The Missing Link: What's Missing in Your Characters

Have you ever, while revising a scene, said, there's something missing here? Rather than ignore the question, especially if you fear the response, ponder your query. The answer can deepen your scene, characters and story.

While editing an early chapter in a novel, I felt something was missing. In this case, a new character appeared at the start of the chapter without preamble and with barely a mention in the chapter before. The character was vivid and fairly well-defined, but the context was missing. Without that, the interplay between him and his daughter-in-law was one-dimensional.

Context enlivens characters

In this instance, the solution was to revise the start of the chapter to create a more concrete setting, where his daughter-in-law and son are already "on stage." Starting the chapter with a three-person dynamic provided the opportunity for more interplay among the characters, and a better sense of the father-in-law. Since he's new to the scene, we see him in sharper relief.

Tip: Select a scene that's given you the nagging sense that something's missing. In a quiet place, or even a noisy one that's not your usual writing habitat or home, reread the scene and mark the point(s) where something feels off. Ponder what that might be. Don't be afraid to give yourself time to confront the missing link. Sometimes fear keeps us from seeing what's right in front of us.

Insight: Sometimes the missing link is backstory. We'll cover that in the next post.

Resource: If you're looking for a master storyteller who's equally masterful at creating characters, visit Dennis Lehane

The Play's the Thing: Flash Fiction That Works for the Stage

Tom Carr, Adele Annesi, Aurora López Cancino

My flash fiction piece "Days of Obligation" recently appeared as a stage play for the Ridgefield Cultural Festival, sponsored by the Ridgefield Arts Council.  "Days" was adapted for the stage by playwright and director Joanne Hudson. The part of Antonia was played by Aurora López Cancino, and the part of Mauro was played by Thomas Carr. Seeing the play performed was a wonderful experience, but even more fun was preparing — watching a talented director coaching the actors, and me, and watching dedicated performers give life to the characters. The actors had great questions that made me think about the story, and they found levels of meaning I hadn't realized were there.

The other interesting experience is that this piece was a kind of pop-up story, meaning it popped up as a flash fiction piece from a short story I wrote called "Resolution," slated to appear in Midway Journal in November 2011. Pop-ups aren't a genre, really, that's just my word for them. They're akin to flash in that they're micro-mini stories, but their origin is from a work of short fiction. A great learning experience, overall.

A big thank-you to Joanne, Aurora and Tom! Thanks also to Frank Giarratana for the pics!

Playing the Part: Reading the Right Stories Helps Create Characters

Portrait of an artist

It's been said, including here by authors like Peter Selgin (see "Essential Conversations on Creativity: Style With Peter Selgin"), that good reading makes good writing. It's also true that your characters are only as good as what you've read to prepare for writing them.

Like a method actor preparing to play a part, reading to portray a character is key, as I'm learning even more in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program at Fairfield University under mentor Pete Nelson, author of I Thought You Were Dead. Nelson's reading suggestion for an artist character I'm creating was Joyce Cary's The Horse's Mouth.

Cary's The Horse's Mouth

I like this selection because the book is older, not well-known, to me anyway, and the writing is superb. Yet, not even these qualities are enough. Horse's Mouth portrays artist Gulley Jimson from the inside out.

Here's just some of what I learned:

• Cary uses partial descriptions in scenes to show how an artist might see them.
• His dialogue is clipped, as an artist may hear people speak because he's looking at other things. It's also compressed, as if the artist wants to finish the conversation and get back to work.
• When an artist first becomes aware of his surroundings, he interprets it roughly, as a sketch.
• Past relationships are precious, because artists often move through their days without lasting intimacy: It's all about the work.
• Artists create their work from bits of life, sense memories. Good artists are brutally honest.
• I also appreciated that this book is a novel, not nonfiction, which means the story has a more organic feel, which guards against the wooden result that can come from too much research. Now, to put all this into practice.

Tip: What main character are you creating who could benefit from a good story about the same type of person? Visit your local library, LinkedIn or writing group, and ask who's read a lesser-known work that pertains to the same character type. As you read, record what you learn.