What Does Your Character Want for Christmas?
Over the course of my years as a book editor, I very often was placed in the position of asking a writer what his or her character's motivation was. A completely atypical action or decision would be made in the novel, and I would ask the writer why? Why would your character choose x or y? And very often, the answer I got was that it was expedient to the plot.
Wrong answer.
Your character has to make decisions that are organic to his or her character, life and morality, their very being. And the decisions that seem to deviate from that have to have some sort of basis in their lives. For instance, in The Roofer, Ava loves her brother above all others. Yet in one very key scene--when she asks him to move in with her in their own apartment to escape their fractured home life--she USES him. She knows he cannot say no to her, and she manipulates him and KNOWS she manipulates him. But her desire for self-preservation trumps her love for Tom, and it makes sense in the context of the book. Does it serve the plot? Yes, but not at the expense of the inner logic of the character.
Which brings me to Christmas. You see, when I would ask writers about their character's motivations, I was always amazed at the writers who really never got under their characters' skins. Never inhabited them. I think, at least in the way that I view character development, that you should be able to answer nearly any question. Like what does your character want for Christmas? And why? Because when you know someone THAT well, well enough to answer any question, then you don't make missteps. You don't betray the character by having them prance about like a puppet doing your bidding--their decisions have a basis in their SOUL.
So in my work in progress, Freudian Slip, Katie Darby wants what she simply cannot have. She wants her father back. But he perished on 9/11, and it colors her world. She wants and longs for Christmases of old that can never, ever be again. And Julian wants tequila. And a stripper or two. But now that he's lingering near death, he starts to think maybe he would like the things you cannot buy. Like snow in Washington Square Park, and a quiet night listening to jazz.
So what do your characters want for Christmas? And do you inhabit them fully enough? Do you know everything about them? Or are you still in that getting-to-know-you stage?
Wrong answer.
Your character has to make decisions that are organic to his or her character, life and morality, their very being. And the decisions that seem to deviate from that have to have some sort of basis in their lives. For instance, in The Roofer, Ava loves her brother above all others. Yet in one very key scene--when she asks him to move in with her in their own apartment to escape their fractured home life--she USES him. She knows he cannot say no to her, and she manipulates him and KNOWS she manipulates him. But her desire for self-preservation trumps her love for Tom, and it makes sense in the context of the book. Does it serve the plot? Yes, but not at the expense of the inner logic of the character.
Which brings me to Christmas. You see, when I would ask writers about their character's motivations, I was always amazed at the writers who really never got under their characters' skins. Never inhabited them. I think, at least in the way that I view character development, that you should be able to answer nearly any question. Like what does your character want for Christmas? And why? Because when you know someone THAT well, well enough to answer any question, then you don't make missteps. You don't betray the character by having them prance about like a puppet doing your bidding--their decisions have a basis in their SOUL.
So in my work in progress, Freudian Slip, Katie Darby wants what she simply cannot have. She wants her father back. But he perished on 9/11, and it colors her world. She wants and longs for Christmases of old that can never, ever be again. And Julian wants tequila. And a stripper or two. But now that he's lingering near death, he starts to think maybe he would like the things you cannot buy. Like snow in Washington Square Park, and a quiet night listening to jazz.
So what do your characters want for Christmas? And do you inhabit them fully enough? Do you know everything about them? Or are you still in that getting-to-know-you stage?
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:24 PM
9 Comments:
A new weapon always works for Logan.
Nicholas wants a father. It's all he's ever wanted.
la:
ahhh, the sweet smell of napalm in the morning.
Nice to see you, la. :-)
E
Jude:
I love those intangibles characters long for. It tells so much about them.
E
The Emperor wants to end his obligation to God, because he doesn't want his children and his children's children to live the life he has been forced to live.
His heroine wants, more than anything else in the world, to look the twin brother taken away from her right after they were born (to protect him) in the eye.
May:
The Emperor . . . what an amazing theme. Sounds like a great book.
E
Thanks, Erica! :)
Scarlett wants normalcy, but not for her sake - for her foster-brother's. She sees his need for stability as more important than what she might want.
Failing that, she'd settle for a book token ;)
naomi:
Stability . . . so many kids wish for that, sadly.
E
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