Creative
Writing Tips - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
by: Nick Vernon
In the beginning of your
story you have to grab your readers' interest and sustain it till the
end. Our hook is our character. Readers keep on reading to find out
more about the character. To see what he'll do in the story; how he'll
solve his problems. What his goals are and whether he'll achieve them.
And because our character
is the reason readers become hooked on our stories, establishing him
at the start is a must in a short story. And it is essential to establish
him at the start because we don't have the capacity in our limited word
length to introduce him at our leisure.
The bond between readers
and character has to be developed almost immediately.
You might have a few characters
though. How do you decide who your main character will be? A main character
is one that drives the story.
Think of it this way. If
we were to take him away, there will be no story because it's his story
we are telling. The story will unfold by what is happening or what has
happened to him.
When you establish who your
main character will be, the next thing to do is to find which of your
characters is in the best position to tell the story. Will your main
character tell his story or will you give that role to another character?
This is what we call Viewpoint
and what we'll see in more detail in proceeding chapters.
Your main character isn't
necessarily the one who is telling the story; he might not even appear
in our story 'physically' but will be there through the thoughts of
others. So the viewpoint character might be a secondary character.
Whoever is telling the story
is the viewpoint character.
The viewpoint character gives
the coloring of the story. Whatever this characters says, we will believe.
It may or may not be true, according to the main character, but because
he isn't there 'physically' to voice his opinions, we will have to take
the viewpoint character's word for it.
In a novel you can play around
with viewpoint. You can have several viewpoint characters. In a short
story it works best with one.
So your main character, whether
he'll be telling his own story or someone else will be doing it for
him, has to be established at the start of your story.
Having said that, let's see
the reasons why the main character may not be telling his own story...
- Perhaps our main character
is one that readers won't sympathize or empathize with.
- Or the main character
will not view highly with our readers
- Or the viewpoint character
knows all the facts and can tell the story better
- Etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let me give you an example
of a secondary character telling the story of a main character.
Let's say your secondary
character is a psychiatrist and the main character is the patient. Depending
on what's going to go on in the story, we'll have to choose who's in
a better position to tell it. In this case, I will choose the psychiatrist.
I've done this because the
patient is confused, being the one with the problems. The psychiatrist
knows all the facts and his opinions will make things clearer to readers.
So, as the secondary character
(the psychiatrist) unravels the story, we'll become involved in the
main character because it's the main character's story that is been
told.
This may get a little confusing
to the beginner writer. As they write they will have to keep in mind
that the secondary character, although he's telling the story, is NOT
our main character.
The secondary character is
there to do perform a task. He's only the voice. It's the main character
we'll become involved with.
A secondary character doesn't
play such an important role as a main character does. Therefore, information
about secondary characters should be kept to a minimum. It's not his
story - it's the main character's story and the spotlight must, most
times, be kept on the main character.
Take the above example for
instance. It's no relevance to the story how the psychiatrist started
his career or where he received his diploma - what's important, is what
he has to say about the main character, his patient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Introduce your main character
straight away, as close to the beginning of the story that's possible.
Enable your readers to form a bond and that will keep them hooked.
Is your main character established
at the start of your story?
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