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Troy Kirby

Monday, July 18, 2011

Writing more influences for your characters


I thought I would share something that’s been bothering me as I read short stories or novels, especially mass produced ones. They rarely let the characters influence each other.

What I mean by that is how characters don’t react in stories. They simply do their part because “that’s what the storyline says to do.”

My thought is that characters can change the way other characters in the story are pushed. It may change the story altogether.

Writing tools:

Anyone can make art out of a girl with a gun. I think it takes a skilled writer to develop something out of a girl without a gun, who has to do the same thing. That to be separates the “men from the boys” in terms of how someone manages to cope without the very thing which would make their role easier in a story.

An example:

Five men are standing in a police lineup. A woman is behind non-reflective glass, watching with a detective, who asks her to point out her attacker. She squints, says she doesn’t know, but the detective is insistent. Says that he can help her if she doesn’t tell anybody. The woman is unsure, doesn’t know what to do. The detective tells her that he knows the man that did it, he just needs her to point the suspect out so they can bring him to trial. He badgers her, saying pointing to the man on the far left, saying that is the one who didn’t, is he? The woman finally points at the man on the far left, because he looks like he might be the guy who attacked her in the park, because she wants the detective to stop yelling at her. She cries, the detective dismisses the three suspects, he tries to comfort her, the woman backs away, waiting to be alone.

This shows how influence of other people can make your character “react” to something. One pushes the other, but it doesn’t mean a whole influence. Your two characters still breathe, have to think for themselves. It all depends on how you use your writing tools.

1 comment:

  1. I like this insight into creating tension, conflict, characterizatio, and plot. The detective is pushy, impatient, insensitive, and is looking for an easy case rather than ensuring justice is served or finding the true guilty party. The woman is unsure, afraid, intimidated, displays victim-body-language, and at this point, has not overcome whatever hurdles she must face if she's the heroine. The unknown "perp" picked out in the lineup is most likely innocent, and may end up being the hero who must find the true criminal in order to clear his name. His major conflict will be the system working against him and no one believing he's innocent -- except perhaps the woman who identified him as her attacker.

    I got all of this from your short description. I'd say you did a wonderful job of demonstrating your point. I'm impressed!

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