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| RickyNJ / Foter |
As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve gone back to the
beginning of my antagonist’s journey to make sure I really know him and understand
him; to flesh him out. I learned some really cool stuff about him and how his
journey leads him, inevitably, to the climax of the book. His story is
compelling and hopefully, he’ll come off that way on the page.
Because
compelling is what we want.
Are all my character’s compelling? Does their journey lead
them, inexorably, to the conclusion I have in mind for them?
Well, to make sure, I’m re-constructing my outline from each character’s perspective. Plotting
the points of connectivity among all the characters’ timelines. It’s amazing to
see how each of them follows their own path to a point of crisis together.
I’m sure I’m not the first one to come up with this idea,
but it feels freakin’ brilliant; and I’m stoked at all the sub-plots that are
introducing themselves. What crazy, heartbreaking, fateful lives my characters have
led.
It’s a not-so-tangled web of stories that must lead, with
logic and causality, to the resolution of the plot. Like a spider’s web, each
strand is woven in and around the others until they are all massed
together at the strongest point of the structure, the centre. Or, for the
purpose of my metaphor, the climax of the story.
So, perhaps, if you’re finding a need for depth in your
writing, try seeing the story from a satellite character’s point of view. It
may get you over a plateau, out of your writer’s block, or maybe even lead you
into a sequel (yay!); either way, it will strengthen your bond with your
characters and hopefully, your readers’ bond also.
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