Active Characters

Part of making an engaging character is having it be someone that goes out and does things. No matter how interesting a person is, having said person sit around in their room all day and do nothing does not a good story make. (With some rare exceptions, as there are to every rule, but let's not go into those right now).

So you've got a person being active. What does that mean? How do you write about that? What does active do?

Writing prompt: Write a scene in passive voice, where everything happens TO the character. Then rewrite it in active voice and see what's different. Do you see how the person being active makes a difference?

It's hard to have a main character be too active. We're invested in that character - have them go out and do things!

Off-topic!

I have a cold. It's off-topic week.

But for those of you with a novel in progress, and you'd like to run a first paragraph past a real live agent, check this out! http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2008/12/2nd-sort-of-annual-stupendously.html

He's crazy, but it's fun! (and yes, I entered already)

Holiday Time!

Every world has them. Whether you're writing a heartwarming romance or a sci-fi thriller, your universe has holidays.

So how does your character feel about them? Does he go home? Avoid his family like the plague? Why? Which holidays does your character feel strongly about, and which are just days off? Are there shopping holidays like Black Friday that are important?

Writing prompt: Write a short scene with your character going home for a Thanksgiving-like holiday. How does it go? Is it farce or sweet? Does it tell you anything about the character?

Non-human characters

It's normal do to regular characters. We're all used to thinking of characters as people.

But what about other forms of characters? What about pets? Wild animals? Buildings and countrysides? Anything that interacts with the story can be viewed as a character. Pets have motivations. I can think of two mystery series off the top of my head where cats are main characters, for example.

Anything that is a character has a motivation and interacts with the story. A countryside could be a character if it interacts with the story, causing things as well as being effected by them. The farther something is from human, the more difficult it is to treat something as a character instead of a background. But stories can be greatly enriched by approaching things other than human as characters in their own right and able to interact with the story.

Writing prompt: write a character sketch of something that isn't human. Give a few hints as to how it can interact with the rest of the story.

Families

Everyone has them. That includes story characters.

So, what does your main character think of his family? Do they get along? Are other family members in the story? Are they alive or dead? Even if they don't show up explicitly in the story, your character's feelings towards his family will affect him greatly. And he can feel differently about different members, too: there's no need for a monolithic response to his family.

Writing prompt: write a scene with your character and one of his parents. Make sure the relationship between the parent and child is visible in the scene without coming straight out and saying what's going on. Imply.

Bad Guys

In most stories, there's some form of antagonist. Sometimes the only problem is the circumstances, but often there's someone standing between the characters and their desires.

It's easy to paint the bad guy as just bad for the sake of bad. This is especially easy when dealing with religion and just saying it's an evil god. However, this is a cop-out, and frequently makes the rest of the story bad. People have reasons for what they do - even becoming evil. They may think what they're doing is right. They may want power. They may be insane - but even then, inside their own insanity there's a kind of logic. Even the most alien of all alien creatures has a logic, though it might not seem so at first glance. But if that logic isn't followed, the story doesn't hold together. An unrealistic villain can completely spoil a story.

Writing prompt: Character sketch time! Create a villain. Either use one from your own story or create your own. Come up with why they're doing what they're doing. Give a full-fleshed person - good points and bad. Is this person believable? Why or why not? What can you change to make the person feel real?

World Economics

I'm going to go slightly astray from my normal posts for a moment. Last week was the economics of specific characters. Now I'm expanding to economics of entire worlds.

It seems obvious at first - the economics of the world is based on money. After all, that's what we all have in our pockets/purses/bank accounts. We don't store leaves or cherry pits or shells.

But what does that money buy? What's important in your character's world? Not just the obvious desires the characters have, but the subtle things. Do your people ever buy food? Clothing? Is everything provided in the story, done in the background, or do economics matter? What's bartered for? What's traded back and forth?

Without the economics, there is no story. There are always things of value in the story, be them visible or not. Why are they there? What are they for? What does it mean to have them, or to not have them? What are they truly worth?

Writing prompt: Write a quick scene where your characters are dealing with an object of value. What will they give to get it? Why?