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| Writer's
Blog 15 |
It's
probably a very common
problem.
You invent a character. Initially,
he's only there as a prop, perhaps to
bring some necessary element into the
plot. But he's pushy - and he
starts to have a life of his
own.
Soon your head is busy with his entire
"back story".
You know when and where he was born,
what sort of town he grew up in and what
his school days were like. You can
see, as clearly as if you'd been there,
what trials and triumphs he's lived
through in the years before he appeared
in you story. Best of all,
some of these incidents are funny or
exciting or both.
Sounds great doesn't it?
The creative juices are flowing and a
whole new sequence of scenes is rolling
out of your head onto the
paper.
Ah, but wait a minute: you had a story -
and a plot - before the new guy
appeared.
Is the new man helping that story?
Or is he going to take it in some new
and unwanted direction?
Is he a valuable addition to your cast
of characters? Or is he "a
character too many" - someone who's
quirks and adventures will be an
unnecessary distraction from the plot
that you invented at the beginning of
your labors?
There is another possibility: that your
new character's story is the
story that you have to tell - because
it's better than the one you first
thought of!
I've been thinking quite a lot about
these questions because of the new
character who has recently strolled into
my own work. I'm coming to the
conclusion that "the new guy"
is a welcome addition, but that I won't
be able to use everything that I now
know about him. Not in this book
anyway..
©
David Gray
22
March, 2006. |
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