Everybody's Got One

A secret that is. Everyone’s got a secret. What were you thinking?

One of my favorite filmmaking tips is as the director, to give each actor a secret about their character. One they can’t share with anyone, but will inform everything they do in every scene.

Secrets can add depth and subtext to a scene that might otherwise be merely functional, or ordinary. For (a poor) example: A character who is hiding a fear of heights, might try to convince his crush not to hike up to a popular make out spot on a cliff despite wanting desperately to make out with her.

While it works really well in film where we can both see an actor’s face, and hear their change in tone when responding to an innocuous request, I think it can also work well in a novel.

You probably already know your main characters darkest secrets, and maybe even some of their love interest’s or antagonist’s, but what about everyone else? This ties in with my previous post “Why Are You Here?” about every character having a reason to be where they are in every scene.

In this case, having a secret can help give conversations between characters more depth and realism. If you know a character’s secret, it will color everything they do and say. It will make the world feel more real, because the people in it are real. It might even change your main character’s or the reader’s opinion of the character, and that can be used to your advantage when working on stories with mysteries. (And I believe every story should have a mystery, even if it’s not a mystery story, but that’s a whole ‘nother post!)

I would bet that if you’ve gotten pretty far into writing the book, that most of your characters already have a secret, you just haven’t picked up on it because you’ve been too busy forwarding the story. If you’re just starting your book, or you haven’t seen your characters dropping any hints, try giving them one and see if it perks up one of your lackluster scenes, or changes the way your characters view each other. You might just make a discovery or two!

What about you, do you give your characters secrets? What are some of the ways you add subtext and depth?

People Have Layers

For the last few holiday seasons I've worked at a book store. One of the things we do every year is a book drive for area children. Our goal is massive, around 400 books. In order to meet this goal, the store has a simple, but effective strategy. Ask EVERYONE. Even if they're frowning, even if they only bought a .50 newspaper, even if they're in a rush, even if they've said "no" to everything else you've asked them.

As a somewhat why person, this took some getting used to, but once I did, I noticed something fascinating. You never know who's going to say yes. Mr. Crankypants might just stop in the middle of his rant about rising costs, blink at you a few times and say "Sure." The sweet grandmother with the kind eyes might scowl at you and act offended you had the nerve to ask.

This is something I keep in mind when developing my characters, and writing my scenes. People have layers. There are all sorts of tiny things that affect them from moment to moment. What they show on their face or their body language might not be a true indicator of who they are or what they're thinking. They might be frowning because they can't remember a lyric to their favorite song, with no idea that they look angry. They might've just found out their kid got arrested while shopping for his expensive present.

So I try to make sure I have little moments like this in my book. Scenes where a character is thinking one thing but showing another, scenes where a character is completely misjudged or misinterpreted, because that's real, and I think it's always interesting to see the difference between the way a person is perceived, and the way they perceive themselves.

What about you, do you have any little tricks or reminders like this when you write?

Why it's okay for your characters to act out of character PLUS contest

Most writers have their own method for really knowing their characters inside and out before they begin writing. Some write pages of backstory, most of which never make it into the final draft. Others answer random questions about their character such as favorite music, flavor of ice cream, etc. We do these things so that each character is unique and has their own personality -- and so there is consistency in how they act. Yet sometimes it's okay for your character to act "out of character."

Why? Because that's how real people are. They surprise you sometimes. Here's a real life example from my vacation last week. I know my 5-year-old son inside and out -- I've spent most of every day with him for the last five years which is way longer than I've spent with any of my fictional characters. So when my 2-year old (now 3-yo) daughter popped his precious light saber balloon, I could've placed money on how my Star Wars/light saber obsessed son would react based on his 'character.' It would involve tears and screaming that his light saber was ruined, followed by pointing his finger in his little sister's face, saying "Kyra, you're mean!" That's pretty much how he reacts every single time she commits some perceived injustice.

But I wouldn't have been right this time. As my husband was telling our son he was sorry for letting Kyra play with his light saber, Caleb held up his hand and said verbatim: "Dad, don't apologize (yes, he used the word apologize). It's not your fault and it's not Kyra's fault. Sometimes, balloons just pop. It's okay." I stared at him a moment wondering if at some point in California, he'd been abducted by aliens and replaced by a pod person. NOTE: This concern was alleviated the next day when he pointed his finger in Kyra's face and told her she was mean. I think Kyra was relieved as well, as her daily goal is to make him upset enough to do this to her.

The point here is that while it's important to know your characters, it's okay to make them human too. Let them surprise you once in a while. It keeps things interesting. Have your characters surprised you or stepped out of line with their 'personality' while writing?  Were you okay with this or did you feel the need to fix it to get them back in line?

CONTEST NEWS: The very cool Moonrat is hosting a contest over at Editorial Ass to celebrate her 500,000th visitor AND she's offering a 20-page critique to the winner! It closes tomorrow 3/31 at 11pm EST so hurry the heck up already.