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This week: Character Competence? Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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This month:
Character Competence?
How competent our characters are in their daily lives will affect the rest of your story.
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sdodger asked me a really interesting question in my feedback from last month, and while normally I'd leave that in my Q&A section, I figured that this was intriguing enough to merit its own topic.
Question: Does everything need to be explained? I understand that there needs to be logic within the story for events and time but if a character is using a 'modified potato gun' do you really need to explain how that character knew to modify it? How much do have to explain in relations to the character's knowledge.
This is an excellent question, not least because it deals with a few issues. If we look at three attributes of character development, it can be easy to divide them up as follows: Competence, Proactivity, and Sympathy. These are attributes which often shift or change as a story develops, but these are how we as readers can come to relate with a given character. I've borrowed these three attributes from a podcast hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler, called Writing Excuses*.
So, if I'm understanding Suze's question correctly, part of what she's asking is in regards to character competence. If a character has a certain level of competency, then we can reasonably expect them to say or do things in line with that level of competence. This is why stories with certain professions in them are particularly tricky to handle, because the characters' levels of skill might well outstrip the knowledge the author might have. (In which case, it's time to go do some research!) So, it may not be necessary for the character to demonstrate how they know how to do whatever technique is presented. The reader should have a certain amount of trust in the characters' abilities. That's why we read and write: to explore lives we do not have ourselves.
Now, the other side of that coin is knowing what the reader might be expected to know. In certain parts of the US, a potato gun is a pretty commonplace usage of PVC pipes and potatoes, mostly used for casual exploration of various types of propulsion.  In its regular incarnation, it's something that can generally be assembled after a trip to Home Depot and the grocery store of your choice. In the specific incidence Suze cites, I'm going to suggest that the reader might need a little help understanding how it's been "modified," but this really shouldn't take more than a sentence or two-- it might even be something you could incorporate into the same sentence, really. However, if the readers don't live in a place where people would do this kind of thing, more information might be needed in order to give the reader context. (Not too much info, this is a short story!)
Note that a character does not necessarily need to be highly competent or skilled; in fact, this can be an easy road to character development, by showing what the character still has left to learn and how they are learning it (or, if they are learning it). This will require a little adjustment of the character's audience-sympathy and proactivity meters-- he will need to be a character the audience can endure watching him fail, and he will need to be much more active in trying to improve his competence: specifically, proactive in the story action.
(Think Indiana Jones, for example: he is always kind of hanging on by the skin of his teeth, but the audience sympathizes with him because of his sense of humor, his awareness that he's at least midway out of his depth, and he's constantly learning from others' mistakes around him, which puts him on the bare edge of his competency every time.)
Hope this helps, and thanks for the excellent question, sdodger! I might have to tackle those other attributes in a follow-up newsletter next month.
Until Next Time,
Take care and Write on!
~jay
*http://www.writingexcuses.com/2014/03/30/writing-excuses-9-13-three-prong-charac... is the episode in question-- highly recommended! They have a few other episodes that flesh out character development as well-- and all of their episodes run under 20 minutes. (their tagline is "15 minutes long," but, promo for Audible, and all, tends to run a couple minutes over. Still not a bad use of your time!  )
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A hunter chases her prey through the night (this is one of my older stories).
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This month's sitewide contest is a great way to experiment with those character traits we just talked about:
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Feedback from "What's the Point of It?" (Possibly one of my favorite newsletters I've written, simply because of all of the great feedback I received from all of you. I didn't print all of it, but know that I really enjoyed hearing your opinions!)
Elisa the Bunny Stik  writes:
Well, that last paragraph certainly opened up a can of worms, at least for me.  In all seriousness, it's something I've been wondering about for a long time. It probably doesn't help that my latest story (which I was surprised to see featured here) was a bit of a return to themes I used to play around with more a decade ago. I can't believe I'm able to measure my involvement in writing in decades, either. I do think that at least for me there are multiple common threads, but I can only see one or two of them myself. Like photography, this is one where I might have to go before an informal panel to see what I missed.
I think it's also impossible to see it in your own work without some help from a friend! I had someone point out what she thinks of as my "meta-thread" once and it was sort of stunning and now I can't stop seeing it in all of my stuff and it's a little weird. I have a few authors about whom I have a very clear idea of their meta-thread and it always pleases me when they find new ways to express it.
A*Monaing*Faith writes:
I think it's funny how I can make any novel into a deep meaningful affair. Not necessarily because the author meant it that way, but merely because I look for the deeper meanings as they currently relate to my life. Makes the experience all that more enjoyable.
It sounds to me that you're the type of reader every writer wants!
redbarron
writes:
Great newsletter!!!!!! Thanks, helpful!
 Aw!
phanpub writes:
Very well put, Jay. I rarely think that I even have a story unless I have a palpable "message." I know that most writers don't agree with this approach, and I try to never bash my reader over the head with the deeper meaning. In other words, I try not to preach, and I try not to be overtly political; but without a guiding principle, my emotional response to the challenge of story writing is: Why bother?
Steve (phanpub)
This is very true. It's difficult to imbue those meanings without intent, IMO, but it's a challenge we as writers have to take on to avoid total hamfistedness.
DRSmith writes:
An interesting newsie this week. Perhaps I'm old school, but do remember the plethora of short stories to epic novels we were assigned to read all through school, and by renowned authors who didn't just tell a story for the sake of concocting some whimsical tale, but whose words were deliberately and delicately interwoven with deep-seeded themes, some multi-layered. To me, and presumed by you given the theme of this newsie, such literary technique no matter the genre or level of transparency does indeed seem to imbue a work with fulfillment, style, and character... sort of how a soul invigorate the will and intellect which separates us from other life forms. From my viewpoint, I think this little newsie is long overdue and well worth heeding if aspiring WDC'ers desire to invigorate their works with such an inner vitality of their own.
Thanks, DR! Yes, I do agree, I think, that there is a soulfulness found in pieces produced with a little extra "thread," as it were, to wind through and tie up the narrative. It's not always in a neat bow, or even a bow at all, but it's emotionally resonant.
Happy May 2024!  writes:
Hi Jay, You talk in this newsletter about exactly what I am looking for in my memoir stories. I know there is a common thread in there somewhere. I just need to find it. That will be my question to my critique group at our next meeting. Thanks for the relevant newsletter  ....Connie
Awesome, Connie! I'd be interested in hearing what they had to say, actually.
ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy writes:
Thanks for this newsletter. You always give your reader something to think about. I fully agree; when I review, I first look for meaning. If there isn't a meaning, a lesson, it doesn't interest me. ANN
Sometimes the meaning is, "There is no meaning," but that's a valid meaning, too, if that makes sense.  I definitely put 'some kind of authorial intent' in my priority list, though!
PatrickB writes:
Thank you for featuring my story "Five Voices and Three Perfect Daisies," jay .
dragonwoman writes:
Thanks for including my flash "Fingering the Prints" in the newsletter!
Thank you both for writing great short fiction! It's my pleasure to feature the talented folks from this community in these newsletters.
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Short Stories: March 04, 2015 Issue [#6860]
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