by K L Going
out loud. You might need to write several versions of a conversation before you reach that critical balance that makes your characters seem real while not interrupting the reading experience.
TYPES OF CHARACTERS_
Once you understand action and dialogue as tools for developing characters, the question arises: Who do you give the actions and dialogue to? When you have many different characters, how canyou decide which character gets to speak that great line or make that important decision?
When you begin a story, it's important to be very clear about whose story you're telling. When I critique manuscripts, one of the most common problems I find is confusion over who the main character is. Sometimes a character that seems to be set up in the beginning of the novel as the primary character ends up with the least amount of action and dialogue. Thus the character arc lacks fulfillment. Instead of feeling most attached to that character, I lose interest in his struggle.
This is an easy trap to fall into. Many writers relate experiences where characters they intended to keep in the background gain prominence as the story progresses. Characters can take on lives of their own, which is great because it allows for spontaneity as we create our novels, but when push comes to shove, it's still our job to make sure the right story gets told. Sometimes, that story might truly belong to a character other than the one we thought was the main character. If so, this will involve going back to square one to start over again. But more often than not, what needs to happen is for you to be clear in your own mind about who the main character is and what that character's story arc should be.
Remember this: The main character is the one the story is about. She is the one whose actions should most affect the plot. Can there be more than one main character? Yes, in certain circumstances such as novels told in alternating chapters, this can work, but generally it's difficult for the audience to be truly invested in more than one set of goals. This is not to say there won't be other major characters with story arcs of their own. A secondary character can even end up being a reader's favorite character, but in the end, the story is not his, and if it was, it would be told very differently.
Secondary characters exist to interact with the main character. They might be fabulous, interesting, hilarious, or brilliant, but if they didn't relate to the main character's story, we wouldn't know about them. Consider comic books as an example. Every hero has a sidekick, and while he is central to the story, he never takes over the main character's role.
In addition to the main character and major secondary characters, there are also minor characters who play smaller roles in your main character's life. I've often heard these characters likened to extras on
a movie set. Some extras have speaking roles and they might reappear during the course of the movie, but others will only be seen in the background, never being named or clearly defined. In fact, whether you give a character a name is an important clue to your readers as to the level of that character's importance.
With every character you create, be sure the amount of time you spend developing them is proportional to their importance. Let your reader know right from the start who your main character is and be consistent throughout. The most action and dialogue should go to your main character and the major secondary characters she interacts with.
STEREOTYPES_
So, if your main character is supposed to be the one you develop the most, how can you bring minor characters to life? This is a tricky issue, but there are times when stereotypes can be used to a writer's advantage. In our society we do our best to avoid conventional forms, but a writer must be aware of readers' prefabricated notions and either use them as a quick way to shed light on background characters or de -stroy them as necessary.
When dealing with your main character and your major secondary characters, stereotypes should either be avoided or given a surprise twist so your reader doesn't feel like he is reading a cliche. When a major character relies too heavily on stereotypes, your reader will feel like he's read your story before and it will be difficult for him to suspend his disbelief. However, if you take a conventional character type, such as the popular cheerleader, and give her companion traits the reader isn't expecting—a MENSA IQ perhaps, or maybe a rebellious streak and a penchant for tattoos—this will wake the reader up again. We're interested in what's unfamiliar. That's why characters with interesting quirks are so attractive.
Think back to your first period history assignment. It might be helpful to recall how many books have come before yours and how many different characters readers have already seen and interacted with. You want your characters to be one of a kind, not only so you're not copying what might already have been done, but also because unique characters will make unique choices that will drive the plot in directions no one expects. Including you!
The times you can use stereotypes without subverting them are when you're developing minor background characters you want your reader to be able to recognize without taking the time to tell that character's entire story, or when you're using parody or humor and want to poke fun at the stereotype itself.
Orson Scott Card says in his book Characters & Viewpoint:
If we think that a particular stereotype is unfair to a group it supposedly explains, then we're free to deliberately violate the stereotype. But the moment we do that, we have made the character strange, which will make him attract the readers' attention. He will no longer simply disappear—he isn't a walk-on anymore. He has stepped forward out of the milieu and joined the story.
Stereotypes can be a tool, allowing the reader to feel like he knows a minor, insignificant character, or they can be a launching pad for creating an against-type character, but either way they must be used judiciously. When you choose to use a stereotype, you not only
risk boring your readers, you risk offending them. Choose your risks wisely.
YOUR MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS_
No matter what type of characters you decide to create, remember that, when done well, characterization can be your most valuable tool. It's the characters your readers must root for, sympathize with, or despise, and the more real your characters seem, the more real the story will become to your audience.
Take time to study the teens you interact with in your daily life. See if they have traits you can use. Human beings are complex, and this complexity makes us endlessly fascinating. Characters you vividly portray, exploring their nuances and delving into their motivations, contradictions, and emotions, will draw your teen readers in and allow them to gain insight into themselves as they recognize pieces of who they are in what your characters do and say.
Our teenage years are characterized by exploration of the world as we transition from childhood to adulthood. Experiences are new and intense, and our passage to self-discovery is at a critical juncture. As teens recognize the places of darkness and light within the characters we create, they will also begin to recognize those places within themselves. We owe it to them to dig deeply, offering more than what is on the surface of human nature.
As an author for young adults, you have the opportunity to bring to life characters that will stick with your readers long after they have closed your book, illuminating aspects of human nature that might otherwise have remained in the dark. You have the chance to influence your readers at a time when they are still forming their worldviews and discovering themselves. This is both the solemn responsibility and the great joy of writing YA novels.
because he allows her to connect to the world instead of shunning it. For the young man who yearns to be on the football team, the teacher might also be the football coach. Pay special attention to which characters seem most interesting to you. Which ones do you feel you could most easily develop? What draws you to them?
If there's one thing that remains vivid from my teen years it's the school lunchroom. I can still recall the smell—it was never a clear smell, always an amalgam. For me, there was a feeling of nausea that was both related and unrelated to that
scent. The odd thing is, I spent very little time in the lunchroom because most days I wiled away my lunch period in the choir rehearsal rooms. So why does the lunch experience stand out so vividly?
I can answer that in one word: drama. There was always something happening in the cafeteria and most of the time it wasn't good. The lunchroom meant making difficult choices—forming alliances as you chose where to sit and figuring out how to avoid the more obvious pitfalls of unwittingly stepping into someone else's territory or, heaven forbid, tripping while carrying your lunch tray. There were consequences to these actions. One wrong move and you might be the object of the nearest bully's ridicule or the laughingstock of the whole school. Entire reputations could be made or shattered in the lunchroom.
This is what plot is all about. Good plots have something at stake. They're full of the triumphs and heartbreaks that make us human, and there are consequences to every decision. They take navigating, and it isn't easy to wind your way through.
To explore the essentials of plot, it's necessary to look closely at conflict, believability, and resolution. These three things make up the engine that will drive your book forward, taking readers along for the ride before depositing them safely home again. Once you understand the heart of plot, it's possible to look into the mechanics of developing a story line from start to finish.
WHY CONFLICT?_
Conflict isn't fun. In real life, most of us avoid it like the plague. It's ironic, then, that nothing can draw us into a book faster than a good dose of conflict. Take a look at these first sentences from popular YA novels:
They promised me nine years of safety but only gave me three. (Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess)
"Dear Lord," prayed Mercy Carter, "do not let us be murdered in our beds tonight." (The Ransom of Mercy Carter by Caroline B. Cooney)
Things had been getting a little better until I got a letter from my dead sister. [Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles)
What do they all have in common? They open with conflict. It's clear right from the start that all is not well, and instantly the reader wants to know more. How did the situation get to this point? How will it be resolved?
Our interest in conflict is threefold. First, and most importantly, it provides that page-turning quality where we can't wait to know what happens next. Without conflict, a reader can pretty much guess what will happen in the story because no one will do anything surprising or tantalizing or outside the bounds of the familiar. With conflict, the options are abundant, and the only way to find out what really happens is to turn the page.
Second, conflict inspires strong emotions, both in your characters and your readers. When we're drawn into the tension an author has created, we allow ourselves to live vicariously through the book. Although we might not want to feel terror or grief or anger in our own life, experiencing it through the filter of a character's life gives us a chance to explore that emotion without consequences to ourselves.
Third, as we learned in English class, conflict can be a way to explore character development because how a person handles a given situation tells us a lot about him. Most people are naturally curious about our fellow human beings and when we read, we see people in action—people faced with tough decisions—so we have a chance to observe and judge their choices. Conflict is present in every genre. It's even present in books we might perceive as "light" reading. That teen romance novel your fifteen-year-old niece packs for the beach? It's full of conflict. If the guy and girl started out together there would be no need to keep reading. That humorous new Louise Rennison novel that will make you laugh until you cry? There's plenty of conflict. Just read Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and you'll see that main character Georgia Nicolson's life is no walk in the park. How could she make us laugh so much if she didn't get into precarious situations that constantly required outlandish solutions?
There are many different types of conflict that can affect our characters. Sometimes that conflict is delicious, like sexual tension crackling between two characters who haven't yet admitted their love, and other times it's dangerous, like the cloak-and-dagger events surrounding a teenage spy. Sometimes conflict takes the form of grief or embarrassment or pain. But always, it's the anticipation of resolution that keeps us turning the pages to learn the outcome.
BELIEVABILITY_
As we turn the pages, there's one important quality that can't be ignored: believability. If plots are driven by the conflict that is set up in the beginning of the book, believability is a reader's willingness to suspend his disbelief and go along with the story as it unfolds. This is not to be confused with realism. Realism means representing things as they are in reality, but believability has little to do with reality and everything to do with your reader's state of mind.
Have you ever had the experience of being so immersed in a fantasy novel that you forget the characters aren't human? Have you jumped when reading a horror novel? Cried when reading a love story even though the events portrayed are clearly outside the realm of anything that would ever happen in real life? That's believability.
You want your readers to be so immersed in your characters and story that they forget they are reading a book. This is a particular challenge when writing for teens because teens are so aware of different forms of media. They are inundated with stories on TV and in movie theaters, and these days, with the prevalence of behind-the-scenes shows and DVD bonus features, they know a lot more about
the mechanics of how stories are put together and marketed than they used to. If a story seems contrived, a teen will be instantly catapulted out of the book. Instead of caring what happens, she'll be thinking, "This isn't real."
Believability is important, so when you're crafting your plot, make sure you choose characters and events that draw a reader in, inviting her to suspend her disbelief. Much of this quality will come from your writing style, but some of it will come from the choices you make and the choices your characters make. If you're writing realistic fiction, be aware not only of what is true, but of what your readers will perceive as true. Both are important.
RESOLUTION_
No matter what type of conflict you set up at the beginning of your novel, it must have some kind of resolution by the end. This is a basic tenet of plot, and at first glance it might seem flat-out wrong—what about the countless novels that leave us hanging, suspended without knowing the fate of the main character? What about books where the hero dies or the couple doesn't end up together? Certainly we can all think of books that don't wrap things up neatly at the end.
But resolution in writing has little to do with wrapping everything up. In fact, unless you're writing a deliberately formulaic novel, the more perfectly you tie everything up, the more likely a reader is to find your story hard to believe. Readers recognize that stories reflect life-even if that life takes place on another planet or in a fantasy world of our own creation—so they expect at least some degree of ambiguity.
Resolution in novels has more to do with carrying a theme from beginning to end than with providing an answer to a stated problem. I've heard it said that when a reader begins a book, she makes an unspoken contract with the author. That contract is shaped by the type of book she's picked up (the genre, the design, the promotion, etc.) and by the setup the author imposes in the beginning of the novel. If an author starts out writing a thriller, the audience wants it to remain a thriller until the end. If the main character begins by making a plan to find his long-lost father, we want to see whether he accomplishes his goal. Even if he does not accomplish his goal, we want to hear how the quest has changed him along the way.
Many, many times resolutions are not satisfying in the sense of making us happy or erasing all questions from our minds. They can be infuriating or painful. They can leave you hanging, asking yourself more questions than when you began. But there must always be some acknowledgment of where you began when you end. Not a literal stated acknowledgment, but a sense of a journey taken and fulfil
led.
Plots have beginnings, middles, and ends, and endings are what you leave your readers with, so it's important to ask yourself how you want to affect them. Even if you want to leave your readers yearning for more, you still need to give them some sense of completion.
Try mapping out your novel on paper. Write down each of your main characters and chart the journey that character makes. Does each character arc have a beginning, middle, and end? Does each character change in some way? Do they accomplish the purpose you set for them? Or did you leave them hanging?
Do the same thing for each theme or conflict you introduce. Which themes are present from the beginning to the end of your novel? Are any of them abandoned midway through? Which conflicts are resolved and which ones are left unresolved? Were your choices realistic?
Resolution is an important part of any plot. The ending of your book is the last thing a reader will think about before he's done reading. Spending the extra time to make sure you've gotten everything right will allow your book to be remembered for all the right reasons instead of all the wrong ones.
Now that you know the basics on which a plot hinges, it's time to get down to the nuts and bolts. When you're sitting in front of a blank computer screen, how do you begin to organize events so there's plenty of conflict, a satisfying resolution, and enough credibility for your readers? You've got the idea and you've got the characters, but you need the structure.
How will you tell the story? Will you tell it in a linear fashion where events unfold as they would in real life? Maybe you'll want to use flashbacks. Should you reveal everything from the start or should you hide key pieces of information to be parceled out as the story moves along? Gould you open from the point of view of the bad guy and then switch to that of the good guy later on or should your point of view remain consistent?
Each of these decisions is dependent on the type of story you're telling and your strengths as a writer. Young adult is a broad category, and different genres within the boundary of YA fiction have different styles of writing associated with them. You'll want to be aware of what those styles are in case you want to use them. For example, it's common for fantasy novels to open with a scene featuring the villain. Mysteries are usually dependent on the author keeping certain information hidden from the reader. Romance is commonly written from multiple points of view.
