  Short Stories
This week: Character Entanglement Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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This Issue:
Character Entanglement
One of the easiest ways to advance your story skills is to make sure your characters need each other.
How do you make sure your characters are in conflict with each other or that they have conflicting needs? |
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I recently rewatched the first season of the AMC series Into the Badlands. One of the things I found really striking and well-designed about this show was the character relationships. It's an undeniably violent show so it is Not For Everyone, but if you like Hong Kong action and apocalyptic retro-futurism, well, this series has a LOT to offer. While I was watching, I kept seeing how well the characters were laced together. There is a lattice of inter-dependent character relationships, which makes everyone in the main cast an important character!
I'm in the middle of some heavy revisions while I am getting my book out on query, and so recently I've been thinking a lot about good ways to implement characters in stories. I streamlined some character roles, wrote some people out of the story, and even unmurdered some characters I'd tried to get rid of by killing them off, because it turns out that I didn't need them in this part of the story and I like not killing people. Even when they're not real. Heh heh.
When it comes to characters in your stories, you want to make sure to be as efficient as possible in the decisions that you make about them. This can seem really counter-intuitive, since we also want our stories to have the vibrant variety of humans that we all have in our daily lives as well. It can be really tempting to handle a plot or story problem by adding another character to the mix--and I've definitely had times where I expressly needed to expand my casting, but that's another issue entirely!
In short stories in particular, a big issue I've found with a lot of early writers' short stories is that the cast is usually a little too big. A rule of thumb I like to use for gauging the "volume" added by characters is to assume that any character after the first three is going to increase your word count if everyone is rounded out relatively well in terms of details.
I also like to think about ways that I can re-purpose my characters so that I don't have to introduce a lot of smaller-time characters. If you have a habit of dropping in background characters, try to find ways that they can be implemented in more than one place or scene! This also helps with your world-building, because it enhances the feeling that these characters live in this world and come and go as they please, like real people.
Additionally, it's worth paying attention to how each of your characters relate with one another, if they meet--it's a little thing, but think about how you might feel differently about each of your mutual friends than they feel about each other. Tenuous connections, bitter rivalries, long-dead romances, contorted love-polygons? Consider how each of your characters know each other, and what they might need from one another. It's a weird way to phrase it, but think about it! You have different things that you need or want from each of your friendships, whether you can see the specifics from up close. I have different friend-groups that range wildly from "professional contact" to "random internet friend" to "second family" and the things that I get from those relationships are all very different but still rewarding. These are all things to look at in trying to make your story appeal to the reader. We like reading about characters who are dynamic and engaging, and we get the best sense of those dynamics through the ways they interact!
One of the things that comes up a lot as writing advice is to think about your main characters' needs or goals, and I think that's especially important here. What are your character's needs? Do their needs conflict with the needs of another character? If so, in what way? Can you play up that difference to good effect?
Until next time,
Take care and Write on!
Jay |
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I was thrilled to hear from so many of you after "Inspiration and Focus" ! Thank you so much! I'd love to hear your thoughts about this issue as well!
brom21 writes:
I very, very rarely have dry seasons. But that rare occasion afflicted me for about two days. I found that the ideas were not rolling around in my head to cease and organize them. It was disheartening. Then I just went to the computer and slowly I began to narrate what was going on in the mind of my protagonist. That created a chain reaction that created elements and story line. Thank you for the insight of where to go for inspiration too. I'll be sure to use them!
What an intriguing writing exercise! I have been known to occasionally force myself to do timed writings where I describe the room that I am in, but my mind very often wants to rebel against these kind of exercises. I think your process is a great suggestion!
Shannon  writes:
Hi, Jay! Great NL. My husband is a gold miner and has been for 26 years. He works for one of the largest mining companies in the world: Barrick Gold Corporation. He could talk all day about mining, though most of it goes way over my head. Also, thank you for featuring my story "The Game" in this week's edition. The nod is very much appreciated. 
Oh wow, that's so cool, Shannon, and thank you for the link! I loved your story and was only too happy to feature it here!
RedButterfly  writes:
Hi Jay, thanks for your letter from the editor. Its very good to have you describe my experience of being stuck and unable to focus on writing. I finally decided to work on a collection of short stories and I went blank. Its not that I can't write. I journal every morning for atleast an hour. I've done that for 35-40 years. But I'm stuck at 'what type of story' to write. I know I want to write a collection of short stories, set in the city I was born and raised in. I know the characters (people from my childhood) My goal is to write stories that depick the African American experiences in Seattle Wash between years - 1945- 2000. But, my mind has gone blank. The rest of my experience you described in your letter from the editor. O.K, O.K, O.K., I will just start writing and hope the structure will emerge while or after I've written enough to see what techniques I need in order to tell the story well. Yes, I'm one of those creatures who thinks on paper. Thanks for being here.
Jackie
What type of story to write can often be a difficult question to answer for yourself, especially when you are bursting with ideas and history to contemplate! For what it's worth, I often think that I work well when I have a good spark between having a character with a goal, a hurdle to get in the way of that goal, and a situation or a setting that helps to enhance why I want to see this character try to succeed at their goal despite the obstacles in their path! Hope that helps to give you a little nudge, because I am sure the setting and situation that you've indicated (the African-American experience in Seattle, WA from post-WWII to the turn of the 21st Century) are definitely well-suited to this!
🐕GeminiGem🎁  writes:
When I am home from work because I am sick, my muse comes out to play. I do my most productive writing at these times. I don't think it is my illness that is the creative factor, but being home in a quiet house by myself...dressed in comfy clothes, sitting in my favorite chair, with only my dog pack for company that does it. I need to take a staycation to test my theory, however.
Definitely voting in favor of a little staycation to test your theory about your writing productivity! I think that's a great idea. Just remember to give yourself plenty of rest as well, a full day's writing can be even more strenuous than a day in the office, as it were. 
Dee writes:
I appreciate you choosing my tale, The Aguta, as one of your Editor's Picks. Thank you!
The strategy that helps me to focus is nothing surprising. I take out my Jack London quote and think about it long and hard.
The quote is: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
Well, okay, I think about it for about five minutes or so, *then* I get my club out and write!
Hahaha! I definitely agree with that quote! A lot of times, I have difficulty starting because I have too many potentials and not enough actuals... so I end up thinking about lots of stuff and not finishing any of it.  It's a known problem.
And you are quite welcome! I am always on the lookout for good stuff so I'm glad to feature your story!
Quick-Quill  writes:
I'm in the same boat. I began entering WDC contests. Then I ran out of ones I liked. So here I sit. A basic storyline with a flimsy goal. My writing group decided to take a work book and apply the whole book to out own story Idea. I hope this helps me focus.
That sounds like a fun project! Let me know how it goes!
innerlight  writes:
Jay, I prefer to do writing exercises to bring out the creative side of me. Random words tend to push me off in to many different directions. Thank you, for your helpful advice.
Ooo, Random words is always a good one! I sometimes struggle with random word prompts because I'll end up leaving the original word behind and never thinking of it again. Which is fine for some stories, but can be irritating if you're trying to enter The Writer's Cramp or something. 
justjenz2013 writes:
Perfect timing Jay. I am trying to get back into writing after a long break which was unwanted. Finding all I can manage at the moment is blog entries and venting. I have started writing exercises like writing a paragraph without using one of the vowels. This way I do not expect to write a master piece but have had some interesting collections of words. Not giving me anything postable but at least I am writing something and that is how I look at it.
I think that's a great way to look at it, though! Every little step helps you to feel better and more confident in your writing, especially after a long time away from it.
That's all from me this time around! I'm always so glad to hear from you, so please feel free to reach out!
All the best,
Jay
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Short Stories: March 29, 2017 Issue [#8208]
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