The Art of Entering into Character and Story

Admittedly I partly ripped off this blog post title from an old Wing Tsun text that promised to make me fight as good as Bruce Lee. That book was called the Art of entering into trapping. The parallel is in that to effectively trap a limb, a good fighter needs to set up the trap, and to create good character and story, an author also needs to set it up.

I recently read a book and after the first several chapters, two characters had been introduced. How should I describe them? I know — a guy, and another guy. They had occupations, and nothing else of note.

All I could think was why — why had the author taken all of that time to introduce me to two guys that were way too boring to even be my friends (and I’m an author so you can only imagine my epic lack of friends). I’m not hanging around with any rock stars people! No Formula One drivers or even brain surgeons — so if your characters are making even me bored, what does that say about them?

So how does one make a character that lives and breaths? The answer — layering. First find a trait that is intriguing. Any trait, it could be as simple as a the bounce of a ponytail when someone walks, or as complex as a well developed life philosophy (for example, ancient stoicism). Interesting, right — because interesting, is interesting. But don’t quit there.

You gotta add another layer. So now we have a pony tail bounce and a life philosophy, but why not add something else — say a predicament (committed a crime with some fellas and her partners in crime all got caught. So far nobodies ratted her out but they easily could at any time). Wouldn’t that predicament colour the character’s emotional tone in whatever story you use her in? It’s a good character, right?

Wrong.

You gotta add another layer. How about a background? She was raised to be a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan but because she lived in Belize, it was never understood by her peers. You get the idea.

So if it works for Character, why not for Story and pizza pie as well? The answer — it does.

Mmmmm … Pizza