Last week, I reviewed the chapter on Characters in Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. As an instruction for beginning and developing writers, the chapter focuses on introductory tools for creating new characters: observation, journaling, introspection, and blending. These are important tools for creating the shell of your character, what the reader sees on the outside. However, there are some Writing 201 skills that are needed to create characters who are more fully fleshed out and capable of carrying an entire story.
Desire
It’s not enough to know your character’s appearance, hobbies, job, and family dynamic. She must also have needs, desires, and goals. In short, your hero must want something and must actively pursue it.
It’s easier to craft a story where lots of things happen to your hero, where villains act and tragedy strikes and your protagonist reacts. It’s harder – but exponentially better – to craft a story in which your hero drives the plot, where his choices twist the story, and where surprises may occur.
Your hero has to want something and they have to want it so badly they will take foolish risks, disrupt their relationships, and act in ways contrary to their baseline personality to get it. There are exceptions, but most modern fiction – certainly popular fiction – requires that the protagonist pursue an objective. It’s not enough to allow events to happen to your character; your hero must make conscious choices and take purposeful action. You’ll often hear this defined as agency or as active characterization.
Genre writers have a leg up on dramatists. While genre heroes can be as complex as any other, they often begin life with a plot-focused desire: to solve a mystery, defeat an evil empire, slay a dragon, or prevent a traumatic event or disaster. Dramatic protagonists need desires that are equally strong, but we have to work harder to show the readers why they matter. A character may wish for independence and self-sufficiency or to see their family thrive. He may want his children to be proud of him or to find love after divorce, open a restaurant or overcome abuse. As humans, we can relate to these struggles, but as writers, we have to show why failure would be as catastrophic as Sauron getting his hands on the One Ring. Failure must have consequences and they should be devastating for your hero.
Creating stakes is one of my challenges in writing, so I pay special attention to other writers who do it well and I’m always on the lookout for good advice and examples. Here is an interesting article about stakes from one of my favorite bloggers, Tiffany Yates Martin.
In the post, she talks about how her neighborhood was dealing with a kerfuffle over the possible development of a small common area. The options – leave it alone or redevelop it – split the community into factions. Throughout the process, the various “teams” experienced victories and setbacks, wooed neighbors to one side or the other, and engaged HOA voters who might have otherwise remained apathetic about the process. An ice storm, technical glitches, and administrative issues threw obstacles in everyone’s path.
Will a small plot of land in a middle class Texas neighborhood remain undeveloped? Not exactly earth-shattering stakes, right? But in her post, Yates Martin imbues the conflict with meaning for both sides. The neighborhood teams aren’t arguing over a small piece of land, but are struggling with two opposing visions for the future. While she provided only the highlights, she alternates between her team’s ups and downs to create an engaging story.
Importantly, while the aren’t exactly Avengers-level, they are important to the people in the story. “This issue is deeply important to the neighbors whose community, quality of life, and pocketbooks will be directly impacted,” Yates Martin writes. “For us, stakes are high—and that is heightened by the continual jeopardizing of our goals as well as the advances that move us closer to them.”
The Power of Why
Sometimes, you’ll have a clear idea of your protagonist’s goal and why they want it and what they will risk to achieve it. Other times, you might have little more than a vibe, and you’ll need to do some digging. At moments like this, ask yourself why. Why does your hero want to pursue this objective? What is their true desire?
For stronger results, ask this question multiple times until you reach the core of your character. If you find it difficult to answer the question, that’s a good sign your character needs more work. Eventually, you’ll find the final answer. When you reach the right level, you’ll feel it. You’ll experience the a-ha! moment as you realize you’ve found the heart of your hero.
Homework
As practice, run through this exercise with one or more of your favorite characters from popular fiction – Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, Randle McMurphy, Victor Frankenstein, Atticus Finch. Start with the plot goal – to win a court case, to survive the Hunger Games, to build an artificial man – and ask why this protagonist has chosen to pursue this specific goal at this time. Keep asking why until you exhaust your supply.
Try it with one of your original characters or with the example above from Tiffany Yates Martin. Why would a homeowner care whether a small plot of land remains bare or is developed into something for community use?
Book Club: Bird by Bird
One thought on “Book Club: Bird by Bird – Characters Pt. 2”