I attended a writer’s workshop this weekend and I was asked to review aspects about the characters I like best and what about them appeals to me. The workshop director put it much more eloquently giving us a list of concepts to consider when deciding what fictional person appeals to us most. Allow me to publish that list here:
From the GreenStudy Writer’s Workshop:
What kind of arcs appeal to you?
Think about your favorite characters?
Why do you think that appeals to you?
How does it reflect your values?
Because this practice is a time-sensitive exercise, we have between five and ten minutes to answer what turned out to be a fairly philosophical and self-revelatory question for me. I could try to trim and polish my deduction into an erudite, well crafted blog post. But, I like the immediacy of having a thought and putting it out into the world. (I blame social media.) Also, my NaNoWriMo Novel awaits some attention. So, instead, here is my raw, unfiltered assessment of what I look for in a character/arc and why it appeals:
MY DICHOTOMOUS REVELATION
I like happily ever after stories. Where good triumphs over evil. But I also like more nuanced characters—ones who can laugh at their own failures but also learn from their strengths/faults. Characters who are underdogs—but not necessarily bullied or too weird/outside the mainstream. Because I am weird and always have been to most people. I think these characters appeal because I would like to be more brave. I would like to be better—without having to do the hard work to make it happen. I wish I would do the challenging thing and stand up for my beliefs. To confront others when I believe they are in the wrong. But, I am too much a people pleaser and I avoid conflict by nature. I have loved legal dramas as a way to step-by-step prove who is the bad guy and, by default, who is the good guy. But my inner cynic says, ‘there are no real good guys’ and ‘even if there are, they are corruptible or fallible or mortal and the bad guys win in reality more often than the good guys do!
I would like reality to be as happy as the endings I read. But I am disappointed by a doubt of most stories that end that way. I am conflicted by the pat, too-easy answer. And yet, I crave it. I probably should just come to terms with this dichotomy before my literary aspirations throttle me. Or prove me right and eventually I become an irresolute cynic with no hope for humanity.
So, there you have it. I am at heart–split in two. I am a hopeful cynic; I am a discouraged dreamer. I want better things I don’t believe will ever happen or that I deserve. This extends to my writing. When I write, I do it with the hope that it is better than I think it is, and not nearly as bad as it likely really is to anyone with talent and taste.
And yet…I like what I write. Perhaps that is the core of a writer. We have to have faith in our vision–or that vision gets squashed before it can blossom.
So, if you too have an imaginary world you would like to see come true (e.g. when the world around you feels like it has fallen into a dystopian hellscape) then join me in a writer’s workshop–where we gnash furiously over our feelings; cutting our literary teeth on a digital landscape that spans continents if not dimensions.* There is a joy in sharing a work in progress with fellow writers who can sympathize and help you expand your imaginary world–as well as sharpen your story telling skills in a safe space.
[*Please note, that Michelle at the GreenStudy has absolutely nothing to do with my insistence on massacring metaphors. In fact, she has thoroughly and gently explained to me that just because I enjoy a certain amount of bludgeoned similes and truly love mangling overused analogies doesn’t mean anyone else does!]
So, know this, if you insist on keeping your writing full of flaws, untouched, unvarnished, and unread–then this might not be the right place for you! Over the many sessions I have attended, I have learned to love my writing and even embrace–gasp–editing while working on my stories. I’ve learned that I can write an outline before I begin to put that story down on digital paper–so to speak. I also appreciate the polish gently provided by having outside expertise–and a core of beta readers–willing to review my work and help by nudging me away from my admittedly bad purple prose habits and giving me directions toward brighter, better writing.
And, lastly, I truly enjoy meeting and talking with other writers at my level. All writers have to start somewhere; it helps when you can share your doubts and struggles with someone who knows what it feels like. I love the friendships I’ve formed almost as much as the imaginary worlds I people with heroes and villains who just need to find their happy endings–or overdue justice served cold, hard, and epically karmic! Just the way it should be in a perfect world.
Check out The Green Study where workshops help writers make the world a better place–at least, on paper.
TheDustSeason 