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Narrowing down the issue…
Plenty of characters but no plots. There are five stranded on an island in autumn with no chance of rescue until spring, and several flitting between 2016 and 1982… They all have individual stories (cause and effect and all that) but alas no goals – at least no goals strong enough to drive a narrative. Thousands of words have been written but the novels are lacking. And these characters won’t move over to make room new ones! Or maybe I’m a little bit in love with them. It feels good to say this out loud! 😁
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3 Replies
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It’s a good thing you’re in love with these characters, because it sounds as if you need to sit down and have a long, long chat with each until they give up their goals to you. And more importantly, their flaws.
Someone I know actually interviews their characters’ best friends to get insight about them that way.
Possible we’re all slightly crazy, but good luck with finding your plot and thanks for sharing!
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Interviewing your characters, or their friends – maybe their parents, bosses, teachers too! – is a very good way of getting to know them. As Kate says, you need to know their goals. Interviewers with characters are helpful for all sorts of things. Do they look you in the eye, do they resent being asked questions, are they over confident, what is their body posture, what does their voice sound like? Etc
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I’d think about putting them in pairs and seeing how they interact. And does that dynamic change when any of the others is added as a third person? Those different facets will reveal details of their personalities.
(Or so I’ve heard – never managed that myself.)
Analysing all those relationships and interactions might show you where the stress points are within your group. That will provide possibility for story arcs. It might show you that A wants to avoid B until rescue, that C wants to develop a relationship with D while they aren’t distrcted by the outside world, that E just wants to stay sane through six months of isolation.
The goals can be very intimate, personal things. And with five characters, that gives you room for at least 25 goals (for each, one relative to each of the others, plus themselves) to choose from. Personally, I’d make sure to focus on at least two pairs of contradictory goals, amidst a few others.
