One
of the pleasures of great fiction comes when a character you love takes
an action that you didn't foresee and yet is so right for the character
that it feels inevitable. You find yourself saying, "Of course! That's
so like her!" The flip side of the experience is the character whose
action so surprises you that you scratch your head and flip to the cover
just to make sure you're still reading the same book. That's emotional
resonance at work (or not at work in the second example.) Character
interviews and charts listing personal appearance and habits are an
excellent beginning, but how do you move into the realm of what makes a
character internally consistent and emotionally true? To get at the
deeper character, a writer has to ask herself deeper questions. Here are
two to get you started.
What
is the virtue that my character's family or friends or community values
most highly? What is the worst sin this character could commit in his
social circle?
For
example, soldiers don't leave men behind. They will risk everything to
bring the body of a fallen soldier home. This has been true since Hector
and Achilles were fighting at the gates of Troy. The worst shame and
guilt that a soldier suffers is from a failure to protect his men, even
in death.
This
question gets at the heart of what motivates your character's choices,
and gives you a basis for escalating the conflict in your story. The
more you put a character at odds with his personal moral compass, the
more tension you will have in your scenes. It also protects you from
unintentionally making a character choose something that is inconsistent
with his values. For example a good soldier may well leave bodies on
the field in retreat, but he would never do so without exhausting every
option and suffering remorse. Having your character's core virtue or sin
firmly in mind helps keep that character consistent and emotionally
resonant.
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Author Bio: Rosanne Parry
If
you are interested in exploring these ideas further, please consider
taking Rosanne Parry's conference workshop Character and the Seven
Deadly Sins. Rosanne is the award-winning author of Heart of a Shepherd
and two other novels. She has taught workshops at Fishtrap, SCBWI, NCTE
and numerous schools and book festivals across the country. She lives
in Portland. http://www.rosanneparry.com
