What Characters Want

[Peg Herring]

As announced, I'm summarizing things from Sleuthfest that served as reminders to me of what writing is all about. Today's blog focuses on what Brad Meltzer had to say about making readers want to read what you write. He maintains that you need to figure out what a character wants first.

What does your protagonist want? By asking yourself careful questions about what he/she desires from life, you know where to start. Then you need to acquaint the reader with that, of course in an interesting way. Then you take that away from him/her. Now the reader cares about the character and wants to know if he/she will achieve what is wanted/needed.

What this does is make a difference between a cardboard character who simply hunts down bad guys and a character like Peretsky's V.I., who is both real and vulnerable despite her tough exterior.

While I get tired of overly conflicted characters, I agree that it's a great way to begin, to get yourself focused as a writer. What does he want? How do I take that away from him? How will he get it back? Now the reader has someone to cheer for, a reason to turn the page, and hopefully a satisfying ending.

[J. F. Juzwik]

Absolutely. The only way to make your characters believable and allow readers to identify with them is to make them 'real'. 'Real' people want, need, seek, disappoint, succeed and fail, and a million other things. We need to make sure our characters become all that. Reading a story where A does B, C sees it and tells D, and E tells F... I'm sure you will agree that is how some read. They are totally flat, and the characters mean absolutely nothing and are extremely forgettable halfway through the story. We need to give them life by giving them 'a life'. Those are the characters that stay with me and the ones I want to keep following. Joyce

[Dana King]

As Kurt Vonnegut said, "A character should always want somehting, even if it's only a glass of water."

[B.R.Stateham]

It depends on which route you take to write a story--do you come at it from the character side of the plot line? Or do you come at it from the crime side of the plot line?

There are writers who do quite well in creating a great 'whodunit' by emphasising the crime. But if they are successful and continue on with a series, their main characters develop a personality all their own. It's a voyage of discovery. Characters come alive in the subconscious mind. And you're amazed what comes out of paper once you start digging down there.