What makes a person deeply fascinating? Knowledge? Mystery? Complexity? Command? Allure? Everyone’s answer is likely different, but I suspect there’s one quality that universally makes others absorbing to us: passionate engagement in life.
Awake, aware, discerning, curious, compassionate, gripped, immersed…we could define this quality in any number of ways. We can also understand what it is not: aloof, cold, hard, apathetic, cynical, unfeeling, detached.
It’s funny, considering how often protagonists in manuscripts are exactly that. How are we supposed engage—and stay engaged for hundred of pages–with characters who are dead inside?
That is not to say that our heroes and heroines shouldn’t ever feel down, discouraged or even defeated. That’s natural and can be dramatic. The measure of engagement is not emotions, positive or negative, but rather caring.
Caring is everything from anger to ennui. Ennui? Sure. Being bored is an inverse measure of engagement. Are you infuriated by the monotony of Phillip Glass’s compositions? There you go.
So how can we ensure that our characters are as passionately engaged on the page as they are in our minds? The easiest way to excavate their passions is to develop—and put on display—their opinions.
How does your protagonist feel about grunge boots? Puccini? Porcini mushrooms? Hegel’s idea of a civil society? The future of aviation? Texting while walking? It’s interesting to learn such opinions, isn’t it?
That’s my point. Characters who are engaged—who care about things, small and big—in turn engage us. Let’s dig further.
How does your protagonist like least about her best friend? What’s the best thing about the problem at hand? Who’s his secret enemy, and why? Where’s the best place to think things over? When does the breaking point come and how close is it right now? Why is love so difficult?
More: What score does your protagonist award himself at this moment? What does she think are her chances of success? What’s his basic take on authority figures? Who, in her opinion, needs help more than anyone else?
Now take any one of those opinions and find a spot to reverse it. Also pick three of those opinions and express them in a way that’s wildly over the top. Can you see places in your manuscript for any of the above?
Is your main character getting more interesting? That’s good. I suspect he or she will be more interesting to your readers, too.
You might worry that these opinions are irrelevant to your story. I disagree. They are what will make your protagonist absorbing. They are, in a practical sense, what we call depth of character.
Photo courtesy Flickr’s midiman
About Donald Maass
Donald Maass is president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. He has written several highly acclaimed craft books for novelists including The Breakout Novelist, The Fire in Fiction, Writing the Breakout Novel and The Career Novelist.
Melissa Crytzer Fry says
February 2, 2011 at 9:40 amGreat post. Thanks for the insight and helpful ideas. As Marion Dane Bauer says, “Good stories stand or fall on good characters.”
Kristan says
February 2, 2011 at 9:54 amDid you really call Phillip Glass’s work monotonous?! Aiya…
Well, other than that, I completely agree with this post. Interesting characters are vital. Every book that I have stalled out or given up on suffered from characters that didn’t make me feel/care.
(I did, however, read one book that focused too much on what the main characters didn’t like, as a means of making them interesting, but it got to the point that I couldn’t stand how negative they were! :P Still, that’s an exception/extreme, NOT the norm.)
Terry Odell says
February 2, 2011 at 10:01 amExcellent reminders. I go back to series because I want to know more about the characters. The best books for me are the ones where I want to bump into these characters at the grocery store when the book is finished. The first writing contest I entered, the judges were required to find one thing they liked about the entry. Although I know now how much work the manuscript needed, the judge wrote “Sarah!” in huge letters. So at least I seemed to be on the right track with that one.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Lauren Harris says
February 2, 2011 at 10:08 amI really like the idea of the reversal. Humans are inconsistent, and it makes sense to have people that don’t follow 100% with what one might expect. I’m going to enjoy doing this little exercise! As usual, you give great advice.
One point I would like to make, however, is that I think “aloof, cold, hard, apathetic, cynical, unfeeling, detached” types make wonderful secondary characters–the Sherlock to a narrating Watson, the Professor Snape to Harry Potter–because it gives the POV character the opportunity to react to that disengaged or abrasive character.
Lauren
Nina says
February 2, 2011 at 10:09 amOh! I’m going to focus on precisely THIS today. Love your posts, Mr. Maass. You should write a book to help writers breakout . . . oh, wait. ;)
Cathy Yardley says
February 2, 2011 at 10:57 amI love this! I’m discovering that the more time spent learning about my characters only brings richness to my novel. I’ve been a dedicated plotter, but all the careful plotting in the world is useless if it’s being carried by paper-thin, two dimensional characters. Will definitely be using these prompts!
Teralyn Rose Pilgrim says
February 2, 2011 at 11:06 amAwesome post! I’ve been struggling with this exact thing because I have a character who’s supposed to be incredibly interesting, and creating a fascinating person isn’t as easy as it sounds. Thanks!
Debra Schubert says
February 2, 2011 at 11:16 amAs always, your advice is thought-provoking and wise. Thanks for making me a more interested reader and, therefore, (hopefully!) a more interesting writer.
Donald Maass says
February 2, 2011 at 12:04 pmFor the record, I kind of like the music of Phillip Glass. But you get my point.
Abigail says
February 2, 2011 at 12:15 pmI absolutely agree that characters having opinions (which they sometimes contradict) make them more interesting. My friend pointed out, though, that opinions would be a lot MORE powerful if they WERE relevant to the story. In her words, “I’m really not going to care what kind of tea she drinks unless there’s a tie-in to something emotional, a good reason. It’s the tea her mom drank, the last tea her husband bought her before she died, the tea she bought when she was 21 and on her own for the first time and now she always drinks it when she wants to feel independent.” Just giving me a brand of tea tells me something, but make it matter!
Edie Ramer says
February 2, 2011 at 12:44 pmGreat post! The hero in my latest book is calm and self-contained on the outside, but on the inside, he feels passionately. After reading this, I’m so glad I did that.
John K says
February 2, 2011 at 12:54 pmI have read and re-read ‘Writing the Breakout Novel’ and strongly recommend it! I have a protagonist who evolves from loathsome to lovable over the course of my novel…all in one day. The evolution wasn’t as dramatic (and less interesting) before I read the book. Thanks!
Now, if I can only get the courage up to send Mr. Maass my query…
laura says
February 2, 2011 at 1:17 pmGreat post! Apathy – I’ll give you that one for sure. There’s not much more yawn-inducing than a character who doesn’t care about anything. It’s like the Vonnegut rule: “Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”
I just wanted to pick at one thing: “it is not: aloof, cold, hard, apathetic, cynical, unfeeling, detached.” <– as long as you mean, on the outside, or not all of these things at once.
Some of my very favorite characters (of my own, and of others) have been some of these things. But balance is key in these cases. As in real life, sometimes people are cold, hard, cynical, detached, etc., and sometimes those people can be very interesting.
Sarah Woodbury says
February 2, 2011 at 1:40 pmAnd taking off on laura’s post, sometimes those same characters are all those “aloof, cold . . .” things 90% of the time, but it’s the one time they’re not that makes a character. Snape, as someone said, loving Lily . . .
Tamara says
February 2, 2011 at 2:15 pmI suspect that the protagonist’s emotions are felt by the reader, and so I try to skip parts where the protagonist would be bored, uninterested, or suffer lingering disappointment. I certainly would not include a scene where the protagonist throws down a book in disgust! :-)
Ray Rhamey says
February 2, 2011 at 4:01 pmYour word “caring” seems key to me, and this includes how a character feels about other human beings. Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned from editor Lou Aronica when he helped me with my novel, We the Enemy, was that the best way to create a sympathetic character (one with which we engage) is to show them in a relationship.
This could easily be a fleeting, brief encounter that illustrates how a character feels about other human beings, and that can bring a character’s inner self to life on the page.
Kristin Laughtin says
February 2, 2011 at 4:18 pm@Laura: Agreed. Characters can have some of these negative qualities, but there is usually something to balance them out. These qualities are just what’s on the surface; underneath, there’s something they care about, and that contrast between outside and inside makes them interesting.
I’ve reread Pride and Prejudice recently. There’s a reason Lizzie’s the narrator, not Mr. Darcy.
(Although I hear there are novels written from Darcy’s POV. I suspect they elaborate on the good qualities that come out later in the original novel.)
Roxanne says
February 2, 2011 at 5:31 pmExcellent tips for creating depth of character. So glad I stopped here this evening. I’m doing some soul-searching (on behalf of my main character) to dial up the conflict and clarify her motivation. I will keep these suggestions in mind to deepen the characters and make them more engaging.
Laura Droege says
February 2, 2011 at 7:59 pmI wish I’d had this post when I was furious at one of my characters for being so passive. I even wrote a “letter” to him on my blog: get off your butt! Do something besides whining and arguing and acting like an angst ridden teenager! You’re being boring!
He’s doing much better now. But I’m bookmarking this post in case he starts behaving that way again. Thanks.
M.E. Anders says
February 3, 2011 at 9:42 amCharacters often fall prey to passive non-behavior when we fail to fully understand their nuances. These jump-start questions are the wind needed to save them from the doldrums.
Thanks!
Donald Maass says
February 3, 2011 at 10:01 amMany good points in this discussion–thanks everyone.
Erika Robuck says
February 3, 2011 at 4:58 pmThis is very helpful. I’ve started research for my new novel on an historical figure and I’ve found that I hate her. I really, really hate her. I was tempted to give up on her, but your words made me rethink my approach.
Because this new subject does evoke such a strong response, she’d make a great antagonist. I just need to create a protagonist as compelling, but with heroic or noble qualities.
As always, thanks for the inspiration.
Dee DeTarsio says
February 3, 2011 at 8:19 pmThanks for the post! Characters are everything…to have an unlikeable, unchangeable or even worse, boring character, is the kiss of death… (I guess speaking in cliches isn’t so great, either…)
Misha says
February 4, 2011 at 3:50 amGreat post. I agree with you there.
I like to know what the character is thinking – even if I don’t like it.
At least they care enough about something to think about it.
That makes me care about those things too, because I wonder about my opinions about those things…
That is what involves me more than the action. I like getting into characters’ heads.
On the other hand, I like the cynics and cold ones too (like tv’s House), simply because I am dying to know what they are thinking/feeling. that mystery involves me too.
:-)
Petrea Burchard says
February 6, 2011 at 12:39 pmPassionate antagonists can be more interesting, too.
Thanks for a great post.
Rebecca says
February 7, 2011 at 10:32 pmthis is awesome – i love answering questions about my character as others ask them – it’s awesome because usually i’m coming up witht he answer on the fly, but TOTALLY makes things work in the grand scheme of things =D
Joan Stradling says
March 4, 2011 at 1:08 pmBravo! I needed this today.