Comments on: A matter of leverage

By: Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:57:35 +0000

Very slick! I like it. I come at story world first, plot second, character third, and this is very similar to how I think about character in terms of result, but wildly different and really useful in terms of actual mechanism for getting the characters to do what I want when I want them to do it. Definitely adding this to my mental toolbox.

Thanks!

By: Clare K. R. Miller

Clare K. R. Miller — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:56:20 +0000

I really like that metaphor! I already feel it working in my brain, giving me ideas for how to make my stories better…

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:23:15 +0000

I think the lever metaphor works perfectly. It’s what I try to do with my own characters. Sometimes I even succeed.

What really annoys me is when the characters figure out my levers and start applying pressure on me to take them where they want to go. Never in a story’s best interest, that.

By: Marie Brennan

Marie Brennan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:26:02 +0000

Shawn -- Not to strain my metaphor too far, but the advantage of multiple levers is that it allows a bit finer control, I think, of where you're steering the character. It's easier to send them left or right, and to navigate a finer-tuned course. That isn't necessary for every story, of course; sometimes what you want is a tale dominated by a single driving force. But (switching metaphors now) if you have a hammer and a screwdriver and a saw, you're better able to deal with a narrative that includes things other than nails.

By: Shawn Scarber

Shawn Scarber — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:35:13 +0000

This is an interesting way of conceptualizing character. I tend to boil mine down to their raw needs and flaws. In fact, I’ll often choose a central flaw as the driving force of my main character, because often this forces the main character to be the source of his or her problems.

One of my favorite examples of this is Pride & Prejudice. The two main characters are driven by their flaws [they are of course pride and prejudice], these flaws are what keep them apart and are also the central problems they must resolve to finally get together.

The movie Batman Begins also has a main character driven by his fatal flaw. Of course, most people believe that flaw is vengeance, but it isn’t. Bruce Wayne’s fatal flaw is fear and the whole movie is driven by his desire to overcome that fear. His fear caused his parent’s death, his fear drove him to the criminal underworld for understanding, and his fear is what created Batman. Batman is Bruce Wayne’s attempt to overcome his greatest flaw.

I guess I tend to look for one big lever.

By: Tim of Angle

Tim of Angle — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:21:52 +0000

This is an excellent conceptual framework for working with characters. Like you, I need interesting characters to anchor my interest in a story.
Perhaps this is why I love your books, and recommend them to my friends.

By: Merrilee

Merrilee — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:08:00 +0000

That’s a nice idea, and a cute mental image. Most of my character’s ‘levers’ are to do with needs and goals; survival is a theme in a lot of my stories, so there’s a lot of visceral, down-at-the-bones type motivation.

By: S. Megan Payne

S. Megan Payne — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:42:14 +0000

I love this explanation of things. It’s very insightful to me. And I have a similar thing happening with my characters. Some of them show me right up front what they want, what they’re willing to do, what they have to do, what others want from them, their enemies. Then others sort of sit there strong and ready for me to give them something–or make me dig deep into their psyches to find it.

I have one character that really floored me for a while. She constantly made things difficult for characters she supposedly should have cared about and sometimes made things smooth sailing for them. As a government agent, she held a lot of power to do that. She was very unpredictable and I only knew her through her interactions with others since she was very cold. Once I found her handle though, everything became significantly easier. She pushed people away to keep them safe, so they couldn’t be used/hurt/killed to control her and did what was best for them even if it would make them hate her.

I’ve never thought about it the way you put it, but it works very, very well.