Writing Isn't For Wimps: Part 2

"Easy reading is damned hard writing." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

So you've written a beginning. Be proud. You've put words on the page or screen. However, this is no time to rest on your laurels. You've got a story to build and to do that, you need some essential building blocks, the most vital of which is the characters. You see, without them, what have you got? A whole lotta nuttin'! Blank lines, an empty screen...your story is kaput without them.

Y'all remember Mr. Bean, right? (Thanks, Linda, for this idea!) You know, that lovably awkward, bumbling English buffoon who seems to stagger from one embarrassing situation to another. Everybody laughs at him, but everybody loves him. Ever wondered why that is? And now that I've made you go there, ever wondered what the comedy would be like without him in it?

Watch any episode of Mr. Bean and you'll discover a number of things that point to the importance of characters in storytelling. First, he's engaging. As the song says every move he makes, every step he takes, we're watching him. And as we watch him, we're learning about him, feeling empathy or amusement. So that's Rule #1 in character building...make them engaging.

Yes, I know, I know, you want to know how to do that. It's simple, really, though executing it can be a royal pain in the tuchus. To make your main characters engaging, put them into situations in which they must act and speak like real people. Give them flaws or weaknesses, whether physical or emotional, that make them relatable and redeemable. I've written characters whose parents are dying or who have one leg or are blind. I've written large women and small men. I've written fearful and arrogant characters.

But what about the secondary characters, you ask? The same principle applies, with a caveat...you won't be spending any time exploring their arcs through dialogue or narration. All that effort must be expended on the MCs. The secondary characters are important, though, for the same reason as the MCs...they are central to advancing the plot, by virtue of their interactions with the MCs.

Back to Mr. Bean. In addition to being engaging, he's relatable. Not because any of us is like him, but rather because we see echoes of ourselves or people we know in him. he calls to the humanity in us, even if we're the smoothest, coolest, hippest people on the block. Each of us has a weakness, something that would make us vulnerable if it were known. Mr. Bean has selective mutism, and his character is based on Rowan Atkinson's very real struggles with stuttering in his youth. See what I mean? Relatable....we all have something that makes us less than perfect, and that may even open us up to harassment and ridicule. We laugh at Mr. Bean, but we also feel for him.

Let's not ignore the fact that despite how laughable the situations in which he manages to get himself, Mr. Bean's character is clearly delineated by his actions as much as by what he does or doesn't say. He's got his routines down pat, and we know what to expect whether he's at home or abroad. His personality makes everything he does at once predictable and new. Rowan Atkinson has said he won't reprise the role of Mr. Bean because he doesn't want him to grow old. At heart, he's an innocent in a cynical, impatient world. We love him for that, and we'll never forget him.

I am a firm believer in the motto "Character drives plot." I don't enjoy stories with main characters who are unrelatable, unbelievable, and/or un- or underdeveloped. Such stories make me roll my eyes or wish for dire punishments upon the heads of the authors who put them out there. The ones that make me laugh, cry, get "all the feels" -- to steal a phrase from common parlance -- are the ones I remember fondly and go back to time after time. Those are the ones with people I want to get to know, people I respect and admire, people I fall in love with, people I want to be when I grow up. And those are the stories I aim to write.

So, to review. Characters are the foundation upon which all good stories rest. It stands to reason, then, that starting with characters -- back to the beginning, in other words -- is a surefire way to hook your readers' attention. Make them talk, act, be who they are, and put them in situations guaranteed to make your readers sit up and pay attention right out of the gate. Then let them grow by continuing to place them where that is most likely to happen...with others, by themselves, in happy and sad circumstances, through laughter and tears. Let them speak, not as your mouthpiece -- nothing is more aggravating than a preachy character who's just a mouthpiece for the author! -- but as themselves. And watch your story glow!