Hi, I’m XYZ. Can I be your love interest?
Jun 10, 2010 
Time for me to throw myself on your mercies, dear readers, and ask for some help. Let me lay out the issue.
Characters, for me, often live inside my head. Many writers will say this, to the point where I think non-writers will roll their eyes a bit (though quietly and in private where the writers can’t see and kill them for it). But it’s just an easy way to say that we spend so much time thinking about them that our characters become fully-formed, fleshed out people with their own decisions, and it’s hard to sometimes get the characters to do what you need them to do because the motivations you’ve already decided upon for them just won’t push them in that direction.
Of course, for me, it’s only main characters that live in my head. The lesser characters don’t really need to be known that well.
In THE IRON WOOD, my current WIP, we’re just coming to get to know a new character. Is he a monster? A spy for the Facility? A nice, misunderstood boy in dire need of a bath and a hairbrush? A potential love interest? WHO CAN SAY? (Actually, I can, but that’s beside the point.) And yes, I’m only introducing the potential love interest 60,000 words into the story. I am aware of this. This is an issue for the rewrite, folks. Stay focused.
The point is that I’m really struggling to write him. Part of it is that Lark, my main character, has been alone for almost the entire novel, and I’m used to her solitude and how she handles it. Part of it is that I am seeing this new character the way Lark does, because she is the predominant voice in my head–and she sees him as confusing, inscrutable, and possibly quite frightening. And part of it is the issue of buildup–he’s been behind the scenes throughout the whole book, with tiny touches here and there, and now he needs to be finally revealed as a fully-formed character, but it really is the first time I’ve met him, too.
So here’s my question: how do you guys get to know a stubbornly shy character who refuses to introduce himself? Do you fill out character sheets? Write vignettes about his childhood? Pretend to interview him? Have conversations out loud, pretending to be him? I’ve tried all of this in the past (yep, even the conversation thing–I’m a writer, I have no shame) and none of it seems to be appropriate in this situation, though I may just be being stubborn myself.
I’d love to hear any input or suggestions! Don’t be shy, I’m ready to try absolutely anything. And even if all you have to offer is commiseration, well, I could use some of that right about now too.
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Honestly, I just start typing away and see how he comes out. Dialogue works best. I figure I can always edit away inconsistencies later. Usually, they form their own personality!
This is a reaaally good point. This whole draft for me has been about reminding myself that I can fix anything in a rewrite, and that I don’t need to stress about things NOW, just get it down.
ZOIKES! (Yeah I really don’t think that’s a word but I feel it’s appropriate anyway). I am in EXACTLY the same position with my male potential love interest. I want him to be awesome, and I have a certain idea in my head of what I want to do, and what I want him to believe, but IT’S JUST NOT COMING ACROSS. The pan just ain’t sizzling, you know? So firstly, commiserations to you. 😉
But I have been a-thinking and a-pondering on how to make him work, and I think some useful strategies are:
1). Use Lark as a starting point for the guy. IF he is a potential love interest (I’m going to run with the idea that he is) ask yourself what kind of guy does Lark need to balance out/complement her personality?
2). Theme song. Every character needs a theme song. Haha though this is harder to control, sometimes you hear a song and think YES that is exactly how my character thinks/describes his relationship with the girl.
3). Actually there is no three. I’m still in struggle street too…. But good luck- you’ve come so far I’m sure you can push through!
I think my best advice for fellow aspiring writers is to surround themselves with other aspiring writers. And for JUST THIS REASON. So nice to know I’m not alone!
I love the theme song idea. I’ve done that in the past but never thought of it for this situation, possibly because I can’t imagine pairing music with this guy, who is just way different from my usual male characters. I sniff a challenge… Away, iPod! Let us romp!
Come up with a few different situations. (ex. a situation ythat would normally be cause for joy, sorrow, surprise, ect.) and then ask yourself “how would he react? Would this make him happy, sad, ect. like it would other people? I find that usually my character will let me know 🙂
To take this advice a step further, I’m thinking it might be helpful to do a series of miniature vignettes, just outlining his reactions to those kinds of situations. I think for me the issue is the specifics of writing it down rather than knowing in my heart what it is–if that makes sense. I know he’s in there somewhere, just need to figure out how to specifically get it done.
I’m with you there! Except instead of my love interest(s) (can you tell this is a new development?) it’s my main character. I haven’t pinned her down yet, and I think I will try all of these suggestions. And, of course, continue writing. As I write more I’ll get to know her better, but I do wonder how she would react in certain situations…
Also, I echo outfortea about the theme song. I downloaded this song that, quite accidentally, became the theme song of two of my characters… thus complicating their relationship. It’s both a good and bad thing, since it’ll add more depth to later scenes, but it’s also thrown a curve ball in some other scenes… but I’ll just wait and see how it plays out. It all depends on my main character. In the meantime, I’m going to get to know her better. :]
I love how music can really attach itself to certain feelings, people, memories, etc. It’s such a valuable tool with any kind of art, really.
Let me know how your relationship with your main character goes, and if you get any breakthroughs. And, you know, exactly what you were doing when you had said breakthroughs, so I can replicate it… 😉
What works best for me is to work out a mini biography for the character, laying out background to help explain why the character is the way he is and how he got to where he is. Whether on paper or in my own head, I find it helpful to work out the character history.
Plus, it helps me to keep in mind that the character had interests and a life before his first appearance in my story.
This ties into the same things I’d do for getting to know characters in acting classes. I was a terrible actress, but had such fun writing character sheets. This is a great idea!
I try to push the character into various scenes and settings and see how he reacts. And as Kat says, dialogue is always great to discover what he’s like. I’d started off with this character thinking he was a loyal Knight and all but when I pushed him and the others into a bad situation, turns out he’s a traitor!
Keep making him appear in your story so you know what he does and how he acts. Even if he’s not needed in that scene. You can delete it later but the knowledge will always be yours 🙂
Hope this helps.
Great ideas. Thanks for the advice! And oooh, love traitors. They’re so much fun to write!
I’m finding it super helpful to ask you guys when I get stuck. My character has become much easier to work with since I asked for help. 🙂
Hopefully I’m going to have an excerpt to post in a little bit, so I can introduce the character to you guys.
Characters going awry
I think the best thing that works for me is to let go of my plans for that character. Just let yourself be okay with them turning out differently from how you imagined. In one novel, I introduced the hero’s best friend, and as soon as I put him on the page, I knew he had to be the villain in the end. I kept fighting it and fighting it and trying to make him JUST be the heroes best friend. But in the end, he had his way, and the story was better for it.
Sometimes the issue doesn’t have anything to do with what the character is doing now. It’s that we have this preconceived notion of what the character should be doing in the future that screws it all up. It’s like always wanting your baby to go to college and be a doctor. It’s a great goal, but if you can’t let it go, you’ll close your eyes to the fact that your baby just might be a talented artist who doesn’t want to go to school at all.
He’ll tell you how he wants to be. Just go with it. Good luck!!
Re: Characters going awry
This is great advice, and actually one of the reasons I can’t quite make detailed plotting in advance work to me. When I cling to one direction in the plot, I tend to close myself off to the random flashes of inspiration that make for great twists and unexpected windfalls of cleverness.
And this is definitely what’s been happening with Oren. It’s been a case of overthinking–when I stop panicking and just write, he comes as naturally as breathing.
Thanks so much for the comment! 😀