OCTOBER, 2018
PEEPS AND PREDICAMENTS: WHAT HAPPENS TO
YOUR CHARACTER AND WITH WHOM
By: Alice Orr
Last month, I
talked about how to
“Create Captivating
Characters.” The
month before that it
was “How to Create a
Great Main Charac-
ter.” I keep harping
on character creation because characters
are the heart of strong storytelling. If you
make your characters come to life on the
page, they will make that heart beat with
a rhythm which captivates your reader.
First, we discovered why your main
character is so important. How your
main character‟s story is what connects
you with the reader, the avenue by which
you draw her in and make her care. Once
you have made her care, she is hooked,
and that narrative hook is essential to
writing a successful story. The reader
must become emotionally involved with
your character, not just a little, but in-
tensely.
Next, we examined how to make
your readers care so intensely about your
character. Then, we dug deeper to make
your reader care even more—how to tie
us emotionally to her fate, until we long
for only good things to happen to her.
Which means that you, as a storyteller,
must frustrate our hopes for her by mak-
ing bad things happen to this character
you‟ve seduced us into loving. I never
said your job as a writer was to be kind to
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your characters, or your readers either.
Now, we move not only deep, but
closer in to the individual person your
character will be. You accomplish that by
conjuring a context for your character.
Peeps and Predicaments. What
has happened to your character in her
life, especially her predicaments: physical,
emotional, psychological. Plus, the peo-
ple who had the first, huge effect on her
life, her most pivotal peeps, those who
loved her and wished her well, as we do,
or may have failed to do so.
You need a single, specific main
character to do this work, and you must
give her a name. Naming your character
gives her substance and reality, especially
in your own consciousness as her creator.
Crafting the specific substance and reality
of your character‟s context is your goal at
this stage of your storytelling. The con-
text of your character as a person, the
details which may or may not appear in
your story but, either way, will immerse
you, the writer, in her humanity.
You must delve into the central self
of your character by becoming her.
Here‟s how. Respond to each of the fol-
lowing questions in the first person, us-
ing “I.” Respond as your character, not
telling us about her but being her and
speaking in her voice. Concentrate on
how you, your character, feel about each
question. Answer more from your char-
acter‟s gut than from her head. Be spe-
cific, avoid theories and abstractions alto-
gether if possible.
This is where the fun happens, “the
magical mystery tour” of yourself as your
character.
What family member do you con-
sider yourself closest to, and what would
you say is the deepest, most true reason
for that closeness?
What member of your family are you
most distant from? How did this distance
begin, and why does it persist to this day?
What was the most memorable ex-
perience of your childhood? Recreate the
scene if you can.
What is the most important me-
mento you have saved from your grow-
ing-up years? Why have you saved it for
so long, and where do you keep it?
What incident in your life made you
most angry?
When in your life were you most
frightened?
What is the single thing you most
yearn for in life?
What is the saddest thing that has
ever happened to you?
When in your life were you most
happy?
Continued on Page 15
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