Inspiring Ideas: The Character Driven Story

A question I get frequently in conversations about writing is how in the world do you think of things to write about?

This question haunted be before, during, and after my intense program at the University of Toronto. What the hell do I write about?

In the classroom, it’s a little easier to decide what to write about because the professors will typically give you prompts (until you hit third year). But waiting for inspiration to drop out of the sky is never going to help you find success as a writer, it will only stress you out and make you think you aren’t good enough.

I wrote an article, For The Days You Can’t Write, that has some tips on how to end writers block. A large portion of writer’s block is a fear of writing poorly.

It’s okay to write garbage sometimes.

Getting over the fear of being bad is something we all must work on as humans. But as writers, it is essential. Rejection is part of the field and it’s seldom personal. Publication companies choose to accept and reject projects for a host of reasons; tone, voice, economy, theme, are there genre editors available, they might not have room on their roster, or too many books in the same genre, there are more reasons to be rejected than not.

Don’t let publication be the goal.

When you’re writing a story, regardless of the stage, you cannot be thinking about who you’re going to send it to. This isn’t about the publisher, this is about the characters. Sit down and spend time with the story you’re imagining, take your characters on journeys outside their world, throw them into different contexts and see how they do.

It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.
William Faulkner

To create characters, you must play with their personalities and allow them to find their context. Do research on the era you’re writing about – and keep detailed notes. Understand the social, political, emotional, artistic, and legal contexts this character sits in. Once you know who they are, you know where they are from and how they react to their “normal” setting, throw them into a different one.

Taking your characters outside of their context helps you to understand them better. It’s like taking someone on a second date, was the first one just luck? Let’s go somewhere else to see!

Having trouble coming up with a new environment? Go somewhere new! You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a plane ride to Europe to explore, go into different towns near you, think about how your character would interact with the environment you’re in.

For example, Clara is an introvert who loves coffee and watching Supernatural. She enjoys reading, TV shows, and talking about reading and TV shows. If Clara goes to a concert with her friend Janice, and she sees a stranger wearing a Supernatural T-Shirt how would she approach? Would she approach? Is she also wearing supernatural merch, causing the stranger to approach her?

You create a bunch of characters and let them start bouncing into one another. That’s how a good story happens.
Dennis Lahane

Characters are people. To make them well rounded, you need to take them through some unlikely scenarios. Take your 14^th century Viking and throw them into a Los Angeles rave. Take that prim and proper lady you’ve been working with and put her in a car with a couple of death metal fans, how does she act? What does she say?

Creating characters is only difficult if you don’t do exercises. Fill out character sheets, or write your character in a host of settings. Try to put yourself into the mindset of this person. And remember, none of this is for publication, it’s just for you!

The most important thing is to

HAVE FUN!

No one wants to read the story you didn’t want to write. People can sense hesitation below words, they can see whether you enjoyed writing it from the words you use. It’s crazy, but I’ve seen it. If you aren’t having fun writing, we aren’t having fun reading.

I personally love character driven stories, they have dynamics that plot-driven stories simply don’t attain. The more complicated your characters are in their social situations, the more juicy a story we get to read.

Take inspiration from real life. If you hear someone speaking and they say something witty that your character would say, write it down. Talking to people is a great way to get inspiration for your characters.

My Shakespeare professor once said, “Shakespeare was the most famous writer, perhaps because he borrowed ideas from everywhere.” I wasn’t sure what he meant, considering that plagiarism and stealing intellectual property is a very real issue in the writing community. I understood when he explained that Shakespeare was writing about the real concerns that faced Elizabethan England.

In fact Hamlet, King Richard II, King Lear, Henry IV, and many other historical plays reminisce on the very real anxiety about who would take the throne after Queen Elizabeth.

Shakespeare borrowed anxieties, political climates, social strata, and played around with them. His plays are nearly entirely character driven, which makes who the characters are the central focus. Without characters, there are no stories. Without interesting characters, there are no interesting stories.

Your voice is unique, and your uniqueness is the only real asset you have in this world. Your characters should be emulated through your voice. Allow yourself to deviate into their minds and thoughts, and bring them to life with your words, with your voice. You are the only one who can create them.

Getting out of your head and into a different space is the best way to reset your mind. Take a hike, spend time with friends, talk with another writer you trust, take your dog on a walk, read, swim, play video games, paint, sing, just do whatever makes you happy. But once you’ve given yourself the space, be determined enough – nay, self-disciplined enough, to return to the project you’re working on.

Nothing great was written overnight. Every book on the shelf was poured over by the writer, the editors, the publishers, the beta readers, friends, family, and colleges. Don’t bog yourself down with industry expectations when you aren’t at that stage.

Have fun and write whatever you want. As one of my favourite professors always says, “it doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be done.”

Editing is another issue entirely.