NaNo2010 > Characters 2
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Change
Welcome back! Today’s characterization lesson focuses on CHANGE.
In most novels, we see the main character change in some way. They grow stronger, realize some moral truth, or are in some way a better person than they had been in chapter 1.
This isn’t always true. Especially for long action-based series, you may have a main character that doesn’t change (Indiana Jones comes to mind). For books, however, we typically see some sort of emotional growth in the main character.
Your main character is vital. Your readers spend most of their time with this character and in most books, they begin to identify themselves with that character.
If your character grows and changes through the book and you realize it and control it, you might be lucky and get a glimpse at the THEME of your book, too.
Exercise
Today’s exercise is relatively easy. If your character changes or grows … how do they change or grow?
Imagine your character at the start of the book. Now imagine them at the END of the book. How are they different? What lessons have they learned?
Example
For Stained, my main character begins her journey quiet, shy, and with low self-esteem. I want her to END the book with a solid sense of self-worth. I want her to value and trust in herself.
Questions
Y’all know I loves me some questions.
- Why is she so shy at the start of the book? How do other people treat her that she has this personality?
- What would make her realize she has self-worth? What events would lead to her growing in this way?
Answers
I’ve already got a pretty good hook as to why she would be devalued in her society that is built into her original character spark. I’ll go ahead and stick with that one.
Why would she realize she has worth? The most obvious way is to have another character value her, or tell her she has value. I don’t like that idea much, though. Too straightforward, and the growing sense of “Shayla” in my brain rejects it. She needs for this realization to come from within, to sneak up on her. So … maybe she has to convince someone else that THEY are worthwhile, and in so doing, manages to convince herself. I like that, and brain-Shayla approves as well.
Would you look at that? I’ve got the hint of a conflict and the shadow of another character in there! (Note: this is NOT a plot!)
Future Lessons
I’m getting tickles that will lead to future lessons: THEME and GENRE.
I’m trying to keep these posts pretty focused, but you can already see how so much of it is entwined. Doing my Character 1 exercise gave me a hefty chunk of worldbuilding I’d been missing. Looking at how I want my character to change is showing me that my theme may be in self-empowerment and the genre is likely to be Young Adult (these themes CAN work in adult novels, but the slowly-growing book in my head feels like a novel aimed at junior high me).
This is good. This is excellent. So much of writing a book is nebulous and mental – I don’t expect to be able to turn it into a science experiment, nor do I want to. The end goal of the book is to tell a fantastic and entertaining story. I don’t want it to feel like a blueprinted and regimented machine – I want it to live and breathe and inspire.
You know…I think I have an idea for a book you should write…and you could write a book within THAT book.
.-= Steve Hall´s last blog ..Dashes and Hyphens: The Long and Short of It =-.
@Steve Hall
I might be wrong, but I’m detecting a jesting poke at my verbosity there. ;)
Very wrong :)
Your NaNo series could be an excellent “how-to” book, especially if you wrote a novel inside the “how-to”. I’m serious.
Who agrees??
.-= Steve Hall´s last blog ..Dashes and Hyphens: The Long and Short of It =-.
@Steve
*laughs* don’t how-to books typically require the person writing them have impressive credentials? ;)
I kid (a little). Thank you very much for the confidence that this series of posts will be that worthwhile. I certainly WANT them to be useful to more people than just me (and more books than just this one).
I’m keeping links updated in my Best of the Blog page > http://tamimoore.com/best/ . I’m really hoping this series turns out to be awesome (and yield an even MORE awesome novel!)
I agree with you that most characters change, but not all. I follow an editor’s website which said the same thing, but used James Bond as an example. Instead of growth of character, you get a larger-than-life person with action-packed scenes.
My most recent character believes she’s above emotion. Over time, she let’s more people in, which opens her up to pain. Because it’s a series, I’ve added a lot of obstacles to keep her growing and increase tension.
.-= Theresa Milstein´s last blog ..Dancing Queen =-.
@Theresa
Nice strategy with the series! I like it when the character growth is planned (instead of accidental) throughout a whole series. Otherwise I feel like I end up reading the character learning the same lesson seven or eight times. *eyeroll*
.-= Tami´s last blog ..Hunters are OP =-.