Find the One you Want--Fix the One You've Got.
No, I'm not going to tell you how to do that, but Dr. Phil will if you win the 6 CD audio book I'm giving away next Friday, March 4th, as part of our second anniversary celebration. Or, if you'd rather learn how to create a phenomenal family, Dr. Phil can tell you how to do that, too, in Family First--Your Step-by-Step Plan for Creating a Phenomenal Family. If you're the winner, you can choose which audio book you'd rather have.
Dr. Phil is an expert in human behavior and reading the back cover blurbs on the two CDs, I was reminded that we, as writers, have to be an expert in human behavior, too. In fact, I sometimes think Psychology 101 should be a prerequesite when learning the craft of writing. How can you write realistic characters if you know nothing about human behavior?
Like each of us, our characters' behavior is based on multiple factors stemming from genetics and life experience. No one is the same and two people striving for the same external goal will have different internal motivation that drives him toward it. Failure to delve deeply into a character's past is a common mistake new writers make. It's why characters seem wooden and sound alike. It's only when you dig deep enough to find your character's driving force that you can create characters with depth and breadth.
So, how do we do this, and how deep do we need to go? Some of us create charts or make long lists of traits--and we do need to do that--but charts alone will not get us where we need to be to make our characters come alive. We have to dig deeper and deeper, until we get down to the level of a character's values and beliefs about life...and, most importantly, about himself. When the reader understands a character's deep motivation, he can identify and will want to read more.
Do you go that far? Do you know what your character values the most? Do you know what your hero believes about himself? Do you know why he believes it? Do you know what happened in his childhood to cement this belief? Those are questions I have to ask if I want my characters to have deep internal motivation for whatever goal I give them. If you're not asking those kinds of questions, try it and see what happens.
If you'd like to be in the drawing to win one of the audio books by Dr. Phil, simply leave a comment and it's done.
And don't forget, there's still time to save on classes at Bootcamp for Novelists. The special discounted prices are good through 2/28 at midnight, but time is getting short. Check out our new Face-to-Face Clinic as well, at www.bootcampfornovelists.com.
Ciao for now,
Linda
17 comments:
Linda,
Great blog!...and like you, I go deep with my character's. I've always loved psychology, so finding out what makes my character's "tick" and then sharing it with the reader is something I really enjoy:)
Lo
As a reader, good books with engaging characters grab my brain. And the more complex (and imperfect) a character is, the better! Linda has a great point, the writer should strive to be knowledgeable in the ways of psychologists and get into the heads of their characters.
"know thy self, know thy character"
Good blog, Linda. I work a lot on my characters before I begin writing, but I don't go so far as to care about favorite food, favorite color, things like that. I focus more on personality traits, personal style, internal core values and characteristics that stem from their backstory.
I have always been interested in the psychological makeup of people whether they are real people or story characters.
For me, it's always a delicate dance between plot and character...as in what kind of person would get involved in this particular chain of events and what does this particular character need to help them to grow. I hate it when the characters seem to be cardboard cutouts pushed around by the tides of the plot. OTH, I really don't feel that favorite colors, foods, etc. make the character come alive for me.
Wonderful gift ideas, Linda!
Thanks for your informative Blog notes! Your ideas about developing characters have me re-reading your Harlequin SuperRomance Novels. They are a form of tutoring for me.
Sharlet Liebel
Linda, so true about digging deeper to find your character's core beliefs and values. The deeper we dig the better the character and the story. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, Lo. Glad you stopped by to join the conversation. What makes our character's tick is what the reader wants to know, isn't it.
Hi CJ. Thanks for stopping by. You are so right about knowing thyself. As writers, we have develop a keen awareness and deep understanding of our own wants, needs, and desires in order to get to that same place with our characters.
Hi CC. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think you've hit on a common theme for writers -- we're interested in the psychology of human behavior, and we like to write about it... :-)
Hi NBarnes. That's where it all starts, isn't it...figuring out what kind of person would be involved in our story. If we get that wrong, it's like working with square pegs and round holes.
I agree. Well done character descriptions will add something to give us a better understanding of the person, but physical descriptions alone mean little.
Characterization without character never works.
Hi Sharlet. What a nice compliment. Thanks so much...and thank you for reading my books. I hope the tutoring process is enjoyable. :-)
Hey, Susan...nice to see you! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You're right, the deeper we dig, the better the character and story. Skillful application of the information can make a so-so story a great story. :-)
I'm an amateur actor when I'm not editing, and before I start memorizing lines, I go through a script writing down what the playwright says about my character, what other characters say about my character, and what my character reveals about herself and the world around her.
I delve into the small things, even if I have to make them up: what kind of car would my character would drive, what's the ideal night out for her/me, which night of the week do I unplug the phone so I can watch TV uninterrupted, what book is on my night table, how long does it take me to get into work, etc.
I find these kind of specifics hat help shade each moment on stage, even if nobody in the audience will ever know what kind of car my character drives.
I'm not a fiction writer, but I often think the process of fleshing out characters must be similar to acting.
Do you do something like this, Linda?
Hi Victoria,
How nice to see you. Thanks for popping in.
Your "amateur" acting job sounds like great fun, and your character preparation is very much like what I do to add layers to my characters.
I think characterization, (what the public sees) how we dress, what we drive, etc., is very telling and gives insights to the real character. That outward appearance is how we (our characters) want the world to see us, but it may not be who we really are underneath. What we do in our homes may be very different than what we do in public. I think those small things, like unplugging the phone, says volumes.
There's a big crossover between film and novels, and loving film as I do, I sometimes talk about "Method Acting for Writers," where I use the Lee Strasberg Actor's School technique of "affective memory and apply it to characters in a novel." It's a great technique for deepening character.
How fun to learn about your acting, Victoria. I would love to see you in a play sometime? :-)
That question mark was supposed to be an exclamation point.
Bad fingers. Bad!
I agree with Victoria - down to color and food, etc. - you learn a lot about a character and it makes them more human. Plus favorite color, a hat, anything, can almost become a character if done right - and add a depth to that character. I am reading Molly O'Keefe's latest Super where the hero's old cowboy hat - although only mentioned several times - shows the hero's growth as he faces his past and shows how the heroine used the hat for comfort while she and the hero were going through a rough time. It's those little details that bring the characters to life.
Thanks for an interesting blog - and thanks to Susan V. for passing this blog on to our loop!
Hi Debora,
Thanks for dropping in to chat. So true. It's all the details combined and what you do with them that makes a character come to life. Details, like everything else in the story, must have a reason for being there. Your comment about the hat in Molly's book is an excellent example.
My thanks also to Susan V. for passing the blog on. :-)
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