by Marie Wells Coutu, @mwcoutu
To write realistic stories your readers will love, your characters must have a life before and after the story you’re telling.
Writers learn early the importance of knowing your character’s backstory. But you’ll have done your job as a writer when your readers want to know what happens to these people after the story ends. I remember the thrill I felt when my mother (I know—she was my mother, but still…) wanted me to write a sequel to my first book For Such a Moment so she could find out what happened with Ellen, Eric, and little Donato.
It’s more than the “Happily Ever After” ending that romance readers expect. Not every book has a happy ending. But all (or most) readers hope for their beloved characters to have a satisfying future. If readers are caught up in the story, they want to believe the characters live on. Even when the story is a comic strip.
Jan Eliot, creator of the Stone Soup comic, recently decided to retire and did not want anyone else to draw the strip. She cleverly announced the end to her readers by appearing in the strip as herself. In the June 14, 2020, episode, “Ms Eliot” told the other characters, “I’m afraid I’m letting you go.” She continued her farewell for several weeks leading to the final strip scheduled (as I write this) for July 26. One week, she described what the children in the strip would become when they grow up. Another time, she summed up every writer’s feelings about his or her characters: “You are all extensions of my psyche. You’ll always be a part of me….You’ll go on as usual. I’m just turning off the camera.” (If you haven’t read Stone Soup, you can find it at https://www.gocomics.com/stonesoup. The adult characters’ reaction to this statement will make you smile.)
Actors have much to teach us about characterization. Samuel L. Jackson says one of his early mentors urged him to remember that in every scene, “you are coming from somewhere and going somewhere when you leave.” In other words, every character has a goal for the scene—and it may be different from the author’s primary scene goal, or from the protagonist’s or antagonist’s goal.
As a writer, you can’t explore every character’s goal, but keeping this principle in mind can aid you in creating conflict and developing your scene and your characters.
In his Masterclass (https://www.masterclass.com/classes/samuel-l-jackson-teaches-acting–requires a subscription), Jackson devotes a session to “Creating Characters.” As an actor, he says, he wants to know where his character came from, who he is, what his parents were like, and how he feels about the other characters, especially what prejudices or opinions he has.
Authors need to know their characters in just as much depth. The choices a character makes, Jackson says, will be determined by who they are and will reveal something about them. He gives the example of portraying a homeless person—one might survive on handouts and begging, while another chooses to go dumpster diving. One may wear clothes he had before becoming homeless, but the other dresses in donated garments. Each has reasons for every choice he or she makes.
So should your characters. Their background and their goals will affect every choice and action.
To bring your characters to life, be like Jan Eliot and imagine what they’ll be doing in five or ten years. You probably won’t use the information in your book, but it may impact your story in ways you didn’t expect. And perhaps you’ll generate ideas for a sequel.
Truth is messy. But will their shared secret destroy his political career—or sabotage their marriage? After a whirlwind romance, beautiful Shawna Moore marries Hunter Wilson, the governor of Tennessee. Now, she wonders if the governor ever loved her or only hoped to avoid a scandal. In this modern re-imagining of the biblical story of Bathsheba and King David, an investigative reporter is asking questions—the wedding took place only six weeks following the death of Shawna’s first husband in Iraq. If he discovers the truth about Shawna’s baby, Hunter’s chances for reelection, as well as Shawna’s reputation, will be ruined. But keeping their secret is destroying their marriage. Will Hunter’s choice mean the end of his political career or his family?
Award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like old houses, gnarly trees, and forgotten treasures. When she’s not writing about finding restoration and healing through God-designed journeys, she enjoys taking broken things and making them useful.
She is currently working on historical romance novels set in the 1930s. One manuscript won the 2019 Touched by Love Contest and the 2019 Sheila Contest, and a second novel won in the 2020 Great Expectations Contest and the 2019 Sheila Contest.
Her published novels are women’s contemporary fiction. Her debut novel, For Such a Moment, won the Books of Hope Contest. The Secret Heart, her newest release, and Thirsting for More, the second book in the series, were finalists in several contests.
You can find more about Marie and her novels on her Facebook page (Author Marie Wells Coutu), at her website (MarieWellsCoutu.com), or follow her on Twitter (@mwcoutu) or on Amazon.com.