Building Character & Plot

Issue 6 January 2013

Building Character & Plot

We are continuing our discussion on character and plot in this edition. As we all know, if readers don’t care about the character, they aren’t likely to read the story. Conversely, the readers may care about the character, but if nothing happens, we’ve still lost them. There is a delicate balance that we need to maintain between character and plot. I like the way Larry Brook put it:

“When what the hero believes is her reality experiences a sudden shift.  Suddenly there’s a new deal on the table that sends your hero down an altered, unexpected path…. The more invested the reader is in the characters… the more the stakes of the story have been made relevant to those characters…”

From The Most Important Moment in YourStory

 – a guest blog by Larry Brooks

Posted by Stephanie Shackelford  on

 “Routines for Writers” Published in Craft

Brooks says this shift in the character’s experience should occur with the first 20-25% of the story. He calls it the First Plot Point and the point in the story where we need to captivate our audience. So while we’re concentrating on endearing our character to the reader, we must also think about what situation will occur to cause this shift.

As an example, I’ll use Katniss, a very popular character from the best-selling novel by Suzanne Collins’  The Hunger Games. Katniss’ most endearing traits are that she is strong, yet self-effacing, and she loves her family. Katniss’ shift in reality comes when her younger sister, Prim, is chosen from the lottery of tributes to participate in the fatal Games and suddenly Katniss is compelled to volunteer in order to save her sister.

Now writers can’t just come out and say the character loves their family if they want the audience to truly understand that character. The readers have to SEE these characteristics in action, through the character’s movements, the choices he or she makes and his or her reactions to others. Let’s take a look at Katniss through the actions that define her.

Collins SHOWS us that Katniss loves her family in several ways. It’s not just in the way Katniss volunteers for the Games in order to save Prim’s life. It’s the way she pushes through the difficulties of losing her father, and essentially her mother, when she is twelve. Katniss could have become bitter towards her mother, who sinks into an immobilizing depression. She could have just shared the food with Prim and refused to give any of the scant supplies to her mother. But she didn’t. Katniss scavenges for food in garbage cans, at the edge of the forest, and eventually learns to hunt to keep her whole family alive. It’s the way Katniss buys food for her family by adding her name extra times into the Games lottery, increasing her chances of being called to fight and die for others’ entertainment. The reader respects Katniss’ choices and understands her shock when Prim is selected as a tribute her very first year of being entered into the lottery for the Games. The odds for Katniss becoming a tribute are huge, while the odds are against Prim being selected.

From the moment that Prim is picked from the lottery, Katniss’ perception of reality changes. Suddenly betting on the odds is thrown out the window. Her beliefs are crushed by the unlikely event of Prim being drawn from the lottery. Now the author has us hooked and she can show us more of the spunk that makes Katniss likeable to the reader. One such time is when Katniss is ignored during her private training session with the Gamemakers. Her anger gets the better of her and she shoots an arrow into the roast pig which the Gamemakers are about to eat. Then she leaves the stunned group without being officially dismissed. Katniss’ biggest worry isn’t about what punishment will befall her; it’s about what repercussions her action will have on her family. These are just two examples from many about how Katniss’ love for her family is displayed in her actions.

I encourage you to read both The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and “The Most Important Moment in Your Story” by Larry Brooks. One will entertain you and the other will inform you about writing. Use what you learn to develop your own writing skills in this quarter’s Writing Challenge.

 

Response to Writing Challenge #5

Topic: Why Should I Care?

Since we’re talking about character, let’s combine two exercises into one. Select the characteristics from someone in your own life who you feel strongly about and put them into the below situation. Whether you love them or hate them doesn’t matter; just keep them as close to the real person as possible WITHOUT using any real names. Your goal is two-fold: keep your action moving along the plot graph for 500 words AND show the aspects of your character through their choices and thoughts.

 

The Gift

Georgia picks up a rectal thermometer hanging on a shelf in the Infants Department of Macy’s Department and smiles. “Do you think Angie will understand my commentary on having a baby out of wedlock?” she asks Diane. Diane looks down and giggles softly as she says, “No comment.”⁴⁸

Georgia’s wide smile reveals perfectly aligned false teeth and well-defined crinkles around her blue eyes. She clutches the tables filled with baby blankets, having refused to bring her walker once again. Diane follows close behind her trying to steady Georgia by the elbow. A loud cracking sound vibrates the floor and rattles plastic baby bottles at the end display and the entire store is thrown into darkness. Georgia’s ailing feet betray her and she stumbles forward.

“Mom,” Diane cries out. Her voice is soft, but filled with hysteria. She visualizes Georgia’s round body pitching forward, hitting her head on the corner of some unseen glass shelf. Diane grabs the back of Georgia’s sweater. Georgia catches herself on the table.

“Will you calm down? I’m fine.” The emergency lights sparsely dotting the store ceilings come on in time to show that Georgia just missed toppling over a cardboard display of disposable diapers. The display is still quivering from her impact.²⁰⁸

“If you would at least use your cane I wouldn’t get so worried.”

“You like it; you use it.” Georgia puffs slightly from the exertion and rubs her shoulder from the strain of catching herself. Her coloring has turned yellowish. Diane puts an arm around Georgia’s shoulders and guides her through the dark to a nearby bench. Her own heart pounds madly as she leans against a clothes rack of miniature suits with little ties in primary colors. Before Diane recuperates, Georgia calls out, “Oh look at those cute frilly dresses,” and fairly runs headlong to the display.

“You are going to be the death of me,” Diane announces, shaking her head.

“I loved dressing my girls in pretty pink dresses when you were little.” Georgia wistfully fingers the ruffles remembering special days. “Girls don’t even wear dresses anymore,” and she turns on her heal heading down another dark aisle.³⁵⁷

“Maybe we should just stay still until the lights come back on,” says Diane, catching up with Georgia by a shelf of baby medicine. It is directly under one the emergency lights.

“You still afraid of the dark?” Georgia gives her that mischievous smile again, holding up a baby of baby aspirin. “You know the best birth control? An aspirin held between your knees. Maybe we should give Jane this bottle with a note.” She heads toward the cashier with both the bottle of baby aspirin and the anal thermometer.

“No electricity, no service,” says the cashier. “You’re welcomed to wait it you want.”

“Darn waste of my time,” complains Georgia as she drops the items on the shelf and head for the door. “Let’s go home.”

“Thank God!” says Diane, trying to keep up with her.⁴⁹⁴

 

THE END

 

Writing Challenge #6 Impress Me!

Are you ready to dive in the deep end? I’m hoping some of you will take the plunge and submit the results of this next writing challenge for publication. The risk is drowning in a rejection, but that’s the only way we writers can learn to swim into earning money. Take the plunge; take the chance; toughen your skin up for the long haul!

For this quarter’s writing challenge I’ll refer you to my favorite writers’ newsletter, Fund for Writers. If you don’t already receive this newsletter, I encourage you to subscribe. Hope Clark creates a wonder source of information for all writers struggling to get published. I’ve drawn on information Hope presented in January 11, 2013, Volume 13 Issue 2. Her guest article is “Selling Halloween:Making Money with Spooky Stories” from Steff Green. You may want to read it for additional sources of income for writers.

One of the possible publishers Steff mentions is Tor.com.  I chose them because they pay well (25 cents/word for the first 5,000 words). So let’s sum up that courage, write a decent story, help each other improve it, and submit that story for publication! This story will NOT be published on my Facebook page. It will only be sent to the small group of writers who are currently receiving PD Contributors’’ Corner so we can give and receive suggestions and support to one another.

Story Topic:  a Halloween Horror Story

Number of Words: 5,000 or less

You can use the plot graph below to help you stay on track. Make your character realistic and story spooky. If you’d prefer to try your hand at short articles, read Green’s article and make your own selection. We can still critique each other’s work.