
People are products of their environment, but in novel writing we can -- and should -- shape the environment to fit the story. Since the character is going to be the embodiment of his background and the vehicle for an idea imposed on the background by the author, it is far better to know what you want your characters to be like and fit some aspects of the world to them.
Names
Names are tags for the readers, and don't have to be anything more. You can play with a name to give it an extra meaning (Thomas Covenant, for instance), or to add a bit of humor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). A name does not have to exemplify the character, however. We, real humans, aren't a certain way or hold a certain job because of our names. You can choose names for your characters because you like the names -- just as parents often choose the names for their children. They do not have to 'fit' in any particular way.
You can create an entire naming convention for your alien or fantasy world, but if you do so, beware of certain problems which might arise. Naming your main character and all her siblings with the same prefix or suffix is very hard on a reader. Monta, Monla, Monli, Monsa -- this is not a good set of character names. The same is true for inordinately long names. While they may make perfect sense to you as a writer, keep the reader in mind. Readers want something they can take in at a glance and be able to use to instantly identify the character later. Readers do not always 'read' words like names. They assign a set of letters as a symbol for something and the easier the letters/symbol is to recognize in the rest of the text, the better for the reader.
Here is a good article from Vision on naming conventions:
http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue14/namecreate.htm
And another one on name web sites:
http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue14/website%20Review.htm
Don't allow trouble with character naming stop you. If you cannot find the right name, either choose one at random or use a filler and go back and use the find/replace when the proper name comes to you. Remember that you aren't actually writing the book yet, so you have plenty of time.
POV Character
Let's start with the POV (point of view) material so you can think this over as you create your characters.
Obviously, your point of view character is the one through whom the story is going to be told. This doesn't mean only a first person POV. A third person POV story is also told through the eyes of a single character at a time, although there can be several characters you cycle through.
The POV we use often influences the way in which we create a character. An introspective, quiet character might be a good candidate for a first person POV. A character with a devastating secret the writer doesn't want the reader to know (right away) will do better with a third person POV. This, in turn, is going to affect the way in which the writer builds the character. A first person POV character will usually have far more obvious emotional baggage (good and bad) than a third person character. If you are going to be living in this person's mind, then that mind needs to have layers and depths enough to be interesting.
A First Person POV cannot normally keep secrets from the reader. If we are living in the persons head, it's like keeping secrets from yourself -- if you know something you aren't supposed to know, you are going to think about it. Yes, it can be done, and has been done well, but unless you are really well-versed in writing first person, attempting one in which you lie to the reader is going to be a problem.
Third person POV is often the best choice. It allows you to do things like keep secrets which can be very important in stories. For instance, if you have a character working both sides of the line in some situation, using a first person POV for this character means the reader will know from the start where the character's loyalty lies. If you don't want this known (or something similar to it), then once again, first person is a bad choice. In that type of situation, taking a step back and going with a close third person is better. In third you can still share thoughts, but it is not a constant view from inside the head of the character.
There are different degrees of third person POV, but the excellent part is that you can use all of them in the same book. Sometimes the author wants a wide view:
Tomas moved through the woods, silent as he could be in the growing darkness while the hint of a storm brought a breeze through the leaves. Rabbits watched him pass, ready to flee if he so much as looked their way.
There I have set the scene. But I might then want to move in closer to Tomas and learn what he's doing there:
Tomas shook his head, thinking what a fool he was to go rushing off in anger when his brother baited him again. He knew he should have paid better attention to both the trails he took and the changing weather. Oh, he wasn't lost, of course, but he'd gone much farther than he should have this late at night.
The best part of third person is that a little later you might change to the brother's POV. As long as you make it clear that there is a switch, you can do any number of POV characters in your book, though too many can get confusing and even boring for the reader. They often want just a few characters they can identify with, and the more characters you introduce this way, the less time each one will have in the book.
The novel's POV character need not be the 'hero' of the story. Dr. Watson is the POV character for the Sherlock Holmes stories and tells a far more interesting tale than Holmes who would remain too focused on the small things. Holmes would always be logical. Watson gets to make guesses, to be emotional and to view the process of genius from the perspective of someone who is more likely akin to the reader. He also gets to make mistakes, and in general, be more human than Holmes.
Sometimes having the POV character one step away from the person who is the focus of the plot can give you a wider view, and allow you to second guess what the other person is doing -- and to subtly lead readers into wrong conclusions without having the character lie to mislead the reader.
For instance, in a fantasy story of court intrigue, the companion to the princess can give a better view of the story world than the princess would because companion has more outside contact at various social levels. Instead of always having her deliver the news she learned to the princess (if the princess were the POV character), and thus impart it to the reader in a dull narration, you could stay with the companion throughout the story. You might still have the princess as a POV character as well -- but do you really need her to be one? If your companion character is going to be present for all the important events, try telling the story through her eyes, and having the princess impart news to her on occasion, rather than the other way around.
In other words, whom you choose to tell the tale is not always a case of creating the most important character in the story's world. Consider other possibilities when you examine what the character can see and do.
Many writers choose to have multiple POV characters. Not all of those characters, however, need be equally important. It is usually a good idea to have no more than one or two people on whom the majority of the tale will fall. While occasional excursions into other POVs can add detail and excitement, most readers want a small number of people on which to focus.
Here's a slightly more detailed look at the POV types:
First Person POV
First person POV has stringent limitations balanced by wonderful opportunities to make the character feel alive to the reader. The reader can only know what the POV character knows, and the POV character cannot know anything outside of what he personally sees or is told. The first person POV character cannot (usually) hold back information or tell lies to the reader, who is living in that person's head. Some have used the 'unreliable narrator' who deliberately lies, but it is a tricky balance which can often annoy the reader who expects the truth from the character specifically because it is a first person narrative.
This is an excellent POV for several types of stories. Mystery tales are often first person through the eyes of the detective, allowing the reader to pick up the clues at the same time as the character and take part in the process of deduction.
An introspective tale of personal growth would work well in first person since the changes would be internal. Someone on a personal trip of enlightenment, with a changing vista of real life experiences and people, might also be best told in first person to give the reader a solid anchor.
This can also be a good POV for someone thrown alone into an alien society, which could be a land on earth where he doesn't speak the language or a world light years away. With no one else to talk to, the first person POV can allow the character to relate things from within her own mind as a personal dialogue. The reader gets to learn right along with the character. It is, in effect, another type of mystery, but this one of decoding the clues of a culture.
First person can be boring if the character spends too much time living inside her head and not enough dealing with things around her or becoming involved with other people. Don't let your character think more than she takes part in the action of the novel.
Third Person POV
Third person has a great deal of flexibility. The reader can see the POV characters thoughts, but the story can also move outside of the character's direct view and away from what he's thinking. While some storytellers change POV characters in First Person, it is usually easiest, and the least jarring, to do multiple characters in third person.
Third person allows for the introduction of things not immediately apparent to the main character. For instance, a line like this might work in a third person story:
Carrick moved past the door and into the courtyard, missing the small box set into the corner of the hall.
You could not do this in first person POV. If he doesn't see the box, then the box, as far as the story is concerned, does not exist -- unless someone else points it out.
Multiple third person POVs and Omniscient POV share one problem: head-hopping. The writer bounces from one character to another without establishing any sort of pattern, sometimes making it difficult for the reader to follow whose head the story is in at the moment. This can also make it difficult for readers to identify with any single character. If you use more than one third person POV character in your novel, make certain your transitions are easily identifiable to the readers. Chapter changes are often a good way to establish a new POV. If you do this with a limited number of people and in an established pattern, the reader comes to expect the change and doesn't need as much of a cue about who is now taking over the tale.
If you change POV's in the middle of scenes, remember that just because you can clearly identify and hear your characters doesn't mean the reader can tell the difference without clues and prompts.
Omniscient POV
Omniscient POV is not much in favor these days, partly because so many new writers use it poorly. There are good books done in omniscient, but head-hopping and scene-hopping (We're here, no we're there, no we're back again and in another head!), make this both a difficult POV to write and to read.
Omniscient is sometimes referred to as the 'God' view because the reader (and therefore the writer) can see into the head and hearts of every character. This is not the same as multiple third person POVs where there is a set number of characters and the POV switches between them and you don't 'see' into the heads of minor characters who happen to wander in. If they have important information the reader needs to know, it has to be delivered by those other characters.
One character may be prominent in omniscient, but he is not interpreting the view for the reader in the same way as a third person POV character. The reader now knows what the characters around him are thinking and has a better understanding of what's going on than the character can have.
While omniscient POV might be out of favor, this doesn't mean it can't be used. A writer can expertly manipulate any of these options if she tries hard enough, and the story supports it.
Here are two views of omniscient I recently read.
Loren D. Estleman wrote in Writing Mysteries (Writer's Digest Books, ISBN 1-582971021):
The omniscient voice is one that has passed nearly beyond the pale. George Eliot and other writers of the Victorian epoch wrote like God, gazing down upon and into entire casts of characters, so that every line provided total insight regarding the motive and behavior of each player.
Gillian Roberts in You Can Write a Mystery (Writers Digest Books, ISBN 0898796839):
This is the voice and point of view used by most nineteenth-century novelists, but since then, we've moved ourselves offstage so that the reader is less aware of a storyteller and more involved in our imagined world. Accidentally intruding in your story is, in fact, a pitfall to beware. It yanks the reader out of the point of view as well as out of the illusion that what he's reading is real.
Second Person POV
Some writers have been able to use the unwieldy, and really annoying, second person POV. This one is sometimes used for the 'Choose your own adventure' type of book:
You are walking down a narrow passage and come to an intersection. You hear the sound of laughter to the righ, and whispers to the left.
Except as an experimental story option, it's really wise to stay clear of second person and the 'you' POV. Very few readers can look at it without gritting their teeth or tossing the story aside.
Here's an important consideration: If you do not see this type of material in the genre you are writing, then it is unlikely you'll find publishers or readers. There have been a couple successful literary fiction pieces done in this style -- but I would not recommend it. If you are self-publishing, then it's your choice. However, this is still not a popular POV for most readers.
What level?
Characters come in different levels of importance to the story. How much work you do for character background will depend on how much 'face time' your character is going to have in the manuscript. It can also depend on how much influence the character has on the book, which does not always equal on how often they show up on the pages.
First Level
Obviously, your main character is going to be a first level character. You might have multiple leads in your story, and many of them will be first level characters, but they need not all be. These first level characters are the ones who will have the most appearances in your story. They take the lead in actions, and it is through them the story is almost entirely told.
You may also have one or two others who are as important to the story, but don't have as visible a presence. Your antagonist (villain) might be one, since many tales are told through the point of view of the protagonist (hero) with little view of the enemy. In another case, there might be a ruler of some sort who sets things in motion and who has a continuing direct influence on the story. Sometimes creating the background for these people with the same care as your main character will help bring depth to the story when you have to deal with their motivations, which in turn affect the actions of others.
First level characters are going to be your most thoroughly developed people. The more time a character spends on the pages, the more you'll want to know about him so the reader can learn new things and doesn't feel he's shallow.
Second Level
Companions are usually second level characters. They are often in the same scenes, but they are not the focus and they are not the ones through whom the story is told. They are also not the ones making the important decisions, but rather are following orders.
Since they are standing in the shadow of the POV characters, the reader is naturally not going to know as much about them as they do the main characters. Nonetheless, while you won't have to go into the same depth for the 'inner person' you are going to want to know where this character came from and what they are doing there, standing in the shadow of someone else. What do they believe? What is it that keeps them from being the leader and the focus? Some people are naturally followers and there's nothing wrong with the role. Give us enough character background to make them real.