In my head my character is exactly how I want them to be but when I put them into a storyline they seem to fail somehow, nothing like the one in my head. I'm doing something wrong but can't pin point where it begins to go wrong. Help!
In my head my character is exactly how I want them to be but when I put them into a storyline they seem to fail somehow, nothing like the one in my head. I'm doing something wrong but can't pin point where it begins to go wrong. Help!
I started writing a screenplay years ago. I knew exactly what the storyline was, everything that was going to happen, and I had really interesting central characters.
After about 70-odd pages, I had a read through it and it was boring. When I "analysed" it, the 3 main characters all liked each other. They all agreed with each other. There was no tension or chemistry between any of them. That's what was missing.
Could your story be in a similar situation?
Thank you Lorraine and Kim you've helped a lot. Yes you are right Lorraine my characters do tend to take on a life of their own and I end up writing plots and storylines to go where they lead, nothing like I intended. I will definitely take what you said on board and work on reading aloud it sounds like it might be an answer. I will also try the card system then I might be able to see what's going on. Thank you again.
What is failing, Elsie - the character or the storyline?
There are ways you can get inside your character, so that they appear more real: for instance, write the scene entirely in monologue/dialogue, with no 'he said, she said' or actions or any form of instruction. Then read it aloud. Does it sound natural, or does it sound 'writerly'?
Reading aloud is the best tool in the writer's arsenal, you know. You write with your ear, not just your eyes on the screen. What you hear inside your head changes when it's outside, I promise you!
Are you listening to your characters? Or are you putting them into the places you've set up for them? It may sound odd, but as your characters develop, they will refuse to fit where you think they should, but will want to do something you hadn't planned for them.
You can rein them in, or you can follow where they lead.
Can you 'see' each of them? Physical description, backstory - the part that you don't include in the novel, but which brings them to this point in their lives - and where you want them to end up can all go into your notes, so that you know them in some depth. Otherwise they become like paper cut-outs being shuffled round a cardboard stage.
Characters must serve a purpose, but they are people too. Perhaps you don't see them that way yet.
Hope this helps.
Lorraine