Saturday, July 20, 2013

On Character Development

If you recall, my point on the post about strong female characters was that we simply needed more strongly-written characters in general.Now, I'd like to say a few words about how to get just that.



1. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CAN BE REVELATION.This, I've seen, is the most used development tool- the revelation.[SPOILER ALERT]Snape loved Lily and was watching out for Harry all the time.Doc Hudson was really the Hudson Hornet.Peeta was in love with Katniss.Bruce Willis is dead.Vader was Luke's father.[END SPOILERS]




At first glance, this appears relatively easy to do.All you have to do is figure out the character's true motivation, why they're hiding their true motivation, and voila!Instant character development.But just because it's easy doesn't mean it's best for your story.You really have to pull it off well, or it can get really old really fast.Not only do you have to make sure that you foreshadow the revelation enough that it makes sense, you also have to keep the audience in the dark enough that it's surprising.And the shocker reveal has to actually be shocking, or the audience will be groaning, "I saw that coming all the way back on page 43!"



2. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CAN BE GRADUAL CHANGE.This one is a wonderful tool for a long novel, series, or even a multi-season TV show.When well done, the change is so slow that it goes largely unnoticed, except for a few moments when the audience takes a step back and goes "whoa, that character changed a lot!"



I'm going to take a moment to brag on a TV show I watch: Supernatural.If you're on Tumblr at all, you'll notice the title of this show right away.It's about two brothers who fight supernatural monsters, such as angry spirits, ghosts, wendigos, tulpas, zombies, pagan gods and goddesses, werewolves, and yes, vampires.(They kill the ones that sparkle for free.Actually, they kill all the monsters for free.)It sounds like all fun and games, especially when the male leads are as good-looking as they are.But that's not why I watch the show.I watch it for the story and the character development.



Waaaay back in Season 1- actually, pre-series and told through a flashback- young Dean Winchester is asked what he should do if a monster comes crashing through their door."Shoot first, ask questions later," he replies.



Fast forward to Season 8, episode 23- the finale.Dean's grown.A lot.And as his friend Castiel the angel is about to stab someone, Dean stops him."Talk first, stab later."Not only has Dean's voice dropped; he's also stronger, tougher.The first two seasons were about the boys struggling to kill a demon.They do that on a routine basis now.Previously, if it was supernatural, the boys killed it.Now the lines are much fuzzier.They look more at the heart of what the creature is doing.That's what I call character development, guys.



3. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CAN BE TELLING THE TRUTH AFTER LYING FOR A LONG TIME.This one is somewhat related to number one, but not quite.See, revelation only works if it's a surprise for the audience.But telling the truth after lying?That deals more with the internal reasons behind the lying, and the eventual truth.Why was this character lying?Why did they decide to tell the truth now?What consequences does the truth have?When a character makes a change like that, it signals a shift in tone and relationships with other characters, which means lots of new dynamics to explore.



4.CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CAN BE SELF-REALIZATION.I'm going to talk about Supernatural again.[MILD SPOILERS] In Season 3, Dean has one year to live.At first, he takes a casual attitude about his impending doom, mainly so he doesn't scare his little brother Sam.Instead, he decides to spend his last year doing whatever he wants- celebrating Christmas for the first time in several years, getting drunk whenever he wants, things like that.His cavalier attitude frightens and frustrates Sam, who wants him to care, even just a little bit, that he's going to die.



However, after encountering a demonic version of himself in a dream, he realizes and confesses that he doesn't want to die.In fact, he's terrified of becoming the thing in his nightmare.This realization gives him much more depth than he would have had if he'd just kept being nonchalant about his death.It also gives us a little more insight into what he's like normally: all cool on the outside, but he internalizes so much and simply covers it with a suave exterior to hide how much he really feels like a failure.Cue all the sadness, guys.



BASICALLY, THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO GO ABOUT DEVELOPING A CHARACTER.Revelations, slow change, telling the truth after lying, self-realization, secrets, quirky traits, unexpected details- the list goes on.Just please, make sure you really are developing your characters as best as you can.



What are some of your favorite tools for character development?
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