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Shaping Character in Words
A followup from last month's editorial; shaping character through their words and actions! |
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Last month, I talked about the importance of using character decisions to shape the readers' expectations and Max Griffin 🏳️🌈  chimed in with a good tweak on the questions I put forth--
My challenge is to create a flawed character that the readers will nonetheless cheer for. Having her do a gratuitous good deed, like saving a stray cat, sometimes works. I'd be interested in your thoughts.
So, this is a great point! (And relevant!)
I think that the idea of "a flawed character that the readers will nonetheless cheer for" is a very standard hope/desire for a lot of us as writers. I feel like where this thing sort of slides off the tracks is typically in what we, the writers, consider to be the characters' flaws!
It's not always easy because what one person considers a flaw might be what someone else considers a great strength. Add to that the narrow space of short fiction--in science fiction and fantasy, a short story above around 7,500 words is verging into novelette territory; other genres may have other limitations, but where I spend most of my time as an editor is on work that is under 6,000 words--not a ton of space by any means! Accordingly, character work has to be deftly done to avoid feeling heavy-handed or moralistic.
A flawed character can be a lot of things at once; that's the appeal, after all, is the faceted nature. For me, a flawed character is one who makes mistakes, on or off the page, and is then accountable for these things in the narrative. It's really important, though, to not simply take an approach of making one's characters flawed but likable solely as a means of punishing that character later in the narrative; again, it tends to be moralistic and doesn't offer the reader much in the way to work with.
I personally prefer that a character's flaws are not superficial details and are not "bad things that were done to this character," for example. I have read so many unpleasant and moralizing stories about abused people who then become abusers themselves--while this is a very real and documented phenomenon, there are very few writers who really land the depiction without ham-fisted moralizing or strong emphasis on external punishments applied to the abused person. It's a dynamic that I think really needs nuance and that's often not really available in the space of a short story.
The example of adding a "gratuitous" good deed is interesting--but again, I think writers need to be aware that readers can detect "gratuitous" things and often find them condescending! It's very important to retain authenticity with readers, because if something feels phony or patronizing in a story, it feels like a slight against their comprehension. No one wants that, of course!
I think that a better way of thinking about it or framing it for ourselves as writers is to think about what it is that we are enjoying in the process of telling the story and showing these flawed characters for who they are. What makes this character appealing to you? What, specifically, do you enjoy writing about this character for?
If the writer finds their flawed character grotesque or unpleasant, or doesn't enjoy some aspect of writing about this character it takes a really deft hand not to show that negative opinion of your character to the reader. We have to be careful when conveying these flaws not to tip our hands too hard in the wrong direction, because then it can end up being a situation of a character no one is invested in; not the reader, not the writer.
As with all things in the writing craft, it takes practice! Trial and error is something of a necessary going concern. When it comes to building characters and calibrating them for likable flaws, an easy target is the "personal growth" approach, if one doesn't have any better ideas. How does this character become a measurably better person?
It is impossible to reform a character completely, or well, in the space of 6,000 words or less, but showing the moment, the spark of recognition? That's good and powerful stuff. Again, making sure not to moralize! Just demonstrate the inner life of someone growing and changing--that's something worth aspiring to in this world, isn't it?
Hope this helps! I love these kinds of juicy questions. (And if you have one, I'd love to see it and possibly cover it in a future issue.)
Until next time,
Take care and Write on!
Jay |
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Feedback fronm "Character Mistakes & Motivations"
AJBurchell- Australia  writes:
To I really got something out of your item, Character Mistakes & Motivations. It highlights an aspect of writing, especially for flash fiction/short story writers like me.
Thank you
Happy to help!!
If there's an aspect of writing short fiction that you'd like some help with, or just want me to spend some time highlighting, let me know! I'm always looking for new newsletter topics to dig into and I'd love to hear from you.
Take care and Write on!
Jay |
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Short Stories: June 17, 2020 Issue [#10232]
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