“I used to watch soap operas when I was younger.”
That was my answer to a person’s shocked reaction after I described the romance novel I’m currently working on.
The person I was in conversation with couldn’t get over what the characters had to overcome in my story. I make no apologies for putting my characters into tough situations or where I learned to do it. Thank you, Guiding Light ;)
When it comes to character development, it’s going to be a unique process for every writer.
For me, I start with a first name and a general sketch that includes physical traits, occupation, hometown, education, a few quirks, and most importantly: I think a lot about a character’s emotional wound.
The emotional wound piece is where the character transformation happens. For my characters to get from point A to point B, their journey has to be a step toward understanding, healing, and unlearning what they need to in the context of their emotional wound.
But I also leave wiggle room for the story to unfold. I want to let the characters come to life through the dialogue and actions. I love how Ann Lamott frames it:
“Over and over, I feel my characters know who they are, and what happens to them, and where they have been and where they will go, and what they are capable of doing, but they need me to write it down for them because they can’t type and their handwriting is so bad.” -Anne Lamott
I also think it’s fun to give characters fun little quirks. Both of the main protagonists in the romance novel I’m writing for my romance writing group have food things that I hope will endear them to readers. One loves Ben & Jerry’s and the other can’t get enough breakfast sandwiches. I weave these quirks into the story in a way that I hope will make sense to the reader.
When a character has fun quirks, and is obviously flawed and wounded in some way, I think I relate better to them rather than a character who is shiny and seemingly perfect. When I read, I want someone to root for. I want to see characters overcome and grow, eureka! to transform! I want to write those kinds of characters.
So I keep raising the stakes in my story. Just like the characters in a book, our own transformation and growth occur as humans when hard stuff happens to us. Just as a real-life human’s life unfolds with struggles (and good stuff), I throw challenges at my characters like it’s my job. Oh wait, it kinda is ;)
That’s why if a character is written well, we connect so deeply. We get it. And maybe a tiny part of us thinks, if this character can overcome whatever is happening in the story maybe I can overcome what’s happening in my own life. Yes, I know I’m talking fiction here, but sometimes it’s easier to relate to humans in books than it is to people in real life. Book characters sometimes are more palatable. They just are.
Let me give you an example.
Many years ago, I read a book where a character was obsessed with the Japanese technique of Kintsugi. Kintsugi uses metallic lacquer to repair broken ceramic pieces like vases or bowls. It’s a part of a larger philosophy called wabi-sabi, which is the notion that when something is broken and put back together it is even more beautiful in its imperfection than it was before.
In the book, the character who was obsessed with Kintsugi felt like it represented her. She had been broken and now she was piecing the parts of her life back together to create something even better.
As I said, I read that book many many years ago and I still remember this aspect of the story. That has never left me since. That kinda thing is powerful.
I also follow this rule of thumb when it comes to my characters: if I couldn’t see myself wanting to hang out and grab a drink in my favorite bar with them then I don’t want them in my story.
I was recently asked if I liked the characters in my story. I had to be honest. Right now, it’s a mixed bag. I’m going to again point to Anne Lamott to help explain this one…
“You are going to love some of your characters because they are you or some facet of you, and you are going to hate some of your characters for the same reason.” Anne Lamott
I’m finding this to be so true as I get deeper into writing the story.
And maybe it’s a mixed bag for me because at least one of my main character’s transformations is slow-going, and I’m annoyed by her behavior. Change is hard and messy and slow in fiction and in real life. So I’m writing toward that moment where I can see the character transformation so clearly that at the end I’ll put my hand over my heart or give a strong fist pump to the air in triumph. And think: Yes! Thatta girl! I knew you could do it! Because I wrote them in such a way, I have no choice but to get in my feels about their story.
That’s what I strive for with my writing. I want you to feel something. I love letting creative works be vehicles for emoting. I use books, television shows, and movies as a catalyst for laughing and crying all the time. A good story is going to make you feel something, IMO. One of my favorite things to do is go to a cold dark movie theater, get lost in a story, and feel my feels about it. I don’t see anything wrong with that. In a world where feeling emotion isn’t always celebrated, I say let fiction be a safe space for that.
One final piece of character development wisdom from Anne Lamott before I sign off for the week:
“Get to know your characters as well as you can, let there be something at stake and then let the chips fall where they may.” -Anne Lamott
Will do, Anne, will do.
xoxo,
Kathleen, Lady Love & Lit