The lovely Angela Ackerman wrote a brilliant post last week about characters with secrets, and she was kind enough to mention Compulsion in it. The got me thinking about why both readers and writers love secrets, and it led me to an epiphany that’s going to change how I approach character development.
I’m starting a new book outside of the trilogy. A brand new book with brand new characters. Isn’t that bizarre? This week, I turned in the final book of the trilogy. I’m trying to spend my days not hyperventilating while I wait for my agent and editor to chime in. It’s such a bittersweet moment. I’m done, but I’m also done. I’m going to miss this world and these characters. I know them so well. I know their secrets, their hopes, their fears, their vulnerabilities.
That’s the key. Secrets make us vulnerable. The people who know our secrets are the ones who hold our sense of self-worth, our relationships, our very futures, in their hands. But the people who know our vulnerabilities and handle them with care, the people who see the ugliness in us and like us anyway, those are the people who come to care about us. Those are our friends.
A reader can forgive a character almost anything as long as they understand why that character did what she did. They want to see the character be vulnerable.
Vulnerability is what creates connection. So how do you use that to create a riveting character?
Finding the Courage to Be Vulnerable
To create vulnerability in our characters, we first have to acknowledge the vulnerability in ourselves. Becoming an author is all about finding the courage to explore vulnerability. We’re naturally resistant to that.
- When we first start writing, we tend to create perfect Mary Sue characters who have no dark, ugly sides, no selfishness, no tempers, no jealousy, no bad traits or habits.
- When we finish our early manuscripts, we want to believe they have no vulnerabilities, no plot holes, flabby prose, two-dimensional characters, weak settings.
- When we finally realize maybe our manuscripts could stand a bit of improvement, we find a critique group, but we don’t always want to really listen to what our critique partners want to say. We’d rather not be vulnerable to constructive criticism, so we leave ourselves no room to grow.
- When we finally figure out that no writer can see their own manuscript clearly, and that no writer writes a perfect manuscript, we roll up our sleeves, and we finally pour everything we have into the manuscript we’re working on. And then we hit send on the queries or submissions, and that’s an incredibly vulnerable moment. We’re literally exposing ourselves to rejection.
- When we finally get an agent, after many weeks, or months, or years–and possibly/probably many manuscripts–we think we’re over the worst part, but then there are revisions, and the submission process, and getting editor rejections. A whole new level of vulnerability.
- And once the book is published, there’s a whole new potential round of rejections by reviewers and readers, and that’s very public, and there’s nothing more vulnerable than that.
Lack of Connection Is One of the Most Common Reasons for Rejection
One of the common things an agent or an editor might say when passing on a manuscript is that they didn’t feel a connection to the main character. Readers might not feel a connection to the characters either, and that may cause the to like a character but not love them.
Not all characters can be lovable at the beginning of a book. Some don’t want to open up, or they, like my Barrie, might have a steep character arc, but there has to be something for readers to hold on to. You have to give the reader a way into the character.
Courage, Fortitude and Perseverance
“Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor – the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences — good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as “ordinary courage.”
- Have weaknesses that they either see or fear to expose
- Reveal those weaknesses to the reader and to at least one other character
- Face something that requires them to confront those weaknesses and persevere as they struggle because of those weaknesses
- Have the courage to continue struggling, because something matters more to them then their own self-image, comfort, or life as they know it.
- Have the fortitude to continue the fight when others would give up
What Do You Think?
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