BUSINESS 134 [M] [1]
[2] [3] [4] -
Classroom A -
Classroom B
Week 1: Intertwining Character and Plot
Chapter 16, page 158-167, and Chapter 21, pages 205-218
Intertwining plot with your character. Does that sound simple? Maybe,
maybe not. Section 3 of Nancy Kress’ book, Dynamic Characters,
deals with that in detail.
We have all heard, our stories must have conflict. Nancy Kress tells us
that conflict is where our plot and character intersect. So, we must
have conflict. The conflict keeps people interested in your story and
makes them care about your characters.
The four most important possible intersections are:
1 – conflict potential
2 – character reactions
3 – conflict resolution
4 – theme
Each of these factors is outlined. There is a wonderful list on pages
159 and 160 to illustrate ways we deal with conflict. Any and all of
these will help us to develop new plot ideas. These points include:
- denial that there is a problem
- becoming ill with stress
- rational problem solving
- seeking outside allies
- turning to professionals
- blaming someone else
- alcohol and/or drugs
- getting someone else to deal with the problem
- throwing a tantrum or going crazy
- prayer or self sacrifice to help others
- homicide
- becoming depressed and withdrawing from life
- giving up and passively accepting fate
- forming a committee to deal with the problem
- punishing anyone who points out that there is a problem
- leaving: the job, the scene of the crime, the marriage, the home
- torturing small animals or hunting large animals
- trying to stay in control of everything
- learning better to avoid the same conflict again
- negotiation and compromise
- covering tracks to avoid blame
What happens to your character, how they react, what they do about it,
how it affect their life, and how they resolve or ignore the issue are
all parts of your plot. You may choose not to use some of these factors,
but like these ideas, it will give you get a better idea of your
characters.
We can take one basic idea for a story, and the resulting stories could
be very different. The character can react several different ways to
their situation and whichever reaction takes place will have a dramatic
impact on what the story says.
A fantastic way to begin would be to answer the questions on page 162.
This will give you a host of information to work with. It can help you
develop the path your story will take.
If you start with your setting the questions would include:
1 – Who lives here?
2 – What does this person want?
3 – Why does he or she want that?
4 – How hard is this goal to reach? (It should be hard if not
impossible. Your setting can
contribute to the difficulties.)
5 – Who else lives there that might affect the protagonist’s pursuit of
their goal?
If you start with an idea, the questions would include:
1 – Who will be affected by the idea? Make a complete list.
2 – Of the people on your list, which ones would be hurt the most?
3 – Why is this person involved? What does he/she want?
4 – What can go wrong with this idea? (Things must go wrong.)
5 – How does this character react to things going wrong with his plans?
If you start with an image, the questions would include:
1 – Is it the image of a person? Who is the person? What is he/she
doing? Why? What is he/she
trying to accomplish? What are her/his emotions at that moment? Why?
2 – If there’s no person in your image, who can you include? Who would
be interested in the
image? What is the person trying to accomplish? Why?
What does your character fear? Everyone fears something in life and many
people fear a lot of things. These fears help show the type of person
they are, and impacts how they react to the different scenarios that
life throws at them. If you are stuck, think about things which could
happen to your character which would bring their fears to light for your
reader.
Love is another emotion that will greatly impact your story. Many people
have said they would do anything for love. Whatever this would include
for your character and the one they love, will impact the storyline. Can
you add more conflict for the love interest and maybe a love triangle.
Of course, it’s your story, have fun with it. Combining theirs fears and
their loves, can really
turn up the heat in your story, in many ways.
A wonderful web site on Inner Characterization can be found at:
http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=148
Assignment
Things to figure out about your character would include:
1 – What would he/she consider to be a significant conflict?
2 – How would he/she react to it?
3 – How would he/she be affected by the resolution?
4 – How would he/she impact the resolution?
5 – How would he/she feel about these events after they were over?
The word count should remain under 1,000 words. Please give thoughtful
and complete feedback. We’re all here to learn and each one of us has
useful feedback and suggestions, let’s keep it positive and enjoyable
for all.
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