 Drama: August 14, 2013 Issue [#5837] |
  Drama
This week: Characters in Suspense - Good and Bad Edited by: zwisis
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Characters are a writer’s greatest tool because they tell your story. The main characters in a story are the hero and the villain. The hero wants something, and will do whatever it takes to get the thing he seeks. The villain/adversary will do whatever it takes to prevent the hero from getting it. In each chapter the hero tackles his problem in different ways, causing the villain to react. The hero may fail and be forced to take a different approach to achieving his goal... or he may succeed and be faced with an even bigger problem.
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Most people who read want to become involved in the story. A reader may identify with the hero, and feel he is in that central role. In order to do this the character’s true self must be revealed, and the best way to do this is through adversity and conflict. As in real life when a character is desperate he will give his all to resolve a stressful or challenging situation. This brings the reader one of two emotions: HOPE that the hero will succeed or FEAR that he will fail. This translates into suspense, which grows until the climax of the story, which should see the hero achieve his goal or resolve a problematic situation.
When choosing your characters remember that readers need to not only identify with them, they also need to care about them. These characters should be sympathetic and interesting, but not similar. Because your characters will often interact throughout the story they should be very different. Another advantage is that contradictory characters maximises the chance of conflict with the hero, giving you the chance to expand the story with sub-plots for the characters while maintaining your reader’s interest.
Sympathetic characters are:
 Facing problems, in trouble or suffering in some way.
The underdog. Remember - it’s difficult to identify with some who is powerful, tough and strong with everything going for him. When the underdog wins everyone cheers!
Vulnerable. Perhaps the character has mental, emotional or physical issues... there may be a history of unresolved conflicts with the adversary... he could be facing social or financial ruin, the prospect of enslavement, being trapped in a terrible situation not of his making... or death of himself or a loved one.
Deserving. He may be facing a powerful adversary, but his courage, compassion, dedication, selflessness, optimism etc should not be overlooked and may help him save the day/himself/a loved one.
A character can have all of the above attributes, but if he’s lazy, whining or selfish no reader will identify with him or care about his role in the story. This means the element of suspense is lost, along with your readers. A sympathetic character can also be an adversary, and someone with whom your readers can identify, as long as he is acting in good faith, for the best reasons and the good outweighs the bad.
A strong opponent:
Pure evil is a cliché. Your villain should be human, with an admirable side to his character. Make him a chilling, terrifying adversary - give him a valid reason for his behaviour and attitude and show why he believes he is entitled to do the terrible things he does in your story.
If his role in the story is part of the background, give details of how his power has grown over the years. Make his presence stronger by describing why he is so feared and how each victory/success increased his power.
Give him all the advantages not available to your hero – financial stability, fanatical supporters, power friends and the power to entice the hero’s allies.
The villain should, at the least, be as strong as the hero. It may be better for your story if he is stronger. Your story will not be strong if the hero’s main adversary is weak.
The adversary isn’t always a villain. He could also be a decent person who disagrees with the hero. The adversary could also be a cruel society, a monster, an alien or even a force of nature – a disease, a fire, a flood, hurricane or earthquake.
While readers want to identify with your character it helps to make them more interesting than the average person. People want to read about interesting characters – reading is a form of escape from reality, living in the story with those exciting characters, feeling their hopes and dreams and fears and being amazed by and thrilled at their achievements.
Add interest to your characters:
Make them physically attractive, dangerous, humorous or mysterious...
Make them unusual in appearance, eccentric, weird or different with a rare gift or an unbelievable life experience...
Make them naturally gifted or skilled at something useful...
Make them powerful through wealth, position, intellect, strength or noble birth...
Make them different, not fitting any stereotype or standing out from the crowd...
My next newsletter will detail building relationships and tension between characters to maximise suspense.
WRITE ON!
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The last word caught in Sal's chest, "Hurry!" He quickened his pace even though his instincts told him to slow down and be careful. The tunnel unfolded in front of him, twisting and turning, heading deeper into the bowels of the earth.
I passed by the window again and saw some more light mist in the light from the lamp, I felt a bit nervous so I checked the door and made sure they were locked.
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Something sweet-smelling sifted through the rotten seal of the hatch and with it a soft, melodious voice rang out, singing gently for help, calling Markus by name. Her voice was innocent and sad, like a gentle breeze rustling the leaves of a lonely tree.
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Tonight is the night I’ve been planning around for three long weeks. I crouch behind Tita’s brand new Infinity GI and watch as the thin figures run in place. The whir of the cycles and treadmills can be heard through the glass.
|  | Flying Fool (13+)
Only a fool flies a contraband-filled plane into a storm with the Feds chasing him.
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But I did. When we popped out of the cloud cover, a light standard was dead ahead, arms reaching clawlike for Miss Daisy.
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Sometime around midnight, in the eerie silence, the dead begin to walk. They surround the town all the way to the water's edge, drifting in a common direction
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Frank's elation quickly gave way to fear at the stark realization of what he had just done. He sank to the couch.
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She fought the panic threatening to overwhelm her as she hurried around to the front of the house. There was no sign of him.
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It’s getting very hard to breathe; so much weight on top of me. The air doesn’t feel like air. There are so many things around me. Where am I?
The mass of masks parading around her made direction confusing, and the vast size of the ballroom didn’t help either. Vera was drowning in a sea of lace, silk, and dyes. |
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Quick-Quill 
I don't think there are as many "page turners" written lately. The last one I read was Deception Point by Dan Brown. After "page 100/CD#4" I would sit in my car listening to the story, I couldn't get out. I finished listening to it on the airplane (with a bag full of batteries).The same thing happened when I loaned it to friends. I wish I could find another story that was that good!
Dan Brown is indeed a master of suspense. I have to say I've just finished Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" trilogy, and I found those books full of "page turners", especially the last book! Highly recommended. |
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