Pop quiz: Where do your characters go when they aren’t in the scene you’re writing? Are they pacing in the greenroom? Maybe chowing down at the snack table, catching a quick nap, or binge watching old episodes of Murder She Wrote on Netflix while waiting for their next cue. Or – and this is the most likely – have you inadvertently pressed the pause button, and sent them into stasis? As in, out of sight, out of mind.
After all you have so much on your mind – you’re focused first and foremost on the scene you’re writing. In fact, you may be so focused on what your protagonist is doing, that even the secondary characters right there on the page have blurred a bit. They’re no longer specific people, but representatives of a general category: mom, dad, BFF, sibling, co-worker. Uh oh.
A gifted writer I work with had that habit. Whenever her protagonist, Tess, appeared in a scene with her parents, Tess remained vivid and driven, but her parents turned bland and generic. When asked what was going on, the writer said, “Well, that’s how most parents I know act during a family dinner – so it’s totally believable.” But it wasn’t believable at all, because it wasn’t what Tess’s parents would have done; in fact, it wasn’t what anyone who had a specific past would have done — and sheesh, we all have a specific past, every last one of us. Ditto each and every character we create.
So in order to figure what actually would have happened at that family dinner, the writer had to plumb Tess’s parents’ story-specific pasts in order to unearth what, exactly, they would have done, and far more importantly, why they might have done it. This didn’t simply apply to that one scene in question, but to everything they did throughout the novel. Which, in turn, changed a bit of what Tess herself did, because now the writer had a much better handle on the situation Tess was dealing with, who she was, and how she saw the world.
The work the writer did to give her characters well-developed, story-specific agendas was invaluable, because now she had reliable, sturdy guidelines, enabling her to both create and track the arc of all their storylines – scene by scene — throughout the novel.
Which brings us right back to the question we started with: Where do these well-developed, story-specific characters go, and how do they keep themselves busy, when they’re not in the current scene?
The answer is amazingly simple: just like out here in real life, they do everything they can to achieve their agenda. The only difference between real life and a story, is that in real life people do a whole lot more than strive to fulfill one agenda – they eat, sleep, argue with the cable company over the movie the were billed for that they never ordered, and they spend way too much time checking their email (if I’m any indication). You don’t care about that when it comes to your characters. What you do care about is the action they take to put their story-specific plans into motion, as they attempt to achieve their story-specific goal.
For instance:
- In The Hobbit, while on the page once Bilbo finds the One Ring, he continually revels in his new found powers, off-the-page Gollum is actively trying to track him down and get it back, and Sauron, realizing the One Ring has been found, sends the nine riders in search of it. Lots of very specific trouble brewing!
- In book after book when Harry Potter is evading Snape, sure that Snape is out to get him, off-the-page Snape is actively trying in ways large and small to protect Harry (yikes! belated spoiler alert).
- In Outlander, when Claire is actively falling in love with Jamie (sigh) in 1743, off-the-page, her husband Frank is trying to find out what happened to her in 1945. (Short time out, I am SO hooked on Outlander. The Starz version. Sorry. It’s the schoolgirl in me).
The point is: not only do these secondary characters keep themselves busy, but off the page they’re doing things that directly affect what is happening on the page, things that will affect the protagonist both in the present and in future scenes.
This is especially true in thrillers, mysteries, sci-fi, fantasy, and any novel with even a hint of intrigue. Which basically boils down to just about every novel.
The problem is that it is maddeningly easy to lose track of characters who aren’t in the scene you’re writing. It’s something a brilliant writer I work with was struggling with recently. She’s writing a multi-generational historical novel that unfolds in 17th century China, and involves myriad levels of ongoing political and social intrigue.
But because writers are seldom taught to figure out what characters are doing when they’re not on the page, she was so focused on the scenes she was writing, that she rarely gave a second thought to the characters who weren’t present. When she thought about them at all, it was in general. As in: the prince is plotting revenge; the emperor’s estranged head wife is working to undermine her successor; the youngest brother of the emperor is planning to lead a coup against him in the future. But she hadn’t thought about what the prince was plotting, or how he was carrying it out. She didn’t know what the estranged wife was up to, or how the younger brother was arranging this coup. In other words, there was no specifics, thus no action, thus no clue where danger lay, and so, basically, no danger. No intrigue. No story.
Because how could her protagonist walk into a trap, if no one was actually laying a trap? How could her protagonist figure out what was going on, if nothing was going on? The answer is simple, he couldn’t. And therein lies the irony: the scenes she was writing, although each and every one was extremely well written, were flat. Because nothing was ever at stake, nor was there a concrete consequence looming. No one had a real, specific agenda, and so no one actually did anything. And so the things that did happen were situational, episodic, and surface. They couldn’t be anything else, because there was nothing going on beneath the surface.
But – and this was so exciting – the minute that writer began to focus on what was happening off the page, the things that happened on the page began to take on a sense of urgency that now makes it hard to put her pages down. And just as important, it energized her and gave her a renewed sense of confidence, because she could see where her story was going.
So, the question is: with so many interwoven storylines, how do you keep track of who is doing what to whom, and why?
The answer: before you write any scene, make a list of the other storylines that are playing out off the page, and ask yourself: what is happening in each of these subplots right now, in real time? What are these characters actually doing? Specifically? Plan it out just as fully as you will plan out the scene you’re about to write. Jot it down, so that you can track it throughout the novel.
The good news is that once you’ve begun to spin these storylines – meaning: make them specific, so that things are actually happening off the page – they soon begin to unfold almost on their own. And best yet, you are aware of it every step of the way.
After all, everyone in our lives – our beloved, our children, our pets, our nemesis – is up to something every minute of every day, just like we are. But in real life, we have to imagine what they’re doing (and heavens knows we’re often embarrassingly wrong). The beauty of being a writer is that you know what all your characters are doing at all times, and just as crucial, you know why. Or at least, you should.
What about you: What do you do to keep track of what your characters are doing when they’re off the page – you know, just to make sure they’re not slacking, eating way too many barbecue potato chips at the craft services table, waiting to get called back onto the page?
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About Lisa Cron
Lisa Cron is the author of Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers From the Very First Sentence and Story Genius: How To Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste 3 Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere). Her video tutorial, Writing Fundamentals: The Craft of Story, can be found at Lynda.com. Her TEDx talk, Wired for Story, opened Furman University’s 2014 TEDx conference, Stories: The Common Thread of Our Humanity. A frequent speaker at writers conferences, schools and universities, Lisa's passion has always been story. She currently works as a story coach helping writers, nonprofits, educators and journalists wrangle the story they're telling onto the page; contact her here.
I think this is where we all need to think like mystery writers. A mystery writer is, in essence, creating the perfect crime. And the criminals themselves are rarely in the scene. The mystery writer has to know what his happening off stage, just as her detective must know what is happening or has happened when she wasn’t present.
During one of those strokes of writerly genious (or perhaps luck) I wasn’t happy with the mom in my middle grade novel set in 1968. She would show up, say her lines, and then leave. Isn’t that the way middle grade and young adult novels work? Keep the parents on the sidelines. Let the young protagonist solve his own problems.
But I kept tinkering with mom and gave her a bit of a reckless past. She is no longer the perfect wife, in love with her husband who has just been lost at sea with the USS Scorpion (last US sub lost at sea). She married young, had a son, is pregnant with her second, and longs for a different life. Even to the point of flirting with the neighbor’s husband.
A young reader may not understand what’s going on with mom, but I do hope it makes the story more vivid for them. And adult readers will certainly pick up on the clues. Given all that background, I kept tabs on mom as I wrote my protagonist’s story. Now, I kept tabs in my head, but now that you’ve brought this up, there is no reason why I can’t use the side-notes feature in Scrivener to jot down what my off-scene characters are up to. I could avoid many plot holes that way.
Thanks for the post!
Wait, you mean when my friends leave from a dinner out, they don’t go into stasis until our next encounter? Worse yet, they may in fact be plotting against me?
Wow, I kinda like that last point … my life suddenly got way more exciting.
Kidding aside, thank you for a timely post. I’m currently working on a basic timeline for my tale involving three protagonists, strangers to each other, whose lives intersect for a time in the public maelstrom arising from the discovery of a body from a murder nearly three decades earlier.
Even if they may not intentionally conspire against each other, though for one the opportunity exists (which I’ll explore), this gives me great insight on unspooling their threads in the most compelling way. I’ve already been playing with the idea of unintended fallout from each of their actions, but I now have a clearer mission in my plotting.
Thanks, Lisa! I’m thrilled you’ve been keeping busy with me in mind … unless you’ve been plotting against me too, in which case, please stop! ;)
Once upon a time (before following Writer Unboxed) I spent a lot of time thinking about my 2 teen protagonists’ ancestors. Now as I’m working on the 5th draft I am drawing from that previous brainstorming time. Particularly as I write scenes which include their parents, their own backstories (I hope!) inform the present dialogue and conflict. All our characters had lives before our story began.
Funny you should be talking about his today, Lisa. I’m reading a novel in which the main character is a housemaid who does a lot of eavesdropping, and she disappears for whole pages while the overheard conversation goes on. But at other times, and this is what keeps me reading, the author keeps the other characters present by thinking about them or referencing them in her interior monologue. So I’m getting to see what works and what doesn’t, all in one book. One-stop shopping! And I hear you about Outlander! I’m hooked on the knitwear.
Yup. True through and through. Excellent article, Lisa Cron.
Mea culpa. It took a long time for me to realise that when the protag was away on duty, his privileged, aristocratic wife at home had a separate life to live. I had to go back through the manuscript and slip it in here and there.
Strange to say – as you noted in the article – the story took on a third dimension as the wife’s little volunteer afternoon job evolved into something more, took her out of her beautiful ancestral mansion into the public arena, and gave her the independence to ask for a divorce.
Wow.
Lisa,
You’re spot on about other character’s threads being important to the entire story. I’m currently reading book 4 of Outlander series and devouring the drama. The voice of each character definitely originates by what happens to them personally (in the outer story) ‘Im glad to hear that Diana Gabaldon is still writing more books – lots more to look forward to reading.
Thanks for sharing the post.
Hey, Lisa,
Great article…but I’m just a little lost. Mainly, I have a question.
Okay, I understand the concept of each character having their own arc, doing their own thing toward attaining their story goals. Gotcha there. I mean, I do that anyway. Yeah, they don’t sit around twiddling their thumbs whilst my protagonist goes bee-bopping about town. They’re busy hatching their own plots.
BUT…exactly how does it affect the scene I’m writing? I mean, how do I put off-page stuff on the page when a) the protagonist, whose POV I’m writing in knows nothing about this, and b) once I include any part of their story arc, doesn’t it become “on-page” action or exposition?
Yes, I agree that each thing affects the other, but…well, let’s take Harry Potter for example:
From Harry’s POV, he thinks Snape is conspiring against him. The reader is given that impression through the information revealed. Later on, we find out that Snape had been protecting Harry (always) and, when we look back, we see where that was the case. We see where it was indeed revealed on-page — only, it was revealed cryptically. Well, I guess it was more “misunderstood” through Harry’s eyes by what he saw and knew at the time.
Okay, okay…I gotcha. I sort of worked it out as I was writing the paragraph above. The writer has to know what the complete storyline is for each character when writing each scene, whether the character is in it or not, because it affects the writing of the scene (word choice, phrasing, etc.), yet still fits seamlessly into the protagonist’s arc and the outcome of the whole novel (or series of novels). Yes, you may write a scene where the protagonist (and the reader) is led to think one thing, but if you know the story arc of each character, then you will write it completely different than you would if you didn’t.
I don’t think I’ve had enough coffee, yet. :)
Thanks…I’m really looking forward to your session in Salem!
Mike, I really liked how you figured it out for yourself and others like me who were wondering the same thing. Isn’t it funny how writing really does clarify things?
Vijaya,
It’s funny you should say that. I’m constantly doing it! Chalk another one up to writing things out for better clarity. Glad you got some benefit, too. :D
So right.
Villains especially seem to have a lot of free time. What are they doing when they’re off stage? Relaxing in their time shares, I think. I want their jobs.
Great advice for getting characters off their duffs and busy, even when we can’t see what they’re doing.
Villains work on their novels when they’re off scene. It involves hours of net-surfing and hanging out at Starbucks.
Very useful essay, Lisa. I find that delving into backstory before writing really helps me with this. If you know the roots of the conflicts on the page, you gain a much better grasp of what everyone might be up to.
As in your example of The Hobbit, I think Tolkien has admitted that when he wrote it (as a story for his young son) he had no idea about the darkness and corrupting power the ring represented. He came upon it as he fleshed out the backstory for Middle Earth. Which makes The Lord of the Rings so much more lush and intricate.
Thanks for broadening my perspective, and for the tips!
Thanks, Lisa. My WIP centers around a kidnapping and how to find the child and determine who took her. The procedural type of story lines in my book have helped me keep EVERYONE busy. Whether it’s my MC struggling with deep sorrow or her husband doing the same but searching everyday for their child and working with a detective–everyone is busy busy. We have to make our characters work and flesh out the story, give it heft. And we have to do that even if the plot line is quieter or tends to focus on the inward decisions of our characters. Writing needs to echo real life–so what would the lawyer, the cook, the laborer, the mother be doing in your novel when not on center stage? Thank you.
Great advice, Lisa. And so true.
You ask what we do to keep characters moving? I get downright selfish and egotistical, making it ALL ABOUT the protagonist. Sure, secondary characters do mundane ‘life’ things, but those aren’t of much interest unless they add to the plot. I aim to keep everyone busy doing good-bad-and-ugly in direct relation to the main character and the outcome of his / her situation or mindset.
Wonderful post to get us thinking….
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
Good advice. I need to bear this in mind with what I’m currently writing.
So . . . if one is writing in first person, do secondary characters who are elsewhere get separate scenes in third person?
So good, Lisa. Thank you!
I once took a weekend workshop with SF author David Gerrold. One of his lessons, summed up in the imperative he kept repeating, was: “Ask the next question.”
The idea is that to write successful fiction you have to (yeah) keep asking yourself the next question about your characters, so you end up knowing EVERYTHING about them. And when you run out of questions, the story practically writes itself (including much pruning and reassembly, of course). What’s left over, if not the seed of the next book, is just as valuable to the current one as anything actually on the page.
I hear many echoes of that lesson in this post. Thanks again for the reminder!
I love this post. And it’s incredibly relatable and has helped me look at my own writing in a new way. I’ve written a few books before, and I know I tend to forget to always have each character up to something, on or off the page. Seems I might have a bit of editing to do… :)
Very helpful, Lisa. While I think I’m doing ok at tracking what everyone else is doing offstage, I hadn’t thought about how their activities might influence the onstage action, even if only with subtle references (as Mike Swift described). Thanks!
This is something actors have to do all the time — establishing where they were and what they were doing when they were ‘off-stage’ — and it must be tied, like you say, to what the individual character’s goals and obstacles are. It’s a special challenge for the writer, who has to be in charge of ALL the characters. Sometimes just keeping track of names and descriptions requires charts — let alone what every character wants. Really insightful article here. :-)
Thank you for making a light bulb go off in my brain. I’m so focused on the scene I’m writing I never think about the characters not on the page. Something to add to my chapter-by-chapter outline.
I love a Lisa Cron post. What else is new? ;)
I just finished a book yesterday called YOU, ME, & OTHER PEOPLE by Fionnuala Kearney that did this better than any book in my memory. In my review, I tried to put it into words myself when what I should’ve done was included a link to this article and said: She did an extraordinary job at [link.] :)
In each scene, characters from previous scenes would eventually enter, and they were different now. Things in their lives had moved forward (because they too had agendas and lives!) while we were watching this character’s scene. It was exciting and real and did wonderful things for pacing.
Highly recommend that book as an example of Lisa’s lesson executed.
Thanks, Lisa!
~MM
Yes! That’s all I can say … YES! And I’m not referring to binge watching Murder She Wrote (By the way: Jessica Fletcher killed every last one of those people every single week for twelve years!) This has been one of the most helpful posts ever … like ever … really.
This not only helps me to keep all of the balls/subplots juggling in the air, but it KEEPS me on my toes by pointing out problem areas. By having to keep to the specifics and what everyone is doing in the present, I have to have their pasts nailed and making sense. I found that with one of my characters, his whole agenda made sense in my head, but when I wrote down what was happening in chapter five, I realized I had to go back to the beginning with his story and figure a lot of things out so that everything tied together and made logical sense …. and it really does keep things exciting because I see where all of my characters are going with crystal clear precision. It’s like having a crystal ball and being able to look at every character at any point I wish, and when it is their turn on the page … so true Lisa that everything just falls into place … but it’s not general or magic or by writing by the seat of my stretchy fat-pants … it comes into logical precision because I crafted it that way by doing all that work off the page. You are the greatest, wait let me drink some more of that Kool Aid. Gulp.
By the way, if anyone is actually reading my post, I don’t think we have the opportunity to buy Lisa coffee again this month? Is it just me? I want to buy her two cups o joe because we can’t have her falling asleep on us.
Great advice well written, Lisa. Of course I expect nothing less from you. I’m actually at the perfect point in my novel to start mapping out the shenanigans the myriad of supporting characters are up to (love! despair! cruelty!), so this was the perfect time to read this. Thanks for your auspicious timing!
Thank you, Lisa – I’m in revisions (again) on my first fantasy novel and this is soooo helpful!