Colin Browne's Blog - Posts Tagged "character"
Sometimes characters just show up
I have a theory about characters, borne out by personal writing experience which both amuses me and makes me wonder about a strange character world out there in the ether somewhere.
Too often, in my writing, people just show up, uninvited and unexpected. That's a little like life in a way, in that any given day will deliver unplanned encounters with mostly run-of-the-mill, but occasionally exceptional people. People you just never saw coming who will say something that tickles you to the core and has you giggling hours later. Or people who shock and appall you so that you're deeply affected by them and perhaps worried about whether any of your own behaviour mirrors theirs.
It's those people, the impressive ones, who tend to invade my writing from characterland and make themselves a part of the story. And sometimes they can have a magical impact on the flow of the story.
Now it probably goes without saying that your main characters are pretty soundly thought out before you start writing. They may even be the reason you started writing in the first place. In The Baggage Handler, Martin and Kasia were fully grown adults before I started to tell their story and they let me know all that they thought I should as I began to flesh them out.
But then there's Isabel. I won't spoil anything of my own novel by giving away who she is or what she does, but I will tell you this: I never planned her. She was one of those characters who just appeared in the book as a flow of events unfolded, and demanded to be recognised. Martin was as surprised to encounter her as I was, but when she started speaking and I started writing it down, we all realised, my characters and I, that she was there to stay.
She altered the story and took it in a little bit of a different direction; not enough to change the tale in any significant way, but enough to add a stamp of mischief and colour to it that it would otherwise be lacking.
I don't know where she's from. I've never met anyone like her. But when a character like Isabel walks onto the page and makes it plain she intends to stay, my general rule is to pay attention and do what she asks. I'm rarely sorry when I do that.
Too often, in my writing, people just show up, uninvited and unexpected. That's a little like life in a way, in that any given day will deliver unplanned encounters with mostly run-of-the-mill, but occasionally exceptional people. People you just never saw coming who will say something that tickles you to the core and has you giggling hours later. Or people who shock and appall you so that you're deeply affected by them and perhaps worried about whether any of your own behaviour mirrors theirs.
It's those people, the impressive ones, who tend to invade my writing from characterland and make themselves a part of the story. And sometimes they can have a magical impact on the flow of the story.
Now it probably goes without saying that your main characters are pretty soundly thought out before you start writing. They may even be the reason you started writing in the first place. In The Baggage Handler, Martin and Kasia were fully grown adults before I started to tell their story and they let me know all that they thought I should as I began to flesh them out.
But then there's Isabel. I won't spoil anything of my own novel by giving away who she is or what she does, but I will tell you this: I never planned her. She was one of those characters who just appeared in the book as a flow of events unfolded, and demanded to be recognised. Martin was as surprised to encounter her as I was, but when she started speaking and I started writing it down, we all realised, my characters and I, that she was there to stay.
She altered the story and took it in a little bit of a different direction; not enough to change the tale in any significant way, but enough to add a stamp of mischief and colour to it that it would otherwise be lacking.
I don't know where she's from. I've never met anyone like her. But when a character like Isabel walks onto the page and makes it plain she intends to stay, my general rule is to pay attention and do what she asks. I'm rarely sorry when I do that.
Let the dialogue set the scene
There are hundreds of ways to scene set in the middle of a flowing dialogue, and finding the right way to execute this really crucial element of the story is one thing that has frequently irritated me.
I hate the idea for instance that you have to break a brilliant (or at least a complete and flowing) monologue in order to present the reaction to the words being said. I don't mean that I don't do that ever, but it seems to me that there is generally a better way of making this happen simply by making your characters more talkative and by being faithful to real-world conversational patterns.
What the hell am I talking about, right?
Well compare these two. The first is a rejected passage from my book The Baggage Handler; the second is what made it into the book:
1) "You wouldn’t believe how I’ve got in my own way here and what a mess I’ve nearly made of this about half a dozen times now," Martin said.
Jake rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, his contempt for the story as clear as the open sky.
"Look if you want my help, start paying attention, because here comes the good bit," said Martin, now irritated.
2) "You wouldn’t believe how I’ve got in my own way here and what a mess I’ve nearly made of this about half a dozen times now. If your intention is to show me contempt openly, Jake, then please continue with the eye-rolling and the sighing. If you want my help however, pay attention, because here comes the good bit."
I prefer the second example, and that's what I used. It doesn't break the monologue, it describes Martin's reaction to Jake's reaction and that's an element that's missing in the first example. And also because truthfully, I can hear myself saying precisely something like that.
What do you think?
I hate the idea for instance that you have to break a brilliant (or at least a complete and flowing) monologue in order to present the reaction to the words being said. I don't mean that I don't do that ever, but it seems to me that there is generally a better way of making this happen simply by making your characters more talkative and by being faithful to real-world conversational patterns.
What the hell am I talking about, right?
Well compare these two. The first is a rejected passage from my book The Baggage Handler; the second is what made it into the book:
1) "You wouldn’t believe how I’ve got in my own way here and what a mess I’ve nearly made of this about half a dozen times now," Martin said.
Jake rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, his contempt for the story as clear as the open sky.
"Look if you want my help, start paying attention, because here comes the good bit," said Martin, now irritated.
2) "You wouldn’t believe how I’ve got in my own way here and what a mess I’ve nearly made of this about half a dozen times now. If your intention is to show me contempt openly, Jake, then please continue with the eye-rolling and the sighing. If you want my help however, pay attention, because here comes the good bit."
I prefer the second example, and that's what I used. It doesn't break the monologue, it describes Martin's reaction to Jake's reaction and that's an element that's missing in the first example. And also because truthfully, I can hear myself saying precisely something like that.
What do you think?
