Becoming attached.
I don’t really know how other writers develop characters. I say this not in the sense that I have ‘no idea’, but rather in that I haven’t specifically looked into methods and approaches. I’m sure that there are a wealth of styles and work-ethics out there.
I imagine that people do all sorts of weird things.
Two years ago I went to see George R. R. Martin speak in Melbourne. It was a fun night and it gave some insight into his methodology and how he felt about pressure and the adaptation process. One thing that he said that really resonated with me (in the fan-boy kind of way like – OMG that’s just how I try to write! We’re so alike it’s amazing!) was that he tends to let his characters ‘do their thing’. I’m totally on board with this.
The way I see it is that any good character is essentially a ‘real’ person. They have good days and bad days, mood swings and stubbed toes. Thus, developing a good character requires some careful construction – not too much though. I figure that a detailed outline gives them substance without chaining them into a rigid set of manners and opinions. They have to be able to make mistakes – not errors, because any well-planned character will make errors based on their limitations. See, mistakes suggest that there are moments when a character is faced with a series of options and their choices don’t always make sense. Real people don’t consult their ethics or their lovers or their brush with familial displacement every time they act. But those kinds of things are always lurking in their psyche. The same has to occur in a character. This allows for some inconsistency.
And if they weren’t a little inconsistent then they wouldn’t be very human.
The problem with this is that sometimes scenarios develop in ways that I don’t always expect. Characters say and do things that I don’t want them to say and do, but they are things that they would say or do. Because of this things can get a little out-of-hand. This becomes particularly concerning when I’ve developed a bit of an attachment to particular figures and they then end up in situations where I can no longer protect them. Ultimately, I suppose, I have the power to protect them, but if I use that power at the wrong time it might seem like I’m entering cheat-codes and giving someone invulnerability.
What I’ve decided is that getting attached to characters means that I write them more sincerely (or at least I hope that’s the case). However, with the interest of keeping them ‘real’, it also highlights why it’s so important that none of them are completely safe. Let’s face it – everyone, including me, likes Malcolm.
