  Mystery
This week: Characters who aren't there Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
"Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away..."
~Hughes Mearns
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Like all good writers, you probably have put a lot of time and effort into developing your characters. You know your protagonist, villain, and even the supporting characters as well as you know your own family. But how well do you know the characters who aren't there? In some stories, the most important characters are not physically present, may never utter a line of dialogue, and may even be dead before the story begins.
Laura Palmer of "Twin Peaks" was found dead in the first episode, and the mystery of her murder was central to the show's storyline. In order to determine the circumstances that led to Laura's death, the detectives needed to understand her life. The main investigator was not from the area where the murder happened, and could only find out about the victim from those who knew her. Unfortunately for him, she was an extremely complicated person, and no two people saw her in the same way.
Rebecca of Daphne DuMaurier's novel of the same name is another example of a character who took over a story from beyond the grave. The story begins as a shy young woman meets and marries a wealthy widower. The man's first wife, Rebecca, died in a boating accident about a year before. Rebecca was a legendary beauty, and the new wife feels she cannot compete with her memory. Rebecca's name is on almost every page of the novel, but the new wife, who is the protagonist, is never mentioned by her first name. Eventually, the new wife finds out that her predecessor was far from perfect, but Rebecca's influence shows in every aspect of the story, up to the last page.
Sharyn McCrumb's stories often include characters who have been dead for many years. Examples include Frankie Silver in "The Ballad of Frankie Silver" and Katie Wyler in "She Walks These Hills". Both characters had died more than 100 years ago, and present day characters who became interested in their history discovered their lives and deaths were not what they seemed. One of McCrumb's short stories, "The Monster of Glamis" was a fictitious letter from Princess Diana to her son William when he was a little boy. Written with instructions that it was not to be opened until he became king, it contained evidence of a terrible secret she had discovered about the royal family. The story was published before Diana died, so it wasn't meant to have a deceased central character, but it took on an unintentional extra layer of creepiness after her death.
Alison DiLaurentis of "Pretty Little Liars" was missing and presumed dead for two years, but yet, she dominated the story. Most people who knew her had reasons to want her dead. She knew everyone's secrets and wasn't above using them to her own advantage, but those secrets didn't disappear with her. After she disappeared, someone using her first initial "A" began tormenting her friends with all the secrets she knew. Eight books and five years of a TV series later, A still hasn't been caught.
Developing a character who is not physically present in the story is a challenge. The character's personality can only show through the opinions of other people, in letters or photos, or in flashbacks. There is no exact way to do this, but try not to reveal all the character's secrets. Even when the puzzle is solved, the mysterious character who isn't there should remain mysterious.
Something to try: Write a story where the most important character is absent. |
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Answer to last month's question: Do you plan your stories in advance, or write "by the seat of your pants?"
Quick-Quill 
I used to be a panster. If I'm writing a SS I just write. My novels are planned. Not to the letter, but beginning, middle, and end. What happens between those points are written at the moment. That being said, middle may change as I'm writing. End usually stays the same as its why I'm writing this story.
Question for next time: What is the most mysterious setting you can think of? |
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Mystery: January 28, 2015 Issue [#6795]
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