This week’s tool pulls together what we’ve learned from other tools (concept and theme) and teases out how those tools apply to, and build, a character. Julie Gray calls it Want, Need, Flaw, Symptoms, and I think that's catchy, if not entirely illuminative, so there you have it. Want In terms of understanding its purpose, … Continue reading Character: Want, Need, Flaw, Symptoms
Tag: character
Backstory: Let’s See What You’ve Got
We're looking at backstory this week. Let's see if we can come up with some backstory to support the irreconcilable selves of the main characters of the one-liners we're developing. 1. Our human-rights-attorney story: When the money runs out before the case against his transgender partner is over, a human rights lawyer joins a prestigious and wealthy law firm … Continue reading Backstory: Let’s See What You’ve Got
Backstory: How the Masters Use It
Usually when backstory is effectively used, you don't notice it. It's often "marbled" in with the front story, as James Scott Bell says. Still, here are some examples of backstory that I have noticed (or remembered): Cheryl Strayed's WildIn this story, a girl goes on a hike as a way to deal with her mother's death. The … Continue reading Backstory: How the Masters Use It
Backstory: What Is It?
Now that our characters have irreconcilable conflict, it’s time to support how they got that way with backstory. What's Backstory? The masters provide tons of definitions of "backstory." Here’s a sampling: "The backstory is everything that took place before you started page 1," says Jack M. Bickham. "Backstory refers to any essential information about the characters … Continue reading Backstory: What Is It?
Walking Contradictions: Show us what you’ve got!
Walking contradictions are characters who have some kind of irreconcilable conflict, either internal or external or a combination thereof. Let's see if we can develop some irreconcilable conflict for the main characters of the one-liners we've got going: 1. Our human-rights-attorney story: When the money runs out before the case against his transgender partner is over, a human rights lawyer … Continue reading Walking Contradictions: Show us what you’ve got!
Walking Contradictions: How the Masters Do It
We're looking at how to make our characters more interesting by giving them lots of irreconcilable conflict. Here are some examples I've noticed in the stories I've read or watched recently. As usual, I will add more examples as I come across them in my readings. For now... Andy Weir’s The MartianThe main character is … Continue reading Walking Contradictions: How the Masters Do It
The Irreconcilable Self: Creating character paradoxes
This week we’re looking at how to infuse our characters with irreconcilable conflict and make them, as Paula Munier says, "walking contradictions." Contradiction in Character "You can build more plausible, complex characters if they want not just one thing but two that are in conflict," says Nancy Kress. Karl Iglesias calls these two things in … Continue reading The Irreconcilable Self: Creating character paradoxes
Writes With Tools 