Writing fictional characters who learn and grow or find redemption is this week’s topic.
Writing Tip for Today: What are some ways to write redemptive characters?
Start with Loss
An effective character is one with a goal. This implies that the person has lost something or hasn’t ever achieved it—but who longs to. The character might be seeking true love, but has suffered rejection. Maybe this person wants to belong but is not accepted. Or perhaps the character appears to be the only person who still champions some virtue such as loyalty, honesty or forgiveness.
Your Main Character will likely need that goal passionately, deeply, consuming their entire existence. One way to test the level of desire is to apply the So What? Test. If the character doesn’t achieve this goal, so what? The ramifications of a failed goal must be important, deep and meaningful.
To create this character, reach into your own emotional past. Relive the feeling of longing, of feeling as though the goal is too high or too impossible. Imbue your character with those same deep emotions. Then add courage—you may never go to great lengths for your own deep desires, but your character must.
Add Worthy Setbacks
As we’ve discussed before, your character should lose quite a lot. When the adversary or an obstacle, pops up, make your character work hard to overcome it. And when that person loses anyway, show readers how they change their strategies to mount new tries at overcoming obstacles.
Part of your character’s success depends upon creating worthy obstacles or antagonists. Beware of making things too easy. The story is in the battle, not the outcome. If your character wins, the story’s pretty much over.
A worthy adversary forces your character to become more inventive. By constantly having to reinvent the approach to one’s goal, readers see growth and change over the course of the story. A character who keeps rising to the moment gives readers hope.
To create this character, reach into your own emotional past.
Redemption Rules
By the time your character has lost again and again, even the bravest will lose hope. Create a believable “all is lost” scene where your character feels utterly defeated. Where he doubts he’s got what it takes to reach the goal.
Everyone doubts themselves at one time or another. By giving your character this dark night of the soul moment, you humanize and show the character as relatable to readers. In life we often walk away at this point. But in fiction, the character generally finds the last shred of courage to try one more time.
Even if in the end your character doesn’t realize the goal, redemption lies in how the character has grown or changed over the course of the story. A character sometimes understands that the goal isn’t really what they wanted. Characters can poignantly walk away, knowing that their worth doesn’t lie in outer goals or other people’s approval. Write this character honestly and from deep human emotion, and redemption is bound to make readers care.
