I seem to have lost my characters...

Mr. Funktastic · Feb 22, 2007

Hrm. I've encountered a pretty big problem. Every time I try to sit down and write some more in my WIP, nothing seems to feel...real. It's like I'm forcing the characters out. Really, it just feels like I've lost 'em, if that makes any sense. I've been trying to make myself to keep writing, but it's just very forceful and doesn't feel right.

It's not that I have writer's block, at least entirely. I've written three solid short stories since this started. I just come to this big blank spot in my mind whenever it comes to my primary WIP.

I know I'm speaking somewhat abstractly, but can anybody give me some advice? Should I keep forcing myself through it, or should I sit back from it for a while?

Thanks!

PeeDee · Feb 22, 2007

What was the last bit that excited you while you were writing it?

Figure that out, back up there, and extrapolate from that point again. See if you go somewhere more interesting and exciting this time.

The characters can fall flat if, somehow, you find yourself on a path that isn't interesting to anyone, least of all you.

MajorDrums · Feb 23, 2007

Maybe you could step back from the story itself and get reacquainted with your characters? Make a list of the personality traits of each main player. How would they react/what would they say in this scene? In this scene?

Rhea L · Feb 23, 2007

My characters refuse to cooperate when I force them to do something they don't want to do in the novel. So, maybe the plot I figured out is good, maybe some reader or another would find it exciting... but it's not what should be happening, and my characters know it, and that's their way of communicating that.

Crazy as that sounds.

I've had WiPs die on me in the past because of an outline - it didn't account for the character development that happens throughout the story, so the things I thought they'd do when I only just started on the novel, aren't the things they'd do halfway through it anymore.

I 'talk' to my characters when they turn their backs on me, in the sense of trying to get a feel of what *they* want. Maybe I'll play the music I associated with them (or with an exciting scene that worked) and let things go from there - follow the images it gives me, or just immerse myself in the world again. It usually works for me.

If the characters are real (ie, well-developed), most of the time they don't die on you - they're just telling you that somewhere along the way, you took the wrong turn with your plot.

LeeFlower · Feb 23, 2007

When I get this problem, I usually find it's because I'm forcing my characters to act in a manner inconsistant with their own personalities and goals. So sorta like Rhea L, above.

How I deal with it: I've stolen a page from Stanislavski. He had a theory (which he applied to acting) that every character should have an objective, an obstacle standing between them and that objective, and tactics that they use to overcome those obstacles. (This gets abreviated as ObObTac). Objectives and tactics are always action verbs (ie: Objective is to escape a jail; obstacles are the security measures; tactic is to seduce a guard or bribe the warden or dig a tunnel-- that's where characterization comes into major play).

When I run into this sort of lost character feeling, I go through my story and make sure that the characters involved all have ObsObsTacs-- both for the scene where they're getting lost and for the story as a whole. It's a checklist:

Objective: Do they have one? Is it consistant with the character, and not just with what's required for the plot?
Obstacles: Are they present? Are they too easy to overcome? Too difficult?
Tactics: Is the character capable of tactics that will allow them to overcome the obstacles? Are their tactics consistant with their character?

I usually find that when I go through and do this for the characters that are lost, the problem becomes clear very quickly.

YMMV-- that's just my method.

scarletpeaches · Feb 23, 2007

I get that when I stop and start my WIP. The trick is, for me at least, to speed-write the first draft in a month or two, so I don't have time to 'forget' my characters. Speed-writing forces me to familiarise myself with every aspect of their lives.

Raphee · Feb 23, 2007

Nice description Lee flower

Siddow · Feb 23, 2007

Here's what I would do: Set the manuscript aside for a couple of days and spend this time writing letters from your characters. Or pretend they're in a counselor's office, getting therapy. What would they talk about? Since this isn't going in the WIP, you don't have to worry about grammar and pacing and all that stuff. Just let it flow.

Focusing on one character at a time helps me to really know them, and their motivations and objectives. If you sit down to do this exercise, you should start to really feel the character, hear them, know what they would say or do in any circumstance. It may even change your book, which is okay, too.

James D. Macdonald · Feb 23, 2007

Drop two lines. Type Suddenly, without warning, a naked woman screamed. Continue from that point.

prusik · Feb 23, 2007

James D. Macdonald said:
Drop two lines. Type Suddenly, without warning, a naked woman screamed. Continue from that point.

I'm not proud. I've had people burst in with guns, then continued from there. What surprised me was the result worked even after I removed the people with guns.

Mae · Feb 23, 2007

Rhea L said:
I 'talk' to my characters when they turn their backs on me, in the sense of trying to get a feel of what *they* want. Maybe I'll play the music I associated with them (or with an exciting scene that worked) and let things go from there - follow the images it gives me, or just immerse myself in the world again. It usually works for me.

I lost touch with one of my WIPs and this worked to get me back on track. I think I just needed to take a step back and get to know everyone I had created. Found one of them was mucking it up for everyone else - and dropped him.

Good luck Mr Fun - hope you find them.

Michael Murphy · Feb 23, 2007

I'd suggest going back and reading your manuscript to get reacquainted with the readers and the plot that motivated you to write about them in the first place. Make sure getting acquainted with your characters is the problem and not a plot. When I've lost momentum, it's usually my characters have overcome the conflicts I've set before them. See if you can find an unexpected plot twist, or have a character behave in a totally unexpected way and see if that gets you moving. Good luck!

Michael Murphy
Suspense is just a click away...
www.mjmurphy.com

Shadow_Ferret · Feb 23, 2007

In sort of the same idea as Lee Flower, maybe your characters are on strike and need some motivation.

Introduce them to Larry the Knife. He'll come in, kidnap the characters one by one, and then slowly torture them to death. He's got some really interesting implements to use on the human body. I guarantee you after one or two of your characters turns up dead and mutilated, the rest of them will come back begging you to write about their "normal" adventures.

jodiodi · Feb 23, 2007

I find what the posters above said about forcing characters is true. When I write, my characters already have their own lives and personalities and, for them, the events they're 'telling' me to write about have already happened. When I try to make them do something 'I' want them to do, if it wasn't something they would have done normally in the course of the story, they refuse to do so and just sit down and wait for me to come to my senses.

Stew21 · Feb 23, 2007

an idea from an article our own KTC wrote:
here

Namatu · Feb 23, 2007

This happened to me with my current WIP. I was stuck for an entire year. I wasn't trying constantly to move beyond for that whole year, but every time I did, it was a brick wall. I could not get past a particular scene. What resolved the problem was rewriting the scene. Suddenly, my heretofore friendly characters were having a vicious argument, and I had no idea that's what they'd wanted to do.

Try several things to get beyond your sticking point, but definitely consider that you may be stuck because your characters are somehow telling you that you've taken a wrong turn.

Mr. Funktastic · Feb 23, 2007

I think many of you might be right in suggesting that my characters could be telling me that I've made a wrong turn. I'll have to work on this.

Thanks for the great help, everybody.

allenparker · Feb 23, 2007

I don't understand

James D. Macdonald said:
Drop two lines. Type Suddenly, without warning, a naked woman screamed. Continue from that point.

Why is it the good stuff doesn't work for me?

This bites... I always have to rewrite the prompt.

Judg · Feb 23, 2007

When I was feeling stuck a little while back, one of the things I did was to make separate outlines of the story so far from the points of view of each of the important characters. After all, to them, they each had their own story, their own goals, their own timetables. Big chunks of their stories are not getting told in the novel, of course, but being conscious of their agendas and concerns has helped me.

Namatu · Feb 23, 2007

That's a cool idea. I may try that out soon, just to make sure I'm incorporating all the nice little nuances and subtexts I need to.

Petroglyph · Feb 23, 2007

James D. Macdonald said:
Drop two lines. Type Suddenly, without warning, a naked woman screamed. Continue from that point.

Mine takes place in a birth center. Screaming naked women are already overused. Any other thoughts?

James D. Macdonald · Feb 23, 2007

midwife said:
Mine takes place in a birth center. Screaming naked women are already overused. Any other thoughts?

Drop two lines and type Suddenly, without warning, a Turkish Pirate kicked in the door.

Continue from that point.

Petroglyph · Feb 23, 2007

Excellent! Thanks for the idea!

Michael Dracon · Feb 24, 2007

If your character cannot handle it try to add in an object or a person that can help to get through the situation.

LeeFlower · Feb 25, 2007

Michael Dracon said:
If your character cannot handle it try to add in an object or a person that can help to get through the situation.

Just be careful, as down this road lies dieties jumping out of machines.

I seem to have lost my characters...

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