How well do you know your main character? It’s something I often fail to ask myself when I sit down to write. I assume I know my character well enough to write a short story or an entire novel about them. However, today I began to question just how well I know my main characters. Maybe you should, too!
I’m not going to speak for any other writer, and certainly not for any of the writers in this amazing guild. But I want to plant that question as food for thought before you begin your next project. I recently published another comedy and as I was watching television today, a strange question popped into my head. If my main character suddenly called and told me to leave the door unlocked that they were coming over for dinner, what would I serve them? If they had an afternoon to kill and looking for something to do, where would I take my main character?
Sometimes solid character development requires that we go beyond the usual and obvious, that we reach beyond just what we let the reader know about our character. To fully understand the range of emotions and what pushes their buttons, we should consider writing a short biography of them before we begin. Are they married or divorced? Was it a bitter divorce or breakup? Are there still lingering emotional wounds from past events that impact how our character sees the world and reacts to others in our novel?
Culturally most people tend to be outcome oriented. That makes sense for most folks. However, as writers, we tend to be more process oriented. That is why we take on the challenge of writing exercises such as this. It helps us fully understand our character. By writing short pieces, even only a paragraph in many circumstances, about our main character in situations that have nothing at all to do with your book, you understand the nuances of the character. This will come across in your book in the most subtle ways. It is those subtle points in your story that moves your reader in the direction that you want them to go.
Every book is a process and we all have our own unique processes as we write. Process matters, and the main character deserves the extra attention. So do our readers.
I’m not going to speak for any other writer, and certainly not for any of the writers in this amazing guild. But I want to plant that question as food for thought before you begin your next project. I recently published another comedy and as I was watching television today, a strange question popped into my head. If my main character suddenly called and told me to leave the door unlocked that they were coming over for dinner, what would I serve them? If they had an afternoon to kill and looking for something to do, where would I take my main character?
Sometimes solid character development requires that we go beyond the usual and obvious, that we reach beyond just what we let the reader know about our character. To fully understand the range of emotions and what pushes their buttons, we should consider writing a short biography of them before we begin. Are they married or divorced? Was it a bitter divorce or breakup? Are there still lingering emotional wounds from past events that impact how our character sees the world and reacts to others in our novel?
Culturally most people tend to be outcome oriented. That makes sense for most folks. However, as writers, we tend to be more process oriented. That is why we take on the challenge of writing exercises such as this. It helps us fully understand our character. By writing short pieces, even only a paragraph in many circumstances, about our main character in situations that have nothing at all to do with your book, you understand the nuances of the character. This will come across in your book in the most subtle ways. It is those subtle points in your story that moves your reader in the direction that you want them to go.
Every book is a process and we all have our own unique processes as we write. Process matters, and the main character deserves the extra attention. So do our readers.
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