Development: Quirks

Every character needs them. You can’t have stereotypical, cookie-cutter characters, like the ones you see in so many movies.  I know, what sells, sells. Hollywood won’t change what works. But for you, as a writer, please give your characters their own identities.

This is not to say that characters are born from nothing. Obviously we are inspired by either the people we meet, see and know, or by characters in other media. And when it’s a mixture, they become a beautiful individual.

Sometimes I don’t know why I give certain characteristics to them. One of my main characters doesn’t like almonds. Why? I don’t know, I haven’t asked him. But for whatever reason, there needed to be a food he didn’t like.

I think it’s important to also understand that this falls into the strength and weakness category of developing your character. You may have something as little as not liking a certain food, or having a habit that doesn’t seem to have consequences. But they are results of consequences. Just like the little things that make you who you are have their roots somewhere, so do your character’s little quirks. Even if you don’t know where they came from yet.

Development: chapter 4

I think I’ve found that I have to let my characters grow.

I don’t like to settle.  By nature, I like to face things head on, and not let problems linger.  It’s like getting Febreze and attacking bad smells.  I don’t like bad smells in my life.  So I try to get rid of them. So I guess this influences how I write my characters.

In the long run, characters have to grow and change.  Judging by how amazingly long a lot of our television shows run, maybe we’re not so used to this in our culture. Now, you may think, “wait, doesn’t a long series mean we spend a lot of time and watch the characters develop?” In many cases, no.  Obviously the answer lies in ratings and money, but looking deeper into our society, I think it’s that we don’t like to watch the characters go on, just like watching kids grow up and move on.  Something that has influenced us for the better is Harry Potter, because we got to watch the children grow up.  It was bittersweet at the end. And it helps that it was based on a book series- I could see this as an American television show, lasting like 23 seasons, the first eight seasons just focused on Harry’s first two years. Okay, maybe a lot of people would like to see that, but my point is how we approach character growth.

You may have already seen in other posts my criticisms of Lost, but here’s some more! One season of Parks and Recreation, Doctor Who, or the show Awake (which is only one season long) was more meaningful than that entire show.  Why? I’m sorry, but shows like that one do not let characters grow and develop.  Instead, it was a whirlwind of different plots with some people thrown in who aren’t given rhyme or reason for their motivations or actions.  At least, that was what it became.  And you may think I’m being picky. But believe it or not, I have criticized Downton Abbey for the same thing, concerning several of their characters.

You have to let your characters change.  People change.  One person can change in a day, or an entire world can be torn apart in one afternoon. You don’t necessarily need a long time to demonstrate this.

Character Humor

I am a fan of humor in stories.  Obviously you don’t want to take everything seriously, just like in real life.  You need to learn to laugh at yourself.  But obviously some humor works, and some times it doesn’t.  What is the key?

I think what audiences and readers appreciate is character driven humor.  Just like with any well written plot or story, the characters must be the focus.  Instead of shoving in the first thing that will get a laugh, it needs to have context.  Why is it funny?  Is it because someone got hurt?  If the person who got hurt is just a random passerby, why do we care?  Did someone say something ridiculous?  Why is it funny, unless we know why it’s something ridiculous?  We wouldn’t know that unless we know the character.

Think about, for example, improv.  When two or more people go at it, they are bouncing off of each others’ creative ideas.  They have an understanding.  You might not know them personally, but when you are put into the ring, you instantly have to make assessments about the other person, confidently and creatively helping them to help you.  Sometimes, we have to be fast on our feet when finding humor in a story.  Hearing a conversation between two people that you know nothing about could possibly be boring.  But watching a conversation between two people who you know, and realizing the context, can be a different experience with your mind more open.  That’s why it’s important for it to be character driven.  For example: watching someone enjoy a steak dinner seems pointless.  However, watching Ron Swanson show you pictures of himself eating steaks at his favorite restaurant over the years is pretty funny.

Real characters aren’t stereotypes, or pieces to a puzzle.  There shouldn’t just be the “comic relief” in the picture, though I understand why there is often one character who is funnier and light-hearted than the others.  I think everyone can be a potential “comic relief” of a situation, but it still has to go back to who they are.  Using Parks and Recreation again, take for example the Parks Department.  In many cases, Leslie needs Ron to help her stay calm.  He is by no means the staple that holds the office together.  God forbid. (I hope you read that in his voice). Instead, he is there to make sure she doesn’t accidentally grow their department any further.  However, there have been times when watching Ron in action is the hilariousness we are privileged to, and Leslie is there to save him.

Character driven humor, in my opinion, is the best humor.  We’re smiling, and laughing, because we like to watch these characters interact.  More to follow.

TMI?

This post is actually about backstories.

These days, we really love our backstories.  Well, our characters‘ backstories.  Popular shows like Lost and Once Upon a Time (both credited to the same guys) seem to have mastered the art of giving us, not just hints or glimpses, but full episodes and plots dedicated to the origins of a character’s complex emotions.  The question is, though, do we always need to know?

Everyone loves a good mysterious character.  My favorite part about creating and writing one in my own work is, I know as little about them as the reader does.  Sure, over time I will know more about them than you do, but I have to be careful with how much I share about them.  Do I still want their aura clouded with mystery?  Or am I willing to unveil little by little who they really are?  And, if ever influenced by media and these origin movies that are so popular, it’s always fun to tamper with the idea of dedicating time to their backstory.

But sometimes I think it’s not the right move to make.  Sometimes, what we don’t know about a character is why we love them.  This of course only shows how important our imaginations are.  And sometimes, even though you think you want to know everything about a character, don’t make that wish too quickly.  Let your imagination work a little bit, because sometimes we might get more than we were asking for.

To be honest, I loved seeing the backstories in Once Upon a Time in the first season.  But now, sometimes watching it flashback makes me want to bang my head on the table.  Especially if they make us watch something that they already related to another character. Why do you need to show it if you’ve already said it?

One example of a good balance of this, is the Avengers franchise.  We’ve seen how Captain America ,Thor and Iron Man started.  There have been a couple movies dedicated to the Hulk, but they’re not exactly lined up with this current version.  What makes it work in these movies is that we don’t like the characters that have no movie backstory any less than the ones whose origins we know of.  In the most recent one, we find out more about Black Widow, but I think just the glimpses of her past and her own words are even more effective than if we had any more than that.  Even without whole movies that give us more details, using your knowledge of the original comics (whatever you have, if you’re not a comic buff…I certainly am not), combined with your imagination, you can fill in whatever gaps you need.  Nothing is off limits within yourself.   And I’m not including writing fan fiction to satisfy your pairings and ideas.  That can be in its own category.

I am very careful with how much I reveal when it comes to my characters.  Some of them I’m so close to, I know practically every detail of their origin.  Others, I have an outline of sorts, while many of them are mysteries to me.  That doesn’t mean that those are all written to be mysterious.  It just means that I’ll figure it out as I go.

But don’t get me wrong, sometimes a good backstory is what you need.  They just have to work for the characters, rather than for the audience.  We have imaginations, so don’t try to make it so we don’t have to use them, okay Hollywood?

Development: Chapter 3

Spoilers, Doctor.

I know I’m not the only one who is like this, but most of the time, my favorite characters happen to be villains.  I can’t help it, and it doesn’t help that in Anime, they can often be more interesting and better looking than the protagonists.

I don’t usually tend to like trends, but there has been a recent trend lately for movies and shows to have more complex villains.  I am all for it.  Once Upon a Time, for all its faults, happens to accomplish this brilliantly.  Not only do they take the traditional villains and make them more complicated, but they take some of the traditionally heroic figures and make them the villains.  I won’t name any names, but if you are faithful to the show, then you know what I’m talking about.  I think that no character in this show is safe where evil deeds are concerned.  Everyone has done something they regretted, even the main characters.  Especially the main characters.  That is some brilliance right there.

I know that people have their versions of what makes a true villain, or their categories for villains.  When I have read things about developing “bad guy” characters in the past, I read a lot about motivation.  It seems that this can be the main factor.  Their motivation has to be opposite the protagonist, or something selfish or greedy.  This is all well and good, but I think if you focus too much on this, you can tread into dangerous territory.  It can result in loss of individuality of the characters, and I speak from experience.  It didn’t take too long before I realized a while back that I could be subject to having villains that are way more interesting and complex than my main characters.  I don’t want that at all!

My solution now is to sort of let the reader pick and choose.  Obviously we already pick our own characters that we love and hate, but there is an understanding of who is good and bad.  But that doesn’t always have to be the case, and when it is the case, that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.  For example, in the new Star Wars, it’s obvious who is good and bad.  That is not a problem at all.  But in a series like Game of Thrones, it’s less obvious who is good and evil, because everyone has their dark and light sides.  They are completely different from each other, so I’m not comparing them side by side.  Rather, I’m showing the differences in their nature.  We can learn from both, however.  In my writing, I have characters who are obviously noble, and other who are just sick in nature.  However, like I mentioned earlier, I don’t want people to be bored with the “noble” characters because they feel they will know them already.  Instead, I try to make them diverse in nature.

One of my main characters will become the villain for another character.  To you the reader, he is not evil.  You understand his thoughts, his motivations and his confusions.  However, to one of the other characters, this guy is his ultimate enemy.  And maybe even you will agree, and begin to dislike the main character’s actions.  Hopefully by avoiding obvious stereotypes, I can create characters that everyone loves, whether or not they are lemons.  (Every Villain Is Lemons.)

Development: Chapter 2

Do you ever have those characters that just aren’t your favorite?  I’m talking about from a writer’s perspective, so this is ultimately about characters that you have written.  Of course anyone has to put up with those characters you don’t like in the shows and movies you watch.  I have a little different take on those kinds of characters.

For example, one of my favorite characters in Game of Thrones is Cersei Lannister.  I know, she’s cruel, awful and stupid.  But I look from a writer’s perspective (and I am a fan of her acting).  She’s fascinating to watch.  Just how crooked she is, but also how downright stupid her choices are.  And she believes that she’s actually really smart.  It’s extremely entertaining.  I point this out to show that most of the time, I tend to dislike characters that aren’t written well.  And it’s different than hating Joffrey.  I may hate this character’s guts, as any decent person should, but I love and appreciate how well written he is, as well as how well he is portrayed.

To put my point into another perspective, I’ll compare those characters to how much I hated most of the characters in Lost.  Many of them started out as interesting and I really did care about them.  But over time, along with many other things I didn’t like, they didn’t grow on me.  Well, they grew on my nerves.  It’s okay if there are characters that do this when they are supposed to.  But give us a break after a while.

And yes, even when I create characters, some of them are not my favorite ones to write and/or focus on.  I think that’s okay, because it’s like real life.  You have to deal with people who are not your favorite.  It might sound silly, because if I’m the one who put them in a story, or if I created them in the first place, why can’t I have control over how much they’ll annoy me?  Well, first of all, I always allow my characters to grow on their own.  I give them free will, a voice and room to change.  I know every author has their own way of doing this.  For me, I have sort of a feeling I get.  If something they say doesn’t feel right, or something attached to their backstory doesn’t feel like it’s the right way to go, I get rid of it.

I have a character who might be like the Tyrion Lannister of my story.  I only say this because of one, single similarity: many people dislike him, and it’s not for a valid reason.  However, even I was surprised by how heroic and noble he is.  Even I fell at first for what other characters were falling for.  I underestimated him, I moved him over to the side, and I made him a bit of a whiner.  But for whatever reason, I still began to write from his POV.  Maybe I didn’t know why I was doing that, but it’s a good thing I did.  He proved me wrong, because the person I thought wasn’t one of the heroes of my story has become possibly the bravest character I’ve written.

I think we need to give some characters the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe there’s more to them than the script suggests.  This can happen if an actor is great at his or her job, where they are able to make their role even more dynamic.  Or sometimes there is an opportunity for our own imagination to give them room to improve.  Sometimes we piece together subtle hints like puzzle pieces.  An author doesn’t always have to tell us that something upset a character.  All we need to know is what their reaction to something is, or we just need to know who they are.  As long as they become more real, they are being written well.

 

 

Development: Chapter 1

I am a big fan of character development.  I think most people are, too.  But I wonder sometimes if our perspectives are a bit different when it comes to this concept.  People obviously love characters in general.  A lot of people will keep reading or watching a series because they care about the characters and what happens to them.  There can be a great plot, a whirlwind of problems and challenges, and one twist after another in any series.  But if I don’t care about why this is affecting anyone, then I don’t want to commit to it.

What do you think of when you hear the words character development?  I think of time.  I imagine how you have journeyed with this person through their ups and downs.  After all, time is what makes the word develop different than the word change.  Change can happen in an instant, but developing takes a bit more concentration.

That is my perspective on characters.  Do I want to spend time with them?  I ask myself.

Another perspective people may have is, can I relate to this character?  Most people understand that there is usually a wide variety of characters, so you wouldn’t expect them all to be like you.  But are you able to understand their motives?  If a writer doesn’t think that’s important, people can be turned away from their work.  I’m not saying that we need to dive into the mind of every single character.  But the ones who are the focus, how can I relate to them?  That is a question many people have.

Very much like that perspective, is one that many people think is important: is this character realistic?  Do they react in a way that a person would react?  Can I see the influence of real life in this person’s actions?  Do they express realistic emotions?

These three concepts, time, being relatable and being realistic, are all very close in nature.  And they all influence the way we can develop our characters.  But I also think that we prioritize as well.  Maybe we wouldn’t want to say we do, because overall we know that character development is important.  But we will go about it in different ways.

To me, I put the realistic nature as the least priority.  Now, I’m not saying that I don’t ever think about the concept.  However, I think it is important to remember that we will turn to stories to get away from real life.  Hence there are dragons and magic in some of our favorite stories of all time. So of course the worlds we create are full of things we know are not real.  However, I think what people are looking for when they like the realistic aspect is the familiar sight of human nature.  Yes, we want to jump into other worlds and we want to see how far imagination can take us.  But still have a subtle tug in our minds back to reality.  And seeing some of ourselves in the characters satisfies that.  Personally though, when I am writing my characters, their realistic nature is not always on the top of my list.  This is only because I think about a lot of the characters I enjoy.    Many of them are crazy, inhuman or something that I know is not of this world.  It’s just a different way to look a the nature of characters.  You may not like the fantastical take on certain concepts, and that’s okay.

I think that being relatable is very important as well.  This is so close to the other perspective that it might be almost the same concept.  The difference here is that I think it usually sticks to one person in a series.  Many times, someone’s favorite character is the one that they relate to the most.  It’s hard sometimes to like characters who’s motives you find wrong or ones you don’t understand.  But if you find that one characters who just seems to “get you,” that’s what can make a series awesome!

And finally, the most important thing to me is time.  It takes patience to develop characters, so even though I’m normally an impulsive person, when it comes to writing I have to call time my friend.  Sometimes my characters aren’t ready to do something I want them to do.  Or sometimes they are stronger than I initially thought they were.  What matters is that my time is worth watching them grow.  Seeing how they have changed, for better or worse.  And I will admit, that is how we see people in real life too.  Time can affect our friendships and our relationships.  It is the same for characters.

More to come in later posts.