Showing posts with label motivations. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2015
Repost: The Little Reasons A Story Works
It�s not enough to have something dramatic happen in a story. The reason why it happens is also important.
In terms of impact on a reader, there�s a big difference between a character getting upset about losing their house to the bank and getting upset because their favourite tv show got cancelled.
What happens keeps the reader interested in the short term. Why it happens is what keeps them interested over the course of an entire novel.
For the big things, the major plot points, the premise, the reasons why it�s happening will be something the writer is probably already aware of and working on to make sure its importance is clear.
The guy doesn�t want the girl to leave because he loves her, the secret agent wants to find the bomb before it kills everyone, the cop wants to catch the serial killer because yada yada.
Obviously, being aware you need a reason is only part of it. You still have to come up with decent ideas and execute them well, but as long as you know where to make those reasons clear and interesting, you�ll have as good a chance of making it work as is possible.
However, the big moments aren�t the only moments in a story. Characters have to go about doing stuff, getting to places, interacting with each other. Those scenes also require characters to have reasons for doing what they�re doing.
Since those moments aren�t of such great consequence, it can be easy to let them slide. Make them as short and quick as possible and get them out of the way. You need a guy to go to the store because once he gets there he finds the place overrun with Martians and the story gets going. So he tells his wife he�s going to get some milk and off he goes.
And that�s perfectly plausible. It won�t have readers throwing the book down in disgust, they�ll keep reading, probably, as long as things don�t get too pedestrian. But not turning them off isn�t really where you want to aim for. The question is, will it keep them engrossed and turning the pages?
Because flat, generic, emotionally bland scenes don�t tend to hold the attention. And just because we haven�t got to the bit with the aliens yet, doesn�t mean it�s okay to coast.
If, for example, the wife wants him to get five things from the store and tells him to write them down so he won�t forget, and he gets pissed off because she has no faith in him and he refuses to write a list but she texts him the list, so he takes a photo of a dog taking a dump in the street and sends it to her... well, maybe you don�t have to go quite that far. My point is you can create tension and emotion and reveal character and have a dynamic already in place using the smallest of scenes.
That way, when he does get to the Martians in the 7-11, he�s not going to arrive like he�s idling in neutral, and the reader isn�t still waiting for the story to start.
In real life, people do things for the same reasons as everyone else. If I say I�m eating a sandwich you won�t require an explanation, you�ll just assume I�m hungry and eating is what you do when you�re hungry. As a writer, though, there is room in the seemingly ordinary to stimulate the reader�s interest.
If a man says he�s going to the bank, there�s no reason why the bank scene can�t be interesting and engaging.
If man says he�s going to the tanning salon, there�s no reason why that won�t be an entertaining scene.
But if a man says he�s going to the bank, but he drives past the bank and pulls up outside a tanning salon, you�ve already got the reader�s interest before the scene has started.
You can get away with giving characters the usual, familiar reasons for doing things, but the potential for the unexpected or unfamiliar to engage a reader often goes unexploited.
If you look at any moment in a story and the reason why the person is doing what they�re doing, and then just ask yourself if the reason could be something more interesting, or if the character�s mood could be better shown, chances are you�ll be able to engage the reader and start building momentum so that you�re already up and running by the time you get to the take off point.
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This post first appeared March 2013. Holidays are over. Next week, new post!
Monday, May 26, 2014
What Motivates The Bad Guy?
Some characters are just born bad. Serial killers, werewolves, bankers�evil is in their blood and they are driven by a compulsion to do terrible things.
But not all antagonists are out and out villains. Just because your mother stops you doing anything fun, interferes in everything you do and guilt trips you into giving up your exciting plans to go curtain shopping with her, does that mean she�s a psycho who can�t be stopped? Hmm, okay, bad example.
My point is while there are some types of characters whose motivations don�t need to be explained because they are basically insane and can�t help themselves, most of the time the person acting against your hero needs their own reasons for pursuing their goal in such determined fashion.
The hero of the story has a moral obligation to do the right thing, it�s what makes them the hero. They may struggle with their choices, but ultimately they act from good intentions and wanting things to be better.
The bad guy, or at least the person in your hero�s way, may also believe they are acting from the best of intentions, but sometimes it can feel like they make life hard for the hero because that�s the role they�ve been assigned. You�re the antagonist, so antagonise.
In some cases all that brings these two parties into conflict is that they�re after the same goal. A love interest, the Ark of the Covenant, the right to wear the crown�whatever it is, the fact they want the same thing is enough to put them at loggerheads, but is it enough to keep them there?
If two guys are interested in the same girl, if she�s dating the captain of the football team but showing some interest in the class geek (who knows, he could be a billionaire in the making), why not just dump her? If the captain has genuine feelings for her, won�t he be offended by her disloyalty? If he just considers her a pretty adornment, he can find a replacement in the cheerleading squad.
If the plan to assassinate the President is running into a few setbacks due to that ex-Navy Seal running around the White House, maybe take a rain check. You can always shoot the President another day, not like you won�t know where he�ll be. Since when did cold-blooded killers insist on sticking to a schedule?
Obviously, in order for the story to not end on page 22 you need the bad guy to persevere in his efforts, but often the need to keep the conflict going ignores the mechanics required to enable that to happen. He�s the bad guy, he won�t give up, right?
In some cases things go very smoothly for the bad guy, all the way until the third act when the hero suddenly pulls himself together and out of nowhere blows up you Death Star (Oh, no, not my Death Star!).
There are also various conventions you can use to provide a purpose to the villain�s actions. If the cop is closing in on the bank robber planning a heist, you know the robber isn�t going to pack up and go home. He needs the money to pay for his kid�s operation, to pay back the mob, to feed his gambling habit.
But these kinds of reasons, while perfectly legitimate, can feel narrow and forced. Yes, that might be how it started, but as things change wouldn�t the villain�s priorities also? Just as the hero goes through different states of mind as he faces challenges, shouldn�t the antagonist also reassess his approach as circumstances change?
What can help push the story past these sorts of issues is to make the central relationship between protagonist and antagonist more than just about wanting the same thing, but something more personal.
Once people form an emotional connection of some sort their actions become far easier to understand.
But hate at first sight is as unsatisfying as love at first sight when it comes to getting people together. They looked into each other�s eyes and they knew they loved each other is something used in a lot of stories, but like any clich� it lacks any real substance. Similarly, just having two people become instant enemies because it�s their destiny to do so is pretty cheap and cheesy.
Whether it�s Hannibal Lecter�s fondness for Clarice, or Voldemort�s obsessions with Harry, when the villain�s desires goes beyond what they want to who they want it from, and we get to see that relationship develop, then the refusal of either side to back down will feel real and inevitable.
Even your mother�s endless criticism of everything you do and everything you like becomes understandable once you realise that she�s trying to help. She isn�t helping, of course, and usually making things worse, but her (misguided) belief that love means never leaving a thought unspoken explains why she won�t ever stop. Ever.
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Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tell The Reader Why Part 2
In the last post I took a look at making it clear what was behind a character�s actions and suggested that in most cases it's preferable to just tell the reader what's going on up front.
In this follow up I will attempt to clarify how and when to use telling to get the most out of a scene. As with any technique, a lot still depends on how well you execute it, but knowing the advantages and disadvantages should help.
For the purposes of this, the example I�ll be using will be a man breaking into a house.
There are three ways to do this in terms of character motivation.
1. I don�t tell you why he�s breaking into the house and either let you figure it out for yourself or reveal his reasons after the fact.
2. I show you in a previous scene why he needs to get into this house.
3. I tell you his reasons as he breaks in or just before.
1. Jerry squeezed through the window and dropped to the floor. He crouched, frozen, listening for any sounds.
In terms of making it clear what going on, you can do that very easily simply by relating what he does as he does it. There should be no confusion about the fact he�s in a place he shouldn�t be, that he�s worried about getting caught, and establishing tension should be pretty straightforward.
The way he acts, the care he takes to not get caught, will create suspense and drama and draw the reader into the story.
But how long will the reader wait to find out what he�s up to? And what does the writer gain in making them wait?
2. �I swear on my life,� said Miranda. �I left your mother�s ring on the bedside table the day we broke up. I don�t have it.�
Jerry nodded his head. �You�re a lying bitch, Miranda.�
In order to show Jerry�s reason for house breaking you would need to go back in time (either through flashback or by starting the story earlier). This requires extra work. You obviously want any scene you write to be dramatic and interesting, and you have to make a judgement about whether it�s going to be worth it.
You will be affecting the pace and entry point, and you may also be opening the door on a bunch of other reasons and motivations. If you�re going to show all motivations, where will it end?
And another issue is that it�s only possible to show fairly simple motivation. Anger or guilt or jealousy can be dramatised quite easily. Anything more complex or subtle isn�t quite so straightforward.
If Jerry�s breaking into his ex-faincee�s house to get back the engagement ring she claims she no longer has, and the reason it�s important to him is that he suspected she cheated on him but he could never prove it and if he finds the ring in her house, that would prove she was a liar and so indirectly prove him right for dumping her... how would you show that?
3. Jerry stood in Miranda�s bedroom and thought, If I was a lying, conniving bitch, where would I hide an engagement ring that didn�t belong to me?
How much info I choose to give the reader, and what tone I use (Jerry is apparently still quite upset with Miranda) is a matter of personal preference. But the question I would pose is this: does informing the reader about the character�s motivations take away from the reader�s curiosity about what happens next?
Because often the reason writers decide it is worth allowing the reader to be confused is because of the extra sense of intrigue it produces. But in truth, as long as the character�s reasons are valid, they won�t be any more interesting by revealing them later.
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