Characters Acting and Reacting

Someone told me that the best way to remember someone is to visualize them doing something. I found it to be extremely useful as I’ve tried to recall relatives and friends who are lost or no longer part of my life. Sometimes, I get images of a gradient gardening or a friend playing catch with me or a neighbor from years ago walking his dog. But at other times, my mind simply shows people turning to face me or breaking into a smile.

No matter how complex or simple such action is, there is often a release of places, events, distinctive mannerisms, and even hearing words spoken. I use such memory mining to open up my past and deliver moments for my own amusement or to provide models for characters and situations in my stories. The process can work in reverse, too, as I conjure up scenes and am reminded of real events that have parallels.

Now, when I am deliberately creating or exploring characters, my primary approach is to interview the characters. But it's amazing how often visualizing them acting (or reacting) pays off in ways I don't expect.

Obviously, watching a character as he or she participates in the scene both provides material for what transpires and deepens my understanding of who he or she is. That's analogous to see my neighbor walk his dog. The problem is, with something that's imagined, it's necessary to look closer. 

It is amazingly easy for someone who has read a lot of books or watched a lot of television or movies to grab clichés for character action. It takes some discipline to make every scene original, even though it may feel new within the context of a story that's being composed. One of the most powerful questions to ask when a character is in motion is, have I seen this before?

It's easy to assume the details, too. Remembering something that's experienced will make unusual details stand out. Imagining those specifics can be more challenging in fiction. (One reason I like writing fantasy and science fiction is, to do it well, even the most mundane elements need to be re-examined.)

When a character is visualized turning toward me or breaking into a smile, those actions are so common, originality becomes essential to cueing the mental cascade of mannerisms, places, sounds, etc. that I get with real memories. That means there is an automatic check against drifting into clichés. The question I use when asking a character to look at me or smile is, but what’s new and authentic here?

Of course, character can come across under pressure. That's how I usually apply my questions, and it works with actions and reactions as well. Forcing an innocent character to shoplift or an evil one to share a bag lunch or almost anyone to walk through the woods at night without a flashlight can bring out quirks and flaws and hidden virtues that otherwise might go undiscovered.

More and more, I've found that characters in combination expose a lot of who they are (even if there shielding their vulnerabilities with dishonesty). But, just as actions that commonly show up in stories need to be challenged, action/reaction moments can't be accepted as they first appear in my imagination. 

There have been times when I have needed to rerun scenarios a dozen times before they felt fresh. Two characters digging a grave together might go full Sopranos cliché on me, while the action/reaction of the same two characters digging a garden might provide surprises. (This scene from All in the Family is my favorite example of two characters revealing themselves through a mundane action.) Of course, if the grave digging is under extreme stress, say with two teenagers who are strangers to each other burying the body of someone one of them accidentally killed, it could get interesting quickly.

With actions/reactions, you don't have to use two characters from the same story. You actually can introduce a stranger or a real person or a character from someone else's work. (Reminder — don't include recognizable real people or characters under copyright in your stories.) Creating such scenes may open amazing and unanticipated images and ideas.

Giving your full attention to any scenes with characters acting and reacting provides real value even if the scenes don't end up in your stories. Most people come to fiction for good characters, and creating full and authentic characters requires a real investment in the process. But there is a dividend beyond audience approval. As these characters come to life for you, the storytelling will become easier and a lot more fun.

***************

I'm teaching an online course, exploring The Promise of the Premise, beginning March 7.