Before the post, this is a call for questions. My long list is running down. I know I don\u2019t add every question that comes in to my list. Some I don\u2019t have a lot to say about, or I may have answered something similar recently. But if there\u2019s anything about writing that plagues or confuses you or that you\u2019ve always wondered about, this is a good time to ask. Poetry questions also welcome.<\/p>\n
On April 5, 2014, Farina wrote, If you have a character’s, well, characteristics down in a description of him, can you give some advice for then writing that person in their own character, showing off their characteristics and personal traits? So often I feel like my characters are all blandly similar in my writing even though in my own ‘Character Bible’ I have varying personalities and flaws for them all! <\/i><\/p>\n
In response, Bibliophile wrote, Putting them in situations where their values are challenged would be a good idea. That way, you can see how true they are to what they say they believe, and everyone is going to react differently. Use the (it doesn’t have to be in your story) ‘A house is burning down and you can only save one of these two things: a priceless painting or a murderer.’ Then have a conversation with your characters and ask them why they chose what they did. Keep in mind, there is no true right and wrong answer to this question, it’s just a great way see where your characters\u2019 priorities are. (The question is borrowed from Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy: Palace of Stone.)<\/i><\/p>\n
Interesting suggestion. We can move the idea behind Bibliophile\u2019s suggestion into our story, that is, we can look at the moments in our plot when our character faces a choice.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go with the choice Bibliophile and Shannon Hale suggest. Let\u2019s imagine a strange combination of events that might present our MC, Tania, with this exact dilemma. A civil war is raging in her country, where she works as a prison guard. Because a high-security prison was bombed, the provisional government has moved the surviving prisoners into the only structure still standing that\u2019s big enough to house them, the fine arts museum, which holds the cultural legacy of the land. Unfortunately, one of its new inmates is an arsonist. The museum is burning. Tania guards the wing where both the murderers are penned and the masterpieces of the golden age of portraiture are displayed. She can save a murderer\u2019s life or a cultural legacy. She may even be able to rescue more than one painting but only one person. What does she do?<\/p>\n
We can consult our character bible to see what she cares about, how she reacts in a crisis, what her life has been up to this point. With that, we may be able to decide what this particular character will choose.<\/p>\n
Suppose we know, for example, that she\u2019s judgmental. Right and wrong are clearly defined in her mind, which is one reason she became a guard. Even so, this particular choice may move her into unknown territory. She believes in preserving life although she thinks murderers are the lowest of the low. She\u2019s not much of an art lover, but she\u2019s a patriot and she regards the museum\u2019s holdings as a national treasure. Her values are in conflict.<\/p>\n
Cool.<\/p>\n
The choice will be brought into sharper relief if we write the scene as it unfolds. The writing itself is likely to reveal Tania to us and will help us help her choose.<\/p>\n
Which particular murderer is in danger of incineration? Does Tania know the details of his crime? Did he poison his own mother? Or did he kill the man who killed his sister, who got off on a technicality? What\u2019s he like? What\u2019s he saying to Tania while the flames lick the walls? How frightened is she? How clearly is she thinking?<\/p>\n
Her choice will give the reader an idea of her. She can take the painting or the murderer, or she can be a ditherer and try to take both: advance five yards with the murderer, run back for the painting, and so on, possibly too slowly to get out alive with either. A tragedy. But whatever action she takes, her character will be much clearer if we write her thoughts as well, and if there\u2019s an opportunity for dialogue, too, so much the better.<\/p>\n
Thoughts first. We can make a list of possibilities, like this:<\/p>\n
\u2022 I wish they\u2019d given us fire training. Am I supposed to close the door or leave it open? Do I take the stairs or the elevator? Which is worse, first degree burns or third? I don\u2019t want those puckery scars on my face.<\/p>\n
\u2022 He looks a lot like Mr. Pollack. If I leave him, I\u2019ll have to live with killing Mr. Pollack. He\u2019s whimpering. Mr. Pollack would probably whimper, too, if he were here. This painting looks like Maria when we were in the third grade.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aaa! It\u2019s so hot! We\u2019re both going to die. I can hardly see. I\u2019ll take whatever I touch first, the prisoner or a painting. We\u2019ll die together.<\/p>\n
Our characters\u2019 thoughts help define them. We find out something about each version of Tania from what\u2019s going through her mind. The first Tania may be a tad vain. The second Tania is more sympathetic, if no more competent. The third tends to panic, although she has a good reason in this case. Your turn. Write three more stream of consciousness moments for Tania.<\/p>\n
On to dialogue. She can have a cell phone and a walkie-talkie. There may be other guards in the building, and she may be shouting to them. She may be talking to the murderer. In her frightened state, she can also be talking to the painting. Here are some possibilities:<\/p>\n
\u2022 To her best friend on the cell phone: \u201cTell me you\u2019ll take Susie if I don\u2019t come out of here. I don\u2019t want to die worrying about her. Tell her every day that I loved her, and remember to mix wet food in with the dry. She won\u2019t eat otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 To the murderer: \u201cOne move I don\u2019t like and I will leave you and take the picture. Hands in the air. High. Keep them up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Another possibility to the murderer: \u201cDon\u2019t kill the lady who\u2019s saving your life. Don\u2019t be like the scorpion in that story. We\u2019re in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Your turn again. Write three more bits of dialogue for Tania. See how they define her.<\/p>\n
I find character bibles most helpful once I start writing, and I don\u2019t use them for every character. It\u2019s only when my character has to do or think or say something and I can\u2019t figure out what that should be that I create a character bible. And usually I leave it unfinished the minute I know what to put in my story. I may go back to it, though, if I get stuck again.<\/p>\n
Using the choice between the murderer and the art is useful if our story includes that very decision. Otherwise, it\u2019s just an exercise. When we get back to our story we may find that whatever we came up with in our hypothetical situation doesn\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n
One more thought: The more detail we include in our scenes, the easier it will be to make Tania come to life as a lively personality.<\/p>\n
Naturally the prompt is to write the scene in the burning museum\/prison. When you\u2019re finished, if you\u2019ve gotten fascinated by Tania, continue with the rest of the story, which may start with the lead-up to the burning building and go on to include her role in the civil war. If the murderer interests you, too, keep him in. Tania may not save him, but he may manage to survive anyway.<\/p>\n
Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before the post, this is a call for questions. My long list is running down. I know I don\u2019t add every question that comes in to my list. Some I don\u2019t have a lot to say about, or I may have answered something similar recently. But if there\u2019s anything about writing that plagues or confuses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions\/303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}