The Glory of Young Characters

Full motion video depictions of Laguna (left) and Squall, two of the main protagonists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I've noticed that main characters, even in adult fiction, tend to be young. Even when they are not young, they are often prone to teen/ young adult traits that foster conflict. Traits like impulsiveness, lack of censorship in dialogue, rebellion, and identity crises. All of these are universal traits that people experience to greater or lesser degrees throughout their lives but are distilled – exaggerated – in youth. This distillation, above all, is why I think books tend to use young people as protagonists. But these traits are useful and realistic in characters of any age, so take a look even if you write older characters.

• Impulsiveness: Teens and young adults are impulsive. They are more likely than their older counterparts (generally) to act before they consider the consequences. Many parents lament over the trouble their children (and not-quite-children) land themselves in because they didn't stop to think. But for the purposes of a book or poem, this is a positive trait.
• Conversations: This ties into impulsiveness. Young people (especially younger people) speak without censoring what they say. They say what is on their minds and they speak without regard for how their words will make other people feel. This is a valuable quality for generating conflict in dialogue.
• Rebellion: Many teenagers and young adults question social conventions, take up causes, and find themselves feeling like outsiders. All of these set up conflict because they are not living in accordance with pre-established rules and expectations. At some point they will have to stand up for their beliefs. Conflict!
• Identity: Many protagonists are in the process of learning who they are. This makes for juicy conflict with loved ones, society, and himself. Even the past and future are in conflict, with the protagonist's present caught in the middle.

Revealing Information: The Reader and the Main Character

Balance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I see it, there are several ways this can fall out. Usually the reader learns something at the same time as the main character (MC). This makes sense because the MC is most often the point of view character. Also, the MC need to learn that something to move the story forward. And if you hold back too much from readers, they will become frustrated or bored and BAM! The book closes never to be opened again. But there are benefits to disturbing the status quo...

• POV superior knowledge: when the POV character – especially an antagonist! – knows something that the reader doesn't know (and the reader knows this), the reader will want to learn the secret and will read on for a while. How long depends in part on the genre and how often you have pulled this trick in the past and with how many other POV characters. This technique does not work well for close POV.
• Temporary reader superior knowledge: the reader can learn something the MC is unaware of if you introduce the information during a different POV scene or an omnipotent passage (but those are tricky). Most times this technique is used to heighten tension and suspense because the MC is in more danger than he or she knows. This lets the MC be blindsided without sacrificing the logical flow of events. It is okay for an event to seem a bolt-from-the-blue to the MC so long as the reader knows the logic and cause of the event.
• Long-term reader superior knowledge: Other times the MC never finds out everything the reader learns. If the MC doesn't need to know, then why bore readers by repeating what they already know? This can be a useful way to tie-up loose ends that no longer affect the MC. And it can give the reader a sense of superiority.

How to Write Dialogue (video)

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-write-dialogue

A video about writing good dialogue, especially for introducing and maintaining conflict.

Revision Step 1: Delete for Dialogue!

This blog post looks at what to delete from dialogue in order to improve clarity, voice, logic, and flow. Dialogue is an area I struggle with but many other people love. By deleting content in your first step of revision, you won’t waste time polishing material you will only remove later on. And if deleting content leaves holes, you can brainstorm and fill the gaps with something even better.

• Doesn't advance story. Story is not just plot. It is also the characters, the world, the mood, and the milieu. If a piece of dialogue doesn't do one – or preferably more – of these things, it needs to go!
• Pace. Fragmenting dialogue and thoughts will speed up the pace. Remove some tags and nonconverstional prose.
• Out of character. It is easy for many writers to write the way they talk. It is harder to write the way the character talks. Make sure to remove your slips of tongue. Keep in mind not only the characters' education, social class, and time period, but also their moods, who they are talking to, and where they are when they are talking (setting).
• Poor logic. There are three pieces to any event: stimulus/cause, internalization/reaction, response/action. In that order, please!

This is Part 5 of a series of five blog entries that look at deleting to improve Style, Events, Summary and Description, Characters, and Dialogue.

Three very different book on improving dialogue…

Cheney, Theodore. Getting the Words Right. Cincinnati: Ohio, Writer's Digest Books, 2005. 2^nd edition.

Kempton, Gloria. Dialogue. Cincinnati: Ohio, Writer's Digest Books, 2004.

Spencer, Brent. Dialogue Tips & Traps: A Guide for Fiction Writers. Writers Workshop Press, 2012. 1^st edition. Ebook.

Revision Step 1: Delete for Character!

This blog post looks at what to delete from your manuscript in order to improve clarity, voice, logic, and flow. By deleting content in your first step of revision, you won’t waste time polishing material you will only remove later on. And if deleting content leaves holes, you can brainstorm and fill the gaps with something even better.

Characters assumes that you have developed the people in your story or have plans to do so. The blog looks at staying true to your characters and your reader. Always, in my book, the reader comes first, the main character(s) comes second, and so on. The blog does NOT deal directly with character development but the tips and strategies will probably help you in this area, too.

• Flimsy reactions. A flimsy reaction is a label like “sad” or “startled”. These reactions are flimsy because they are insubstantial. They don't show anything about your character except at the most superficial level. Delete (or replace) reactions that are not concrete, don't give insight to your character, or don't convey movement.
• Out of character. Each character is an individual with quirks. When a character starts behaving like a stereotype, delete that action. Also delete moments when your character actively runs counter to his/her own nature IF you are not showing the character's anxiety and/or reasons.
• Overlapping characters. There are good reasons for overlapping qualities – especially in the protagonist and antagonist – but multiple characters who fill the same role, have the same personality, or share similar names, can be confusing to the reader. While an excellent effect when done deliberately for group characters, when you find overlapping characters you probably should consider merging or deleting a few.
• Too many characters. This can be confusing for the reader, especially early on, because the reader likes to focus on one (or a very few) characters at a time. When many characters are competing at the same level of importance – especially in the opening sections of a book – someone needs to go.

This is Part 4 of a series of five blog entries that look at deleting to improve Style, Events, Summary and Description, Characters, and Dialogue.

Three very different book on character development…

Edelstein, Linda. Writer's Guide to Character Traits: Includes Profiles of Human Behaviors and Personality Traits. Cincinnati: Ohio, Writer's Digest Books, 2006. 2^nd edition.

Hood, Ann. Creating Character Emotions. Cincinnati: Ohio, Story Press, 1998.

Swain, Dwight V. Creating Characters: How to Build Story People. Norman: Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 2008.