Shadow Puppets
First, an admission. I was so exhausted this morning as to fall even further into my Blue Wiggle delusion (see yesterday's post). At 6:00 a.m., after Demon Baby awoke me, after yet ANOTHER mostly sleepless night, I actually took note of the fact that Blue Wiggle has a name--Anthony. And he is becoming cuter in direct proportion to how little REM sleep I am getting.But on to writing. And shadow puppets
No, I am not making shadow puppets. I am talking about character development. More specifically, flaws.
I think of flaws as shadow puppets, made with a character's existing qualities and the way the light casts on them to create a bit of darkness, a shadow.
What do I mean? Well, no one is going to create a main character for us to root for who tortures animals. There's no light there, only sociopathy. Nothing for the light to play off of. I think the best flaws for main characters start as something light reflects off of. Take determination. Most of us admire it. But when creating a flaw, you can adjust the light and play with the shadows to take it further and further along until it's obstinancy. Now it's a flaw . . . take it further still and it can be infuriating pigheadedness. Take it too far into total darkness, and you've lost the shadows and disappeared into them entirely, and now it's a dangerous obsession. Whether your character follows that obsession and then returns to the gray world of shadows, changed but more connected to the light, is the journey you create.
Start with a sense of humor. Cast the shadows just so and now it's an inability to connect with people most of the time except through joking. Pull it into darkness, and it's a vicious biting humor that hurts all who come in contact with it.
The trick, is casting the shadows just right . . . start with the trait as a positive, and then carry it through to the darkness for a flaw. Keep going and the shadows overtake. Depends on how dark you want to go.
I think of Tom in The Roofer. Started with a loyalty to his sister, pulled it into a flaw of blindness to how far he would go to protect her . . . pull it into full shadows of obsession and addiction.
So how do your characters play with light and shadows?
Labels: character flaws
posted by Erica Orloff at 9:32 AM
6 Comments:
LOL ... well, now they're going to. :-) That's a cool way to look at it.
I will admit, the Blue Wiggle is kinda hot, in his own way. In some of the pictures.
Hi Spy . . .
I always loved shadow puppets as a kid.
And you know, the more I look at the Blue Guy, the cuter he is. ;-)
E
Thanks for sharinf this, Erica. I think it's brilliant.
Jude;
Gracias.
E
I'm going to look up pictures of the Blue Wiggle. This is pretty deep. In my wip, I have one strong-minded character who doesn't take any crap from anyone else. Because of her strength and sense of self-preservation, she did a dark thing. I didn't plan on having her do it at first, but as I was writing, it fit her character. I love it when I get those insights.
I hope you get some sleep soon!
Hi edie:
I think that's one of the neat things about looking at character this way. It starts out as a very plausible, good trait. But you can just let it overtake you/your character. Kind of like books where the hero gets pushed into vigilante justice of some sort. And THEN, usually, the end of the book is watching them have to go back to their OLD life knowing now what's in the total darkness of their character.
Did you see A History of Violence?
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