THEME/STRUCTURE CLASS: 1st Dimension Character

This post is for those in the Tuesday morning Theme and Structure Class (and for those who have been learning the four part structure model for the last six months).

I woke up this morning and it hit me why we apply just 1st dimension character description to the first one hundred pages, as we have been studying based on the Larry Brooks model from Story Engineering.  We stick to 1st dimension, that is JUST the most external details, in order to arouse questions in the readers mind.  The reader is meeting all your characters for the first time, dropping into your world and getting familiar with the landscape.  Why pummel them with tons of back story, exposition and even plot?  Don't.  Yes, foreshadow but don't batter and don't explain why people are the way they are yet.  Just let them appear and be and make them interesting enough to invest in

I get it. I get it.  I think I get it.

As I look at my first one hundred pages, driving to my first plot point, I am explaining too much.  Why?  I think it's a habit.  In life, I am a consummate "explainer" in search of the answer "why." This is the way I end up writing and that quality hurts my process.

And I hate to say it, but it's hurting a lot of the work I consult on as well (you all know who you are).
   
Don't try to do so much in Part One.  Just get your characters on the page, living life.  Part II will provide ample opportunity to explain why they are the way they are.  Part III, (as Milo helped me discover this last week), is for back story.  But I suspect, once you get there, you won't need as much  back story as you think  

Back to the first one hundred pages.

HOMEWORK FOR 2/14/13 CLASS:  Write a minimum ten line, first dimension character study for each major character in your book.  Major = those who impact the hero or primary character in your story.  Bring to class (refer to pg. 63 in Story Engineering).