Everyone has a past.
History can certainly color the
future whether it leaves lessons learned, scars, vows of never again, or the
good memories of past happiness. Few people, if any, truly experience life
today for the “first time”. You walk into a restaurant that you have never been
in before, smell the fresh baked aroma of apple pie and suddenly feel
transported back in time to Grandma’s house when your childhood seemed carefree
and you laughed and played with your cousins. Or you sit down at a conference
table to hear a sales pitch when you notice the presenter making an otherwise
innocuous gesture that reminds you of your high school arch rival and suddenly
you close yourself off to even listening.
Think of your plot like a one dimensional
road map, while there may be more than one route you can take from start to
finish, it’s pretty much just a line on a piece of paper. Now imagine traveling
that route in a convertible with the wind in your hair, or on a party bus with
music, food and friends, or pedaling along on a racing bike… Your plot is your
route, your characters’ personalities will change the experience along the way.
Agree not to allow your characters to
act like robots with pre-programmed reactions and responses. Sometimes the
nicest person in the world will snap back with barbs if they wake up with a
migraine. How often have you heard overwrought parents say that their child’s
teacher is describing “someone else’s child” because that is not how the child
acts at home (either for the better or worse)? Do you find that you can feel carefree
with certain audiences (your family or friends) and much more restrained with
others (your boss, your future in-laws)? People will naturally act differently
with dissimilar people and sometimes this may play out to the extreme — imagine
the surprise your readers will experience when the brave army vet comes home
and winds up cowering under an abusive spouse! Allow your characters to be
completely and thoroughly human and react to the circumstances and catalysts
around them.
Most people are not so decidedly
sure of themselves, most people experience self-doubt at some point or other.
The happily married man of 40 years spots his still beautiful wife giving the
next door and younger, good looking neighbor a hug; at first it doesn’t bother
him accepting it for just the friendly gesture she said it was and then he
looks in the full length mirror and notices that his stomach overhangs his belt
— and suddenly he worries that she might not find him attractive anymore. A
little niggling self-doubt creates an air of human vulnerability. If you cast
your antagonist with this bit of doubt you will often foster sympathy for
him/her which will make the “evil” so much more effective.
Your audience does not need to know
everything about your characters, they don’t need to know that the dog that bit
her as a child was owned by a family friend who refused to get the dog tested
and necessitated rabies shots — all your readers need to know is that your
character has an aversion to needles (possibly due to the round of childhood
shots) when he/she is sitting in a hospital room recovering from an illness. YOU,
the author and the character’s creator, need to know everything about your
character. Write up a dossier on each major character and include the highs and
lows of their life, their likes and dislikes, fears and hopes… know who he
depended on growing up and who he depends on now, know when and why she’s cried
and what makes her laugh. If you know your characters well enough they can help
you write your story as they make human, multi-dimensional decisions at each
plot twist you put in to the story.
Writing Exercise: Write a short, short story – you made one
major mistake in your life and it changed everything. Tell us about it.
Writing Prompt: You are planning a road trip, it’s
wintertime and the trip will take you through rural and isolated roads. You
fill a box (the size that would hold your winter boots) with “emergency” items
just in case your car gets stuck in the snow. Make a list of those items.
Challenge Assignment: You have six people locked in a room;
there are no windows and no furniture. The lights go out and the occupants hear
sounds (one at a time) – the low growl of a wild animal, a train rumbling down
the tracks and getting closer, people screaming, crackling of a forest fire,
and the scratching sounds of claws against the walls. Finally the lights come
back on, everyone is still there and it’s obvious that it was all just piped-in
noise, the room is still locked. Describe EACH of the six people AFTER the
event, tell us his/her emotional and physical state, how he/she is reacting.
Most importantly, tell us at least one thing from each character’s background
that has influenced his/her reaction.
