When we write from any character’s POV (Point of View) it’s tempting to record the story as if that character is a camera, observing life. But your character is not a camera.
Writing Tip for Today: Here are tips for a more effective way to guide your character and the POV:
What’s the Character’s Reality?
Every person has his own unique reaction to words. What one person conjures when I say “love” is quite different from your ideas. The same is true for characters. Your character must have a particular way of seeing “reality.”
As E. B. White maintained, “Don’t write about man. Write about a man. When we try to write about abstract concepts, it’s important that your character has his/her own version of the “real” story world. That viewpoint must infuse the character in action, dialogue and emotional attitude.
Without this unique view of the world, characters feel flat and generic. Cliches abound because the character has no unique feelings about the world in which they find themselves. The kicker? It’s usually not enough to “tell” your reader how the character views the story world. Instead, the writer must show the full spectrum of unique traits that fuel the desire for a goal.
What Are the Character’s Specifics?
How do we accomplish this reality? Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius, says that specifics are the best route to keeping readers engaged and showing the emotional underpinnings of the desire to achieve a goal.
In her book, Cron demonstrates by giving students a two-word phrase—barking dog. The responses by the students showcase an array of different reactions to this phrase. One person conjures a scary pit bull who lunged at the character when she was six. Another remembers a beloved dog who has passed away.
The variations are endless, but they must be anchored in the character’s emotional motivations. Imbue these emotions by the ways in which the character thinks, reacts, speaks and acts in response to a stimulus (usually some obstacle to the goal).
Your character is not a camera.
How Do Specifics Affect the Character?
All these characteristics cannot be simple recordings of what your characters sees and hears. That’s why your character is not a camera, simply recording what happens in an ambivalent manner. Every thought, feeling, bit of dialogue or action must reflect the character’s reaction to an event.
But even that reflection isn’t enough. To capture the story and goal best, the character should react to things that impact the story goal or obstacle. Events in the story which impact or challenge the character’s feelings should affect their perception of the story reality.
Over the course of the events (the plot), your character needs to grow and change in some way. Maybe the death of a loved one changes a character’s feelings around family. The character comes to believe that a potential mate is or isn’t what the character wants after a skeptical beginning. To make your character unforgettable, be intentional about the ways he/she changes and grows as obstacles are overcome. Readers will love all the ways your character is much more complex than a simple camera.
