contented characters

I'm unclear about what you're asking.

In books I've read MC's often start out in a contented state, and then (soon after page 1) something crosses their path. In what I'm currently reading, the story starts with the MC playing a video game - within a few pages he discovers his parents have lost their jobs and he has to drop out of college and join the military. A great example of a contented MC at the start of the story was something I read over 50 years ago - it was a classic Sifi book by one of the big authors (Clarke, Heinlein, Asimov) and I don't even remember the title.. but the MC is a 60 year old man taking his afternoon walk when something crosses his path and he's shot 1000 years into the future.

Firstly, as always, it's all about the execution. If you can pull it off, there's no reason why not to start in a contented place.

However, it might be harder to pull off. Discontent naturally creates conflict, aspirations, goals and motivation. The plot flows naturally from there. With a contented character, there is no reason for change, no reason to progress. One might pull it off by having some exposition sprinkled in, which would create adequate interest. However, this can easily border on info-dumps.

At some point, discontent should settle in. How early? Probably pretty early on, even in the first pages. Starting with a contented character, then having some incident which causes discontent, is actually pretty classic IMO. It might even help the reader identify with the character, since he/she is presented under "normal" (for the world) circumstances, before being thrown into the main conflict.

One pitfall I can think about, is making it seem forced. "Oh, look, Joe is having a great life. Better kill his whole family to make the story move forward." This is entirely dependable on the execution, as well.

In essence, I have no problem with the idea. Execution, execution, execution.

Harlequin said:

If a character remains content, it's not much of a story, so naturally things must change.

At what point should discontent set in? How problematic do you think it is, if at all, to begin with a char who has no clear goals or motivations?

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If you're going for a "typical" story structure, with an inciting event by the end of chapter 1, something should disrupt the character's normal life at the beginning of the story (or as near to it as possible after initial set up). That's when the story starts, essentially. The character can be content, even complacent, up until then, but chapter after chapter of maintaining a comfortable status quo will likely be dull.

For instance, character is happily married, until they come home from work to find a "Dear John/Joan" letter propped on the kitchen table, or they discover their spouse has been kidnapped. Maybe the farm boy is happy with his life and anticipates someday inheriting the land and following in his dad's footsteps, but the raiders come and burn everything down and make him a slave, or...

Of course, the character doesn't have to be content with their life at the beginning either. Maybe they want something specific they can't have, or they're vaguely dissatisfied with their life without knowing how to fix it, or they're working diligently towards a goal of some kind. maybe something they do to reach a goal has unintended consequences. The point is, the so-called inciting event (there are different terms for this as well), introduces new stakes for the protagonist in some way, or changes existing ones.

Sometimes wants, needs and goals change as a story progresses too, or wants and needs can come into conflict.

I remember reading a "how to plot" suggestion that said you don't think in terms of "A happens. Character does B, and C happens, and then D." It's better to have it be, "A happens. Character tries to do B to get to C, but G happens instead, so..."

I remember a horror book where the main characters didn't understand they were in a pickle (and were quite "content") up to about half the book, or probably even 75% through the plot. Story was pretty good and quite intense all the way through.

Curlz said:

I remember a horror book where the main characters didn't understand they were in a pickle (and were quite "content") up to about half the book, or probably even 75% through the plot. Story was pretty good and quite intense all the way through.

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That would be interesting. I imagine the challenge lies in creating tension and suspense that stems from the reader knowing something is wrong and is anxiously waiting to see when the main character's world comes crashing down.

I'm guessing the pov was omniscient, so there were things the narrator knew and could show that the main character was unaware of. Even so, it would be challenging if the character is behaving in a passive manner for so long. It would probably work best if the character is doing things that they think are moving towards a benign goal but are really pushing them closer to the crisis point. It would have to be done in a way that didn't make the main character seem too naive or stupid, of course.

Hmmm, maybe a woman who is happily planning her wedding to a man who is really a sort of "bluebeard" type, for instance.

Roxxsmom said:

It would have to be done in a way that didn't make the main character seem too naive or stupid, of course.

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It takes place in rural England, perhaps that explains it (and couple of decades ago, so a different generation altogether). People often don't have the slightest suspicion that something could be, you know, wrong. Unless it hits them directly in the face. And obviously the characters hadn't seen "The Wicker Man" .

Harlequin said:

If a character remains content, it's not much of a story, so naturally things must change.

At what point should discontent set in? How problematic do you think it is, if at all, to begin with a char who has no clear goals or motivations?

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You can begin that way, but something will need to change fairly soon. By the end of the first chapter, if not sooner.

And by change, I mean the character needs to be jolted out of his carefree state and given something to care about, even if it's just caring about a return to his ordered existence that was just rudely interrupted.

ETA: If you're talking about the oblivious character, who has no idea things are going haywire around him (but the reader does), that's a different kind of storytelling. In that case, you have to make his unawareness believable and sympathetic.

Harlequin said:

That's pretty much the kind of thing I'm talking about. Characters who are unaware of their own plot.

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Oh, I was talking about something different. In this case, you can either make the reader see the plot, while keeping the character in the dark (using other POV's, such as other characters or omni), or keep the reader in the dark as well, adding some reveal (probably first-person or close-third) which leads to discontent. The former is called irony, if I'm not mistaken. Yap, "a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character." The latter might provide more mystery and plot-twists, though.

Also... poor Joe.

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Yeah, wait until he finds out that his secret twin brother killed them.

It might also depend on the reader. Some might get antsy for some action right off the start while others don't care if you wait to throw the character into a conflict.

Harlequin said:

If a character remains content, it's not much of a story, so naturally things must change.

At what point should discontent set in?

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Before the story starts would be a good place for it.

caw

Hey! I don't think you need discontent for anything, and certainly it doesn't have to define your MC.

My MC is almost always content. Doesn't mean that nothing bad happens to him, quite to the contrary. But whatever happens, he finds a reason to be pleased with his circumstances, or he tries to turn them, even very slightly, to his advantage. His situation in life is one thing, and his personality is another.

Tocotin said:

My MC is almost always content. Doesn't mean that nothing bad happens to him, quite to the contrary. But whatever happens, he finds a reason to be pleased with his circumstances, or he tries to turn them, even very slightly, to his advantage. His situation in life is one thing, and his personality is another.

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Forest Gump ? I think being content in this context means the situation where the character is happy with what he has and doesn't want anything. But to have a plot the character needs to want something and there are some obstacles ahead so he can't get it. There was another thread about "conflict", which is the same thing.

A character may be content if they don't know that something has gone wrong--which is what the OP seems to be talking about.

I think for any character, there are two things: an external want that creates the plot arc and an internal need that drives the character arc. Most characters are unaware of the internal need, and the plot arc makes them realize it.

Depending on the genre, the status quo might need to be upset pretty fast: if not upended ( which is where the inciting incident comes in).

The want and the need drive the story, so if this engine doesn't come into gear very soon, the reader will start getting antsy.

This is an interesting, timely discussion, because I'm just revising the opening to my current manuscript to portray a MC who thinks he is content, not realizing how bleak and unnatural his life now is, because for many years it was so much worse. The reader can see the contradiction clearly enough; and it's the contradiction--what he is and what he thinks he is--that matters hugely to the plot.

The inciting incident shakes up his fragile balance within twenty pages, and teaches him to want things he doesn't have. And his wants, though very basic at first, keep advancing until he sees what life can be--at which point, I totally threaten to destroy everything for him, but y'know, that's conflict.