What makes a great
character?
In one word – desire.
The definition of
desire: (noun) a strong feeling of wanting to have
something or wishing for something to happen.
Strongly wish for or want (something).
Want (someone) sexually.
If everyone could answer what they truly desired, without judgment nor
hesitation, they would be able to access something truly honest about their own
character.
Many will argue a good
story must have a great plot. Another
will say the same thing about character.
The point is, a great
story has both of these elements, and they are well crafted like a beautiful
work of architecture.
But, for me the most
important thing that drives a story idea and gets me to the other end of the
beginning are the characters. No matter
how great an idea or situation, it must have really kick ass characters.
Who are your favorite
characters?
Remember the bad guy from Warriors; what about ‘inconceivable’
from the Princess Bride; Montag from Fahrenheit 451.
We need great characters. We are inspired, embarrassed, delighted,
engrossed, and sustained by great characters.
Does the story exist, and
can the plot even begin to form without characters?
Have you ever written a
plot line or formed a situation without any idea of the characters that will
fill the spaces in between?
Here’s another
question: can the character exist
without a story? This is the fun
question, and probably the one that most authors are plagued with the most. What is the backstory?
So many story ideas are
killed – condemned to a long dusty journey on the shelf, all because the main
character doesn’t have a back story - hasn’t been invented yet. A great situation, a great story idea – the
characters get names, they have a general outline, they have a job, a
girlfriend, a son, a daughter, and then the story begins to take space on the
page. But more importantly, how long
will they continue to work in their job? Is their girlfriend cheating on them?
Is their son their own? Daughter is gay?
What are their desires???
But what really
happens. A decision must be made. Conflict and tension have to have sides
drawn, and someone has to be right and someone has to be wrong; or at least
they have to think they do. The author
has to know!
If they aren’t willing to
decide, the story doesn’t get written.
“There is no such thing as
writer’s block, there is only the unwillingness of an author to make decisions,
take risks, and see what happens next.”
