For me, plot and character are interwoven like the DNA strands in a Double Helix. I map out character arcs and plot arcs, but end up looking at them together more than separately because the story has to work as a whole.
That said, here are few things I do to develop character:
1. I write my MCs life story up until the book starts. This helps me to develop his voice for the actual novel. Nothing beats voice when it comes to story-telling. Your character can be doing something as boring as changing a light-bulb if he’s got a great voice.
2. In the first draft I ask questions like this continually: What does my character want? What does my character need? What are his internal conflicts?
3. And all throughout the revision process I keep asking myself: What is my character feeling right now? If I know his back story, I can usually get in touch with what he is going through. Often those feelings make it into the story as thoughts, actions or gestures. And these are the things that show who he is and what he is struggling with.
In one of my manuscripts, I totally changed who the MC was during a revision. I gave him a completely different back story even though in the book he still had to get from Point A to Point B.
I made him both more sympathetic and larger-than-life in a good way. Hopefully he does things that you wish you’d done if you were in his situation but you’d have to be pretty brave to try. At the same time he battles with guilt, anger, lack of self-worth, and helplessness. I think he’s a better fit for the story I’m telling.
So, my final thought on writing compelling characters: Have them take risks. And to have them take risks, put them in risky situations.
Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
I’m currently in the middle of entirely re-writing a protagonist. I was a little too close to her and had a hard time throwing her under the bus. Bad things happened to her, but she needed to take ownership of those things. It’s taken a couple months to wrap my brain around the new and improved girl, but now she takes risks. That’s a good thing.
It’s so important to know thy character. Going through the steps you mentioned definitely helps
I love the take risks and making them larger than life. Sometimes, we think our characters are exciting but really they aren’t! I’ve fallen into that trap before.
What does the character want and need….PERFECT!
I think it’s great how you go about getting to know your characters. What are their wants and needs? Great ingredients for a compelling character! Well said!
Risks are the best when making a character more believable. Testing their limits, their boundaries. You want to be able to better understand them.
Great post! Thanks for joining the experiment! I didn’t see a follow button, but just know I’ll be lurking and posting
Your process is such a good reminder to me of the patience I need to have during the writing process, when the core of a story might be pulling at me and I want to jump in fast. Taking the time, as you suggest, really enables that third capacity – to understand how my character would really respond, what she would really do, in a particular situation. I found in my current work that she was full of surprises for me. Thanks for this post, Paul!
Great post!! I love the questions to ask throughout writing because sometimes wants and needs slips the minds when you’re working hard on plot and storyline. Thanks for the great tips!
great post! We definitely need to know our characters and risks always make a story more compelling
Taking risks– I am trying to do that myself with my characters–putting them into situations I would shy away from. have a good weekend!
Oh yeah! I like throwing lots of heavy duty hell their way!
Have a delightful weekend, Paul.
~Lola
I like the analogy. good post.
I’m interested in genetics, so I love the helix. I also agree that voice and risk-taking make a character compelling.
Great post! I love your thoughts on making your characters take risks. Thanks for sharing!
Bravery, risks, rewards…and a believable character. I’m part of the experiment too. I’d join your face book followers but I didn’t see it.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author
Point well taken about voice. Characters can have similarities in their personalities, but have completely different voices!
Great take on compelling characters. I think knowing your character is the most important thing you can do for your story. If you don’t know them, you’ll have no clue how they’ll react when you throw something at them.
You’re so right that plot and character are finely interwoven. I love the questions you ask yourself. During my recent outline, I had to stop and type in all caps: YEAH, BUT SO WHAT? WHAT DOES SHE WANT? WHY IS SHE THE MOST IMPORTANT?
And then I had to answer them. And that was the hard part.
Oh, and I love the risky advice too. Protags have to Pro.
So true about characters and plot being interwoven. I love the last part of this post about making them take risk and putting them in risky situations.
Great post, Paul. The double helix is a perfect image for how plot and character are connected. And having your character take risks is excellent advice! Definitely makes a character more compelling! Thanks for posting.
I absolutely LOVE the double helix idea! Perfect!!
Those are great questions to keep in your head at all time, Paul! Thanks for the great tips/post…
Have a lovely weekend.
I love the DNA analogy.
Awesome post and a great analogy! That manuscript sounds really good!
Thanks for the tips! Enjoy the weekend!
WOW! you certainly can’t tell you were a teacher or anything.
This is such great advice and explained in an unique way. Right on post!
I think the “risk” part of it is a great angle that I haven’t heard before. Nice post!
Backstory is so important, even if no one but you ever reads it.
Having your characters take risks is awesome advice. Great post!
Jen
You’ve taken what I’ve heard and learned about character development to a whole other level. Writing the backstory up until the story begins? I’ve never heard of that before and while I cringe at the extra work, lol, I can see how it could save me tons of time in the long run. Well, unless you go and totally change his motivations at one point, like you did.
Voice is definitely a huge part of a compelling character. And great thought on making the characters take risks.
Risks, conflict, backstory, what the character wants. . . they’re all important to creating someone who’s compelling! Great advice!
I like the idea of writing different backstories for the same character, even if you don’t use them.
Great questions to ask yourself throughout the process. Taking risks is what a good story is all about. Thanks!
Putting your character in risky situations…yep. As readers, we want to be challenged with the thought: What is going to happen next? Or: How is he/she going to get out of this? Thanks for a thoughtful post.
I ask those same questions, too. Great post.
Great visual with the double helix. Also liked that you gave the example of changing the character during revisions to make the plot/character thing a better fit.
I think it’s a great idea to keep a log of your character – personality and back story – as you are going along. The character, like everyone else should develop as they go through the different challenges they face.
Well said!
Plots without characters are nothing, characters without plot do nothing….
Wow. I’m impressed that you write the character’s story up to when the book starts. That’s dedication to getting it right (I almost put ‘write’). But even more, I’m amazed that you develop voice that way. Since voice is such a hard thing to get, I’m loving this tip.
I also like that you distinguish between want and need, since both are important but not always interchangeable.
Great advice, thank you!
Great points. I like that you continually ask yourself what’s going on in your MC’s head. It’s good to do that. It reminds you it isn’t all about the story.
This is an excellent, excellent post. Points one and two especially stand out to me – always know what your character’s objective is in every scene, with every line of dialogue and every action. I’m impressed that you write so much of your character’s backstory ahead of time – but you have an agent, so it must show in your writing. I’ll be following your blog.
First off, I love your treadmill desk and can’t wait to show my husband, who is a triathlete. He’s gonna love it!
The DNA analogy is great because I am drawn to science. All along the way through this blog experiment I’ve come across pieces of information I’ve needed to be reminded of. In your post, taking risks and putting them in risky situations is one of the reminders I needed.
Thanks for the reminder. Great job!
Great tips! And sounds like our main characters are similar.
Knowing our characters is the most important aspect for sure.
I feel lucky to know my characters really well and you can tell when your reading a book how well an author knows their character, even though a lot of the details aren’t released to the reader too.
GREAT POST!!
Continually checking in with your character’s emotional state is a great way to bring them to life. Nice post!
When you hear “have your character take risks” you want to go “duh, of course.” But I know that I sometimes overlook it.
I like how you write your characters history from birth to story start. I think about it, but never write it down. I should probably start doing that with my MC since she’s being problematic. Also, she needs to take risks, so thanks for the reminder!
Great post! The more obstacles thrown at our MCs, the more his/her character shines and compels the author to make our book shine. Thanks for sharing your art with us!
Come and visit me!
Lots of great writers have mentioned character voice. It’s true that to make a character compelling, they must face challenges that makes the reader feel concern for them.
I LOVE the idea of writing the character’s life story up to the point the book starts! I think that’s a great idea to get ready to jump into the book, as well as to get to know your character completely. Thanks for the great idea!
Like some of the other commenters, I love the idea of writing the life story up to the point when the book starts.
Great post!
How daring to totally change your MC. And I have to remember to ask those questions when I write of a character. Just recently I discovered how those questions FEEL when you are writing.
I like how you use the example of a DNA strand to show how plot and characters are connected.
I’m impressed over how much attention you give your main character before you even write the book. Our characters do have to be as complicated as we are.
Great that you mentioned risks and risky situations. I’m jealous of your treadmill desk!