194 single spaced, typed pages, countless had written pages more drawings and doodles than I can count. I’ve been through about six packs of post-its and the timeline alone takes up an entire wall in my bedroom. I know that smacking my head against bricks is something that all writers come up against but for crying out loud, I spent at least about 6 hours pacing in front of my Time-Line-Wall yesterday and all I came up with is question after bloody question.
Why is this guy so mad all the time? What is it that he’s looking for that he can’t find? Why does this dude hate that dude so much? Why is that girl so scared all the time. Why is this woman so sad? How do you get through catacombs full of illusion spells, strange creatures and still make it to dinner on time?
I know these questions are important. If I’m asking them, the reader will defiantly ask them. There cannot be holes in the story and if there’s one major importing thing that acting has taught me, it’s that the greatest way to make a character believable, is to give them history. Give them a life.
If I’d known this little tid-bit a just a bit earlier in my life, I probably wouldn’t feel that my progress was so slow. I’ve had to break down the story by the people. By the protagonists and antagonists. The heroes and villains. No one’s a bad guy just because they choose to be and the same goes for the hero. There is always a catalyst. Most people are pretty content to live out a mediocre life. But those who’ve experienced something profound are the ones who end up with greatness in one form or another. Weather one becomes a great hero or a great villain, depends on the mind set, string of events and company that surrounds the individual after said profound event.
Now, this isn’t just something you have to consider for the main character and villain. You have to take care to create lives for the supporting characters as well. Or else you have the problem I’ve run into. They seem hollow. Empty. Boring. They’re no fun to write about and if you’re getting board writing about someone, I promise the reader is going to get board reading about them.
For instance, if you have a supporting character who vehemently hates the main character, just saying they’re a bully and describing their actions against person A isn’t enough. WHY is person B a bully? What made him/her that way? Was it mom? Dad? Both? Maybe it’s a lack thereof altogether. Maybe mom and dad are wonderful people and the anger issues are due to mistreatment from another source.
Here’s the thing, even if you will never actually share these juicy little details with other readers, it makes person B far more interesting to write about and therefore, more interesting to read about. That way you won’t have random “Crewman #6” who gets killed and no one cares. You have someone with a name who lost their ‘life’. This person, no matter how annoying, stupid, rude, infuriating etc, played a part in shaping person A into the hero/villain that he/she is today. Therefore, no matter how small the part, the character is important enough to be given a LIFE. Because their life is a part of the lives of the main characters.
I realized much of this today while I was sitting at the bus stop (the bus was almost 30 minutes late), watching the snow begin to drift down from a gray sky. A young woman came walking up with a huge, heavy looking backpack and an old, blue coat that was badly stained on the front with some kind of blackish smear. She had bright eyes and a ready smile and she was more than happy to tell me all about the classes she’s taking at the community collage, about her husband who took the car to work today, all about how teaching 3rd graders is more difficult than 2nd graders (guess what she’s going to school for…).
I’m not the most social person. In fact, outside of work I usually avoid human contact as much as possible simply for the reason that I find most humans to be irritating, annoying, stupid, rude, irrational and completely without common sense…see where I’m going with this?
While I was sitting there wishing Mrs. Dirty-Coat would go away or at least decide to stop speaking to me, I suddenly realized that she might be shaping some part of my life. And sure enough, even though her part in ‘Leah’s Daily Story’ was small and seemingly meaningless, she’s the part that stuck with me through the day. She’s who I remember. She reminded me that I needed to give LIFE to my minor characters.
So, whoever you were, Mrs. Dirty-Coat-At-The-Bus-Stop, thank you for talking to, and therefore, annoying the crap out of me. You made my day, darling. J
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