We’re trying to help our readers fall in love with our characters this week at MBT….and one way you do this is through “Character Layering” – or slowly revealing the heart of your character—to your other characters in the story and, ultimately, to your reader.
But doesn’t my reader need to know about my character in order to love them? I hear this a lot from people who might pour in all the great reasons why our hero and heroine are the way they are – their hurts and their triumphs – onto the first page.
Think back—if you knew everything about your spouse or significant other when you met them, would you still go forward? Perhaps it’s best if we fall in love layer by layer.
More than that, your reader wants to dive into the story, and too much too soon just bogs it down. If you dump your hero’s entire bio onto the page, not only will it seem forced, but it also will lack impact. The fun of getting to know a character is discovering who they are and what makes them tic. The best part of a book is discovering the Dark Secret, or desperate motivation, behind their actions. If you reveal it all at once it lacks punch, and you’ve stolen the emotional impact of the story from the reader.
Character Layering solves the problem of what to tell, when. It helps your reader fall in love.
Which means that although you don’t want to put all the backstory onto the page — you must know it. You must have built your character correctly.
It is essential to know the Backstory of your character before you start the book because, as I mentioned, you want to start your story quickly, without too much bio. But you need to understand your character because it’s their Backstory that causes them to react in present.
The reader just needs to see the outcome of the Backstory, and how it affected your character.
So, how much Backstory should you develop?
Answer: Enough to know your characters motivations for why he/she does the things they do in your story.
If your character loved to draw as a child and always dreamed of being an artist, that’s only important if it has something to do with the plot. If he’s a detective solving a murder, it might not have anything to do with the story. However, if he is asked to draw the suspect and rediscovers the rusty talent he had, then perhaps it is slightly important. If, even better, he loved to draw, and had talent, but his father told him he was a terrible artist (in order to discourage such a “frivolous” career), and the story is about a policeman who discovers that he has the ability to see the crimes in the pictures he draws, (and thus was always meant to use this God-given gift) well, suddenly this Backstory takes on relevance.
As the author, you always want to figure out what elements of their past molded them into the people they are today. Mostly because you’re going to use the fears and dreams, the secrets and mistakes from their past to construct their story, and to help your reader fall in love with your character.
How do you develop the right backstory?
If you’ve taken any of my classes, read the My Book Therapy blog, or If you’ve read From the Inside . . . Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you,
you know that I am a proponent of sitting your character down and chatting with him about why he is who he is. This is how you discover the Backstory, and is essential for a well-rounded, three-dimensional, living, breathing character, and the key to creating a hero/heroine that your reader will root for.
More than that, I like to use the Five Elements of Self-Esteem as a foundation for plotting and character development.
I also like to use them for building the elements of layering.
For a more in-depth explanation of the Five Elements of Self-Esteem and how to build them into a plot, check out From the Inside . . . Out. (This is available through the My Book Therapy store or at Amazon.com)
The Five Elements of Self-Esteem help us determine who our character is, why they do the things they do, what their greatest fears and dreams are, how to make them suffer, how to craft the Black Moment, their perfect Epiphany, and finally the happily ever after ending.
They will also help us layer our character, step by step.
What are the components of our character’s layers?
Identity: Everyone has an identity they use to introduce themselves to others. The first layer reflects how they see themselves, or how the world sees them.
So, I spend a lot of time on airplanes these days, and I’m always curious about the people I sit down next to. I look them over, and usually base an initial judgment on whether or not they’re reading a book. If they are, I put them into an “I like them” category. Even better if they are reading fiction. And better yet – Inspirational Fiction!
I might then look over their bag, their clothes, the way they are sitting. All this tells me whether I should make an attempt to say hello during the beverage service, or make sure our elbows never touch. Their external trappings have told me a smidge of who they are, and if I’d like to get to know them.
Your reader will approach your character in the same way. They will, during the first few pages, be trying to decide if they want to get to know them.
When you meet someone for the first time, you are basing your impressions on who they are by how they dress, what they are doing at the time, perhaps the speech they use, and the way they introduce themselves. This gives us the first glimpse as to who they are. This is the glimpse you should give your reader, too.
So, Ask: Who is your character? What identity does he give himself? What sort of attire, behaviors, mannerisms and trappings go along with that identity?
Noble cause/Purpose: Behind every hero, there’s a reason why he does the things he does. In Braveheart, the death of his bride compels William Wallace to fight for a free Scotland. In The Bourne Identity, it’s Jason Bourne’s quest to discover who he is.
In determining your character, you need to know what happened in his past that made him the person he is today. What was his darkest moment? Usually, it is this moment that contributes to his Noble Cause (and creates a superb foundation for letting the heroine see through his cracks to the vulnerable heart of the man inside).
Usually a person will do anything to make sure this dark moment is not repeated. Often the Noble Cause is directly related to either atoning for that dark moment, or protecting himself or others from it.
You’ll use this information in developing a Layer of Revelation.
Ask: What happened in your past that molded your goals and purposes today?
Competence: We like heroes who can take care of themselves, who know what they’re doing. It builds our confidence in them and causes them to be heroic. What is that one thing that your hero does well?
The Bourne Identity is a wonderful movie that showcases Bourne’s skills. We know that his girlfriend is safe with him, even though many assassins are on their tail.
Even computer geeks can be heroic when we see them using their skills.
Ask: What is your character good at, and how is that shown on the page? In a romance, you can go further and ask: What skills does your hero possess that he uses to save the heroine?
Security: When I’m plotting, I use the element of Security to pinpoint that point of no return, when a character must fish or cut bait. But when I’m working on layers, I use a character’s IN-security to discover what his worst nightmare is. What are his deepest fears? What is he going to avoid at all cost?
Often you can discover these fears by going back to that darkest moment in the past. At some point in your story, your hero will be pushed to his limits. In that moment, he or she will either turn back to safety, or face their fears and move forward. Discovering what he is most afraid of, what makes him feel most insecure, will add another layer to your character that will be revealed shortly before or after the dark moment.
In Donald Maas’s workshops, he talks about finding that one behavior that your hero would never do. For example, building on The Bourne Identity, I doubt that Jason Bourne lets himself fall in love . . . and yet, there he is, falling in love with the heroine half-way through the movie.
What prompts a hero to do something he would never do?
Answer: His greatest fears pushing against him, his biggest dreams dangling before his eyes . . . and the realization that he wants something different, something more. Bringing your character to this place, and revealing this for your reader, or heroine, is a pivotal emotional point on the journey.
Book Therapist Questions: What is the one thing your character would never do, and what would make him do it?
Belonging: What lie keeps him away from God and why?
Because of your character’s darkest moment, they will have learned from it something that holds them back from happiness. We all operate with lies in our lives, and your character is on this journey to be set free. So, he must learn a truth, sometimes referred to as the Epiphany, in order to be set free to complete his mission, or to be able to love. Understand this lie will help you create the last layer, the one closest to his heart.
Ask: What lie has he believed that has broken him?
Now, you should have interviewed your character enough to understand his Backstory, how he sees himself and why, what his motivations and goals are, what he has to live or fight for, what he’s good at, what brought him to this place, what lies he believes, and what truth will set him free. These are the components you need to dress your character.
Tomorrow, well talk about how to layer your character….and then reveal those layers to woo your reader!
Don’t forget to stop by MBT Club Voices and add yours to the discussions on how to write a romance!
Susie May