Context is everything. In fiction, the heroism of a character is only clear if choices and actions are understood in the larger context of the risks in telling the truth, the attachments to others, and the dominance of the culture (especially the power dynamics.
An example: Though Huck Finn is a trickster and a mischief maker, he only reveals himself to be deeply moral in relation to a prevailing culture. Slavery is accepted. Some people are the property of other people. Helping an enslaved person escape is morally wrong.
As readers, we find slavery appalling, but Huck does not question his culture. Yet, he makes the right decision. He chooses not to betray his friend, Jim. And it costs him.
“It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: “All right then, I’ll go to hell”—and tore it up. It was awful thoughts, and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never thought no more about reforming.”
Seeing him break with his own code is cheering. Seeing him condemn himself is heartbreaking and makes him heroic and memorable. But only because we understand the morality, law, and assumptions of Huck’s time and place.
We are social creatures, so our characters need to be. To go further into mastering characters, which is vital to engaging audiences, the cultural milieu (including power dynamics), interpersonal relationships, and the secrets kept from others, all are needed for the comprehending the story. This is especially true in terms of just how difficult the plot match-up is.
Plot-driven fiction often has cardboard characters, and it can even be successful. James Bond does not need to have much in the way of an inner life. He doesn’t need to be motivated by the wounds of his past or to struggle against a complicated moral code. This provides a good reminder that this Mastery Series does not claim that all writers need to master all these elements. But the more that are mastered, the more options for success are available, and this includes commercial fiction that may not even aspire to deep characters.
Personally, I look for compromise points. Even if I could get away with flat characters, I find it adds something to have go-tos that round them somewhat. I’m a big fan of flaws for all characters, not just the bad guys. When in doubt, I prefer the Seven Deadly Sins over the Minor Irritations (retelling bad jokes, not using turn signals, talking in theaters, snapping gum, standing too close, name-calling, and cutting the line). But I’ll take a minor flaw over perfection.
And even a minor flaw can be improved if it’s tied to a juicy secret. When a character keeps a secret, it says something about them, their values, and what the people around them care about. Also, the secret itself is a not-true-to-self element that sets up an inner conflict. And inner conflicts are the stuff of interesting characters.
Secrets need to be kept. Hiding information takes energy and forces bad decisions. And best of all, when secrets are revealed, things happen.
Mastery of Story Characters 4 - Create characters with secrets (and flaws).
Practice: Find five taboos in the world you’ve created and have one character violate one of them and keep that secret. (The violation can occur before story time begins.) Then give a character that matters the means to discover the secret. (In both cases, the more consequential the character, the better. For romance, these characters are often the two lovers.)
Give a characters with a secret a reason to share it, but vulnerabilities that make such honesty difficult or apparently impossible.
Create a scene where a secret comes out.
(For any of these, noting where these occur in favorite stories is valuable and provides models.)
Having a good antagonists is one of the easiest ways to show who the protagonist is. In general, this means creating a villain and personalizing the relationship. Don’t resist the forces of evil. Resist one person in particular, like Darth Vader. And make the antagonist powerful and able. Make who the character is important. (Luke, I’m your dad.)
It’s also great to have friends who are alike but go too far. These point to limits on the protagonist. Or have characters who are opposites, which creates conflicts. Minions for antagonists can be valuable beyond plot. Their choices (and often their mistakes) reveal the limits and qualities of the antagonists. Making them distinct from one another (as is done in Die Hard) makes everything more intriguing.
Two more things to consider:
One is the utility of other characters. This is obvious in capers like Ocean’s Eleven, where each person on the team has a different, needed skill. They are all essential and need to deliver in that case, but it can be fun when they don’t deliver or almost don’t deliver.
The second is building the personal relationships. Caring and disliking qualify. They complicate things. They make the protagonist’s task more difficult and reflect who he or she is.
Mastery of Story Characters 5 - Present characters in relation other characters.
Practice: Find a reason why it isn’t a satisfying ending if the antagonist having an aneurism and dying suddenly. Even if the story problem goes away. In other words, see what does not get tested or healed by the confrontation at the heart of the story if the problem is miraculously resolved.
Explore how a confidant reveals the protagonist. Holmes is less interesting and accessible without Watson. Or the confidant may be a sounding board for ideas (even pulling down the protagonist at times, as in Working Girl). Or a mentor (who usually has to disappear so the protagonist can succeed without all that help (see Obi Wan and Gandalf).
So much of who we are is determined by individuals around us and the society in which we’re embedded. (This topic bleeds into setting, which I’ll deal with later, but it’s worth a full examination here under character.) Values, framing, what we pay attention to, what we care about. what triggers us, rights, hierarchy, and power. These may be accepted, rejected, or modified inside us, but they cannot be avoided. The same is true for characters, which is why Huck Finn’s decision about Jim is so poignant.
What power does your character have or think he or she has, and how is the use of power modulated by others? What mob would your character join or avoid? What’s easy to say or do, and what takes real courage? How is non-conformity punished? Can your character get a pass for misbehavior by privilege, wealth, supporters, or a favor that’s owed?
Mastery of Story Characters 6 - Put characters in a social context.
Practice: Delineate five things related to your story that your protagonist can do easily and five that can’t be done easily. Think about how the easy ones might become difficult socially. Think through work arounds for the difficult ones. Find one possibility for courage. Then do the same exercise for the antagonist.
Write down a moral code for your world (even if it’s the one you live in) with regard to freedom, responsibilities, care for nature, charity, and authority. Are any of these challenges for you character? Can you illustrate the code being broken in your story or in your own experience?
One of the key decisions a writer must make is who the protagonist is. And an essential element of that, from the point of view of storytelling, is identifying or shaping the main character to fit the story problem. Usually, this means the character is deeply affected by the challenge, unable to avoid it, and forced to change in the confrontation. And, in general, the protagonist is not in the power position. Of all the possible characters in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien chose a hobbit. In the Bible, the fate of Israel as it faced Goliath rested on the shoulders of David.
Between this post and the last one, the elements of Mastery provide the information about characters that can allow you to size them to the story problem. Sometimes, this may lead to tweaking a character from history or one who elbowed his or her way into an early draft. Sometimes, doing the work ahead of time can cast the role before the story is written. But, one way or another, this work needs to be done.
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