Hi. Day two in a Week in Writing has us looking at both character and world building. These two topics are huge themselves, so I'm going to briefly touch on both so that this post won't take seven years to read. :)Character ... Many writers begin a story with a character. Something about a hero or heroine pulls them in, and a story revolves around it. Honestly, that's a great way to start. That typically means that your story won't be a two-dimensional plot with cardboard characters. I normally come up with a plot first, and work my characters in, but I like to do things the hard way.
There are many facets to character, the least important, in my opinion, being a character's physical characteristics. Normally in a romance, the hero or heroine is attractive. I mean, come on. Who wants to read a romance about ugly people? This is fiction, not real life. But it's the quirks in a character's make up that really bring interest to a piece. What is the hero's background? Was he an orphan? Were his parents drunks? Did he come from the good old Amercian family with morals and values he embraces or rejects? What has made the hero who he is today?
The key to fleshing your character is to let the details slowly come alive. There's nothing worse than reading the backstory of a character in four pages at the beginning. Ugh. Show, don't tell. I'd rather see dialogue that shows my heroine a sassy girl instead of being told she is. It's much more effective to read it in action than in narrative.
And solid character applies to more than the hero and heroine. Secondary characters can also be quirky, solid, and tell the reader a lot about the main characters. A drugged out best buddy might show a heroine with compassion or one with a problem herself. Does she work at a halfway house or just has a lot of tolerance for people with hard vices to kick? And let's not forget that the background can be a character in itself.
...which leads me into World Building. Ever seen/read Star Wars? The Matrix? Gone With the Wind? Hello, Harry Potter 1-7? Each of these stories was memorable for its characters, and for the world in which those stories took place. World building is key in futuristic and paranormal stories, where the author has a huge hand in creating the background. The key, however, to great world building is consistency. Sure, you need to be creative. But if you break your own rules, you invalidate the integrity of your work, and your readers will certainly be turned off. I once read a story where an alien race had to leave a planet because their world was dying. They left for Planet X, and Planet X was this perfect refuge that suddenly turned into a nightmare. The people fled back to their own planet. Hello? I thought it was a dying planet. But miraculously, everyone was wrong and we had a happily ever after. Not. The writer had broken her own rules to make the story neat. Well, it didn't sell me. And I never bought another of her books.
Part of world building is organization. Spread sheets and databases that let you, as a writer, remember details is a must. Even if you use a wire-bound notebook, keep your notes by your side as you write. And it's best if your world is built BEFORE you write your book. It's never a good idea to be in the middle of a key scene wondering what your characters can or can't do, because you didn't create the rules before they encountered x or y. And trust me, I'm talking from experience.
World building is so much fun, though, that I can't stay away from alternate worlds. How interesting to create worlds and species that interact. And the more creative, the better. I'm constantly amazed at what JK Rowling did with Harry Potter. Who in the world doesn't now know what a muggle is? And she kept it consistent in all of her books. Same with Star Wars. Can there be any doubt of what a Jedi is? How cool is that?
To sum up today's post, character and world building can make or break your story. Without character, why bother with plot? And if you don't keep your world building consistent and break your own rules, you're going to lose your audience, as well as a cohesive story.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow, when we hit the ominous world of Editing....
Marie
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