Before I dropped off the face of the internet, I had an IMO groovy idea to Book Club some of my favorite books on writing. Over the course of a few weeks, I’ll talk about the concepts and insights in each section of the book, adding my own comments and musings, and the occasional advice or link to helpful articles.

It’s groovy, because I pick all the books and I’m the only one who gets to talk, which, honestly, is everything that I’m looking for in a book club.

Previously, I made it through the Introduction and first 2 chapters of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird before getting sidelined. If you’re so inclined, you can catch up here.

Introduction
Getting Started
Now You’ve Done It
Characters
Characters pt. 2

In this post, I’m continuing my thoughts on character. Next week, we’ll (finally) move onto Plot.

Character Agency

If you read a lot of blogs on writing – I do – you’ll frequently hear the concept of “character agency.” In essence, characters need free will and a sense of forward motion. The reader needs to feel that your characters are taking action in your story because they want to, not because the plot requires them to. This requires you to craft strong desire lines and motivations.

You’ll also hear that in addition to having agency on the page, your characters need this freedom in your head. You need to give your characters the chance to make their own choices, to surprise you, to reveal themselves over time as you write.

That’s good advice, oft-repeated, but how? How can we walk the line between knowing a character well enough to see their world through their eyes while simultaneously leaving them the freedom to surprise us?

There’s no easy answer, other than experience will guide you. Inevitably – trust me – you’ll have a moment where an unexpected action or decision pops into your head at an opportune moment. Your protagonist will “want” to take an action you didn’t plan, but still feels exactly right to you.

Unlike other craft elements, you can’t open a book to see how another writer handled it. It all happens upstairs, and remains invisible on the page. You have no idea which parts of a novel the writer planned, which arrived by serendipity, and which caught her completely by surprise. You can’t gain this experience by watching; you have to go through it.

You can develop the mindset, though. First, you don’t need to fill in every jot and tittle before you start to write. That’s one reason I don’t like the questionnaire approach to creating characters. I’ve seen lists of 250+ questions. For my dollar, too many answers create a box that is difficult to break. You leave yourself little room to explore. You may find it impossible to allow your hero to act a certain way, when your questionnaire suggests they wouldn’t.

I prefer a learn-as-you-go approach to character. I usually start with a strong image or gut feeling about my protagonist, but I don’t fill in every blank. Instead, I let the character talk to me as I build their world around them. What do they notice in various settings? How do they interact with their supporting characters? How do they feel about the news of the day? How do they respond to criticism, compliments, obstacles, or difficult questions? Eventually, the evidence of the protagonist’s character rises to the top and their personality becomes clear. From there, it’s easier to predict how new encounters and conflicts will go. That approach won’t work for everyone – and I’m a very slow writer, so I can’t recommend it too strongly – but I do encourage you to give yourself the freedom to play, explore, and discover as you write.

Second, when your protagonist is faced with a choice of action or morality, don’t go with your first thought. Your first instinct may be correct, but it’s also the path of least resistance. At the very least, imagine other choices your hero could make and consider whether any of those would strengthen your story or create more conflict while also remaining true to your character. What is “true” will be different for every character and may even change for each character as your story progresses.

Eliminate the phrase “my hero would never do that” from your creative toolkit. This is fiction; you can do anything. Give your hero moral absolutes, but also imagine scenarios in which your hero would violate whatever ethic you believe they hold dearest. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor never lies, until she does. But she lies for the best reason possible, and only under the worst kind of duress. Your hero can do anything and when pushed to the brink, she will.

Again, I struggle with this, but I’ve learned the importance of beginning with desire. Your plot (next chapter) will thank you for it. As you consider your character’s personality and their moral choices, find their desire first and then build their morality on top of that desire. When your character is faced with a difficult choice – a choice between two bad outcomes, a choice to hurt someone they love, a choice that will violate their beliefs – go with the choice that drives them closer to their desire, regardless of the morality. Develop that skill and you’ll discover characters who make surprising choices that nonetheless feel inevitable.

Helpful Advice

Here are two articles I have found helpful. In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Christina Delay asks whether your fictional characters could pass the test for sentience. This is another angle on the concept of character agency I mentioned above. Her criteria:

  • Intelligence. “Does the being possess the ‘ability to learn, to understand, and to cope with new situations?’” Delay asks. Writers should ask if we’re forcing our characters to behave a certain way due to plot needs, or if they develop organically and make logical choices based on their personalities. Have you encountered a scenario where a character rebels or refuses to act in a way you’ve decided? Has your hero ever told you they are acting out of character on the page?
  • Self-awareness. “When our characters do something surprising or different than we had planned, our characters become self-aware,” Delay writes. “When our characters speak in a way that is totally foreign to how we, the author, processes the world, they are self-aware.” Is your narrator’s tongue sharper than yours? Or is he a peacekeeper in situations where you’d never back down? Does she take risks you would never consider?
  • Consciousness. Consciousness is “the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself.” Can characters achieve that state? How do you describe it? Do your characters have original thoughts or do they merely follow their programming? There’s no clear answer, but a good test is how real your characters feel to you. Have you created a character who merely describes your plot to your readers or have you crafted someone you’d like to spend time with? Do you feel empathy for your hero? Would you choose him as a friend or colleague?

In this article on Writer Unboxed, Barbara Linn Probst suggests an interview-type writing exercise with an interesting twist. Instead of conducting an inventory of your character – appearance, occupation, hobbies – Probst recommends sitting down for a back-and-forth conversation with your protagonist, or any of your characters who remain mysterious. This exercise is most helpful after you’ve compiled the base creation and perhaps when you’ve his the mid-point of your novel, but you could probably use it anytime.

The questions:

  • How do you feel about the way I’ve portrayed you?
  • What am I getting wrong about you?
  • What do you want to do that I’m not letting you do?
  • What do you dread seeing yourself do on the page?
  • What about the other characters? You know them better than I do. Whom am I not getting? What am I missing?
  • What do you want to say to one of the characters in the story that I’m not letting you say?
  • What’s this story really about?
  • What do you think of me, as a writer?

You might be surprised at the answers. I was, when I tried this exercise with the narrator of my novel-in-progress. She hated scenes where she came across as subservient or wishy-washy. She dreaded them, even when they were necessary, because I didn’t show what she gained by shrinking herself or mollifying an opponent. Her desire was missing, so her choices fell flat.

She also felt I hadn’t done a good job building up her fiancé or shown many of his good points. Their path to the alter was lined with red flags, which made her decision to marry a bit stupid. How did this marriage figure into her goals? What would she gain that would be worth the cost? She also pointed out that she spent too much time observing and reacting to the supporting cast, rather than pursuing her own goals.

The remedy? I had to ramp up my MC’s emotional state, to show that what she desired mattered to her. While she outwardly desired things outside herself, her real concern was existential, becoming someone, while simultaneously not becoming what she fears. This required some more interiority or self-reflection. I tend to rely too much on internal dialogue but I found I had cut out too much. I also stole some scenes from other characters and gave them to my MC. The choreography took some work, but she’s a stronger character for it.

I also had to change my plan for the beginning of the novel. Rather than starting in medias res, with the wedding about to happen, I’m adding some chapters at the beginning to give their relationship some breathing room. I don’t want to portray either my protagonist or her husband as the villain in the piece, but as flawed humans making bad choices. I’m getting closer.

Homework

For a masterclass in character agency, watch the first season of Desperate Housewives. Regardless of whether the show is your cup of tea, watch at least a few episodes and identify the desires of each of the four main characters, as well as what they need to grow and thrive. Write down the surface desire and ask why the character is pursuing that goal. Keep asking and answering why until you create a three-dimensional character in your notes.

Pay careful attention to when one of the women contradicts herself or acts in a way that seems out of character. And they all do it – at some point during the season, each of them makes a decision or takes an action that contradicts their stated values, but in service to their deepest desire. Identify the hidden desire that creates the contradiction that allows that desire to be laid bare. See if this exercise gives you a more intuitive feel for character agency and independence.