Ian Dawson's Blog - Posts Tagged "passive-versus-active"
Help! My Story Isn’t Working! – Is It the Characters?
After a brief break, we’re back and talking about one of the key aspects of any story: the Characters. Think about your favorite movie, TV series, or novel, and it’s the characters populating the story that immediately pop into memory. They are the driving force of any narrative and the primary reason we keep watching.
However, it’s possible to run into challenges when creating and crafting characters for a story. Let’s look at some potential problems and their solutions.
But first…
Who Are These People?
Fictional characters come in all shapes and sizes, but they also have their own assigned roles in a story. Here’s a quick run-down of how you should look at each character that lives in your fictional world:
Main Character: They drive the story forward; without them actively pursuing a goal, the story has nowhere to go.
Antagonist: The person opposing the main character and trying to prevent them from reaching their stated goal.
Secondary Characters: These can include friends, love interests, sidekicks, pets, or anyone who is associated with the main character or antagonist, offering them advice, support, or assistance.
Tertiary Characters: Minor characters your main character meets along their journey. They may be in only one chapter or scene, but the information they provide or the actions they take assist the main character positively or negatively and can contribute to the story’s direction.
Utility Characters: A crowd at a concert. Protesters. Campers. Patrons at a biker bar. These are usually nameless characters that help give a location atmosphere and personality. These are extras (aka background artists) that can be described to enhance the location currently inhabited by your other characters.
Now, let’s dive into a few possible problems you may encounter as you work with your characters.
Problem: My Main Character is boring.
Possible Solution #1: Make sure they have a Character Arc.
Your Main Character should evolve over the course of your story. They should have problems, issues, conflicts, and relationships established at the start that they can then work on and resolve as the story unfolds, develops, and wraps up.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of being afraid to have your Main Character have problems or conflicts. You might be fearful that readers will turn against them or not like them as the Main Character. But flaws add depth to a character and make them more relatable to the audience than being the poster child for perfection.
As you develop your Main Character, focus on how they change over the course of the story. What events take place around them or to characters in their circle that help them change as a person? These are pieces of the puzzle that can give your Main Character more depth and make them less boring.
Possible Solution #2: Consider Recasting
Okay. You’ve taken the first step and admitted your Main Character is dull. What character in the story do you enjoy writing about? What is it about them that makes you excited to get to their chapters? That is who should be helming your story, and it may be time to either cut your original Main Character completely or move them to a secondary role.
No matter what type of story you’re writing, your Main Character needs to be compelling, interesting, and engaging to the reader. Often, we relegate that type of character to the role of second banana, thinking they are too zany to work as the story’s protagonist.
However, it is worth considering the idea of having them take on that role. Or, you may consider another alternative…
Possible Solution #3: Merge your Main Character with the fun one.
Blend the aspects of the Main Character with those of the fun character and see what new energy and life is injected into your story. Now you have a Main Character with some zip to them, and you can have some fun and let them not be so rigid and boring as they once were.
Problem: My Main Character is too passive.
Possible Solution #1: It’s all about choices.
If your Main Character is passive, this means things are happening to them; they are not making things happen. And while it’s okay for your Main Character to get into situations beyond their control, it’s how they react to those situations that determines if they are being passive or active.
And you definitely want your Main Character to be ACTIVE and MAKING CHOICES that help move the story forward.
All stories are like Choose Your Own Adventure books. As authors, we are the ones making the choices for the reader. We must choose actions that propel the story forward while also putting the Main Character in control of the action. Even if their choices are wrong and lead to tragedy, they must be at the center of those choices and actions.
As you work through your story, think about your Main Character’s choices. Their choices reveal aspects of their personality to the reader. If they are passive and allow others to make decisions for them, the reader will lose interest.
Possible Solution #2: Do they have a strong goal?
Your Main Character needs a reason to exist. That reason is a GOAL they need to achieve by the end of the story. The goal can be a person, a location, or an object. It’s whatever exists at the end of the journey that motivates the Main Character to keep going.
It also has to be on a scale where if they fail to achieve their goal, there are literal or figurative life-or-death consequences associated with it. This means the goal you pick for your Main Character should motivate them into action, which should eliminate any passive tendencies they may have.
Throw in a ticking clock, where they only have a limited amount of time to reach their goal, and it adds another layer of suspense to help drive the Main Character into being active in their pursuit of the goal.
Possible Solution #3: Who’s the opposition?
There needs to be someone in your story trying to prevent your Main Character from reaching their goal. Your Main Character must be willing to confront this person to achieve that goal, and the only way to do that is by being active.
It’s important that the opposition – also known as the Antagonist – has a direct link to the Main Character in some way, and that their defeat is crucial as part of reaching the goal at the end of the story. This defeat can be literal or figurative, but it’s crucial that it takes place as part of your Main Character’s journey.
The need to defeat the Antagonist and reach the final goal must motivate your Main Character to take action and propel their arc and the storyline forward. These elements should leave no room for your Main Character to be passive during their quest.
Problem: I keep losing track of all my characters.
Possible Solution #1: More characters = More problems
If you’re writing your first novel, I highly recommend that you limit the number of characters that populate your story. This will not only make your writing life easier, but it will also help keep the story on track and focus your attention on the main storyline and its characters.
While novels can have dozens of characters, it should be noted that each character should exist to serve the story. If they’re just there, they need to go. It’s as simple as that.
Plus, once they are introduced and named, they need a description, a link to the Main Character or the overall storyline, and are now another person you have to keep track of as you write.
Don’t stress; streamline instead. Merge characters. Cut characters who add nothing to the story. Eliminate subplots that have no value to what’s happening in the main narrative.
Possible Solution #2: Make a spreadsheet
Of course, if you must have a lot of characters, it’s time to do the technical work and create a spreadsheet. This will provide a visual breakdown of each character, their relationship to the Main Character, their purpose in the story, and a brief description.
Now you don’t have to remember if Bob is Dave’s cousin or Dale’s, and if he was the tall cousin or the short one. You have a reference guide to help you as you write.
Possible Solution #3: Outline, Outline, Outline.
Before you sit down to write a single chapter, I strongly advise you to outline your story so you know all the ins and outs of what’s going to happen, which characters are where, and how everything fits together. This will prevent headaches down the line as you are knee deep in the manuscript. It’s a lot easier to track where a character is in an outline than in a 100,000-word document.
I recommend outlining any story you want to write so you have a complete picture available before you begin writing. You can always alter the outline, but you’ll have access to how everything unfolds and evolves in your story before things become too difficult to fix.
Just the Tip of the Iceberg
There are so many aspects to character that we didn’t cover here, but I hope these tips give you a starting point to get your Main Character back on the right track. There are hundreds of books available that delve even deeper into the world of character development, so if you are interested in exploring this topic further, I highly recommend seeking those out.
Next Time…
We briefly talked about the story’s Antagonist, and with an Antagonist comes Conflict! We’ll talk about that in the next post!
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
However, it’s possible to run into challenges when creating and crafting characters for a story. Let’s look at some potential problems and their solutions.
But first…
Who Are These People?
Fictional characters come in all shapes and sizes, but they also have their own assigned roles in a story. Here’s a quick run-down of how you should look at each character that lives in your fictional world:
Main Character: They drive the story forward; without them actively pursuing a goal, the story has nowhere to go.
Antagonist: The person opposing the main character and trying to prevent them from reaching their stated goal.
Secondary Characters: These can include friends, love interests, sidekicks, pets, or anyone who is associated with the main character or antagonist, offering them advice, support, or assistance.
Tertiary Characters: Minor characters your main character meets along their journey. They may be in only one chapter or scene, but the information they provide or the actions they take assist the main character positively or negatively and can contribute to the story’s direction.
Utility Characters: A crowd at a concert. Protesters. Campers. Patrons at a biker bar. These are usually nameless characters that help give a location atmosphere and personality. These are extras (aka background artists) that can be described to enhance the location currently inhabited by your other characters.
Now, let’s dive into a few possible problems you may encounter as you work with your characters.
Problem: My Main Character is boring.
Possible Solution #1: Make sure they have a Character Arc.
Your Main Character should evolve over the course of your story. They should have problems, issues, conflicts, and relationships established at the start that they can then work on and resolve as the story unfolds, develops, and wraps up.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of being afraid to have your Main Character have problems or conflicts. You might be fearful that readers will turn against them or not like them as the Main Character. But flaws add depth to a character and make them more relatable to the audience than being the poster child for perfection.
As you develop your Main Character, focus on how they change over the course of the story. What events take place around them or to characters in their circle that help them change as a person? These are pieces of the puzzle that can give your Main Character more depth and make them less boring.
Possible Solution #2: Consider Recasting
Okay. You’ve taken the first step and admitted your Main Character is dull. What character in the story do you enjoy writing about? What is it about them that makes you excited to get to their chapters? That is who should be helming your story, and it may be time to either cut your original Main Character completely or move them to a secondary role.
No matter what type of story you’re writing, your Main Character needs to be compelling, interesting, and engaging to the reader. Often, we relegate that type of character to the role of second banana, thinking they are too zany to work as the story’s protagonist.
However, it is worth considering the idea of having them take on that role. Or, you may consider another alternative…
Possible Solution #3: Merge your Main Character with the fun one.
Blend the aspects of the Main Character with those of the fun character and see what new energy and life is injected into your story. Now you have a Main Character with some zip to them, and you can have some fun and let them not be so rigid and boring as they once were.
Problem: My Main Character is too passive.
Possible Solution #1: It’s all about choices.
If your Main Character is passive, this means things are happening to them; they are not making things happen. And while it’s okay for your Main Character to get into situations beyond their control, it’s how they react to those situations that determines if they are being passive or active.
And you definitely want your Main Character to be ACTIVE and MAKING CHOICES that help move the story forward.
All stories are like Choose Your Own Adventure books. As authors, we are the ones making the choices for the reader. We must choose actions that propel the story forward while also putting the Main Character in control of the action. Even if their choices are wrong and lead to tragedy, they must be at the center of those choices and actions.
As you work through your story, think about your Main Character’s choices. Their choices reveal aspects of their personality to the reader. If they are passive and allow others to make decisions for them, the reader will lose interest.
Possible Solution #2: Do they have a strong goal?
Your Main Character needs a reason to exist. That reason is a GOAL they need to achieve by the end of the story. The goal can be a person, a location, or an object. It’s whatever exists at the end of the journey that motivates the Main Character to keep going.
It also has to be on a scale where if they fail to achieve their goal, there are literal or figurative life-or-death consequences associated with it. This means the goal you pick for your Main Character should motivate them into action, which should eliminate any passive tendencies they may have.
Throw in a ticking clock, where they only have a limited amount of time to reach their goal, and it adds another layer of suspense to help drive the Main Character into being active in their pursuit of the goal.
Possible Solution #3: Who’s the opposition?
There needs to be someone in your story trying to prevent your Main Character from reaching their goal. Your Main Character must be willing to confront this person to achieve that goal, and the only way to do that is by being active.
It’s important that the opposition – also known as the Antagonist – has a direct link to the Main Character in some way, and that their defeat is crucial as part of reaching the goal at the end of the story. This defeat can be literal or figurative, but it’s crucial that it takes place as part of your Main Character’s journey.
The need to defeat the Antagonist and reach the final goal must motivate your Main Character to take action and propel their arc and the storyline forward. These elements should leave no room for your Main Character to be passive during their quest.
Problem: I keep losing track of all my characters.
Possible Solution #1: More characters = More problems
If you’re writing your first novel, I highly recommend that you limit the number of characters that populate your story. This will not only make your writing life easier, but it will also help keep the story on track and focus your attention on the main storyline and its characters.
While novels can have dozens of characters, it should be noted that each character should exist to serve the story. If they’re just there, they need to go. It’s as simple as that.
Plus, once they are introduced and named, they need a description, a link to the Main Character or the overall storyline, and are now another person you have to keep track of as you write.
Don’t stress; streamline instead. Merge characters. Cut characters who add nothing to the story. Eliminate subplots that have no value to what’s happening in the main narrative.
Possible Solution #2: Make a spreadsheet
Of course, if you must have a lot of characters, it’s time to do the technical work and create a spreadsheet. This will provide a visual breakdown of each character, their relationship to the Main Character, their purpose in the story, and a brief description.
Now you don’t have to remember if Bob is Dave’s cousin or Dale’s, and if he was the tall cousin or the short one. You have a reference guide to help you as you write.
Possible Solution #3: Outline, Outline, Outline.
Before you sit down to write a single chapter, I strongly advise you to outline your story so you know all the ins and outs of what’s going to happen, which characters are where, and how everything fits together. This will prevent headaches down the line as you are knee deep in the manuscript. It’s a lot easier to track where a character is in an outline than in a 100,000-word document.
I recommend outlining any story you want to write so you have a complete picture available before you begin writing. You can always alter the outline, but you’ll have access to how everything unfolds and evolves in your story before things become too difficult to fix.
Just the Tip of the Iceberg
There are so many aspects to character that we didn’t cover here, but I hope these tips give you a starting point to get your Main Character back on the right track. There are hundreds of books available that delve even deeper into the world of character development, so if you are interested in exploring this topic further, I highly recommend seeking those out.
Next Time…
We briefly talked about the story’s Antagonist, and with an Antagonist comes Conflict! We’ll talk about that in the next post!
Happy Writing, and I’ll see you next time!
