Deep Characterization

Bill Johnson speaks about the problems that arise when writers make main characters an extension of the author's issues and needs. Understanding the difference between telling a story to an audience and personal storytelling.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• performing
• arts
• visual

[NealeSourna]

Writers do often write THEIR lives and fears to the detriment of their characters, no matter age, gender, or expertise.

Woman author, 50+, who should've known better with NY editors to correct her error--and didn't.

"The Witching Hour" takes about 90 or so pages to get to the main characters who can actually do anything. Why the previous bits weren't cut or moved deeper in is painful to read.

My first Rice. And a slight insult/compliment, as I was told my "Frames" script reminded them of her.

[OregonWritersSpeak]

Neale,

I'm on this journey because this is what I do, as well. I've been struggling with a full length play. I just rewrote the opening scene as a ten minute play to get to a deeper place about who the characters are and what they want. Since it's a ten minute play, there's no playing through to anything else.

Good to hear from you.

Bill

[Hatesrudepeople555]

A group of women in their 50s focusing on martyr characters is like a group of teenage boys whose protagonists are all oppressed rebels. Novice storytellers often superimpose their own angst into stories as though fiction writing was therapy. This pity me narcissism leads to rejection slips. Good writers do bring out of themselves something true and useful, but self-examination can quickly lead to bad writing. This navel-gazing approach to fiction comes from bad creative writing teachers, IMO.

[OregonWritersSpeak]

Good writers do bring something out of themselves useful and true, but my goal is to understand why this process goes terribly wrong for so many people. Women who are martyrs are just one group. Another big group is people who feel unacknowledged, who inject themselves into a story world to gain that feeling of acknowledgement. Same end point, weak, vague main character created to act out the author's issues in life.

[ScottieDM]

You're right. Using the term "theme" is imprecise and potentially confusing.

I was working on a short story a few weeks ago (set it aside for a bit) and the theme is dreams. Every scene contains something about dreams. Dreams as daydreaming, as literal dreams, and as plans for the future. But as I was writing the 1st draft of the final section I kept asking myself, "What is this story about?" Finally figured it out.

Theme: dreams

Promise: growing up

The promise drives the story forward.

[OregonWritersSpeak]

Good observation. I saw an early draft for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Begins with an old lady wanting an old husband erased from her mind; then he comes in to erase her. They've spent a lifetime meeting, falling in love, divorcing, erasing, meeting.

Same basic plot, but a completely different story than the film released, which is about the relationship having a chance when she finally hears what's going on in his head. The film is about a man who lives in his head getting out.

[cilversky99]

Wow, this was helpful

I am very guilty of this!

[mikeevansnow]

this guy is amazing. thanks for you tube!!

[OregonWritersSpeak]

I would say that many unpublished writers are unaware of what a novel is about until 40 to 100 pages in. The problem comes in if they don't go back to the first page and revise it to reflect that understanding.

The deeper, underlying issue is that many people write novels to process their feelings. Such writing never requires a main character to act with any clear purpose EVER. The character is created to act in a way that reflects back something the author wants/needs to experience.

[OregonWritersSpeak]

Since a novel's main character typically embodies a story's promise, introducing that main character without introducing their purpose in a story simply leads to writing that lacks purpose. It can be painful and tedious to read in some of the unpublished novel manuscripts I read, and the complete opposite of what I see when I work with published authors.

When a story's promise isn't established, readers have to memorize details about characters. It hard work, not a pleasure at all.