Orson Scott Card says in Characters & Viewpoint (106-107), look to motivation. If the writer does not show complex motivation, then the reader may simply assume stereotypes. So what are Deidre's motivations? her purposes, her loyalties? Where is she conflicted? What does she fear? What does she hope for? Why did she follow Mac here, to Van Diemen's Land, really? What did she learn on the four-month voyage here? What are her thoughts and her plans, her feelings and reactions? What is she NOT facing and why? What motivates her that she may not be aware of? Where does she draw a line? Where does she fight back?
Some 21st Century women still protect themselves with innuendo, by presenting ideas as questions, by deferring, by manipulating, by sacrificing. I'm running straight up against social convention, those rather strict Victorian codes that put women on a pedestal. And so Deidre drinks tea and faints, not at all the brave woman I want her to be. Yet.
Card says that motivation is at the heart of the story. If I change a character's motivation, I'm working at the deep structure of the story on issues I may not be aware of. But I will persevere.
Now to ROW80 (A Round of Words in 80 Days) that begins today for 2013. This is my third round of 80 days, and I do see changes in my planning and writing behaviors. My 2013 Calendar has writing goals and action steps already planned throughout the year. This is a first! If you've read earlier posts, you know that I want to start the third book in this series (River of Stones set in the Pacific Northwest). If I don't start before, I will with NaNoWriMo in November, 2013. That's a commitment.
Tonight's ROW80 report will be short mostly because I'm not home. Even the keyboard is different. I'm babysitting a 7-month-old who has just gone down to sleep. She's so sweet, and I'm so tired. But I can report steady progress in drafting, editing, and for me a very large challenge, marketing. I don't care so much about learning how to sell as I do about connecting with readers, having people read my stuff. Just this last week, I joined a local author's group that meets monthly. ROW80 has made me much more aware of how important studying the craft of writing is to my own growth as a writer. One of the joys of being a part of ROW80 has been learning from other writers (equally true of this month's Ultimate Blog Challenge bloggers).
Question: If you are a writer, what challenges have you faced in writing scenes that reveal your characters' motives?
The photo is of a cactus lily that blooms in the winter. May your writing go well.
I don't usually write fiction, so I can't speak for my character's motivation. I can speak of motivation as an actor. Sometimes my characters completely surprise me with their motivation... sometimes I journal in character. I learn a lot that way, actually.
ReplyDeleteI love the time period you are writing within.... I am so into the women writers of that time. Can't wait to see what Deidre gets herself into next!
Thank you for telling me about how you get into characters by writing. I'm sometimes surprised by what I can discover by using different techniques (even drawing and mapping). And, yes, Deidre just got feisty. I jumped over to your blog and found your ROW80 goals admirably laid out. That idea of posting goal updates on one day and the essence of writing on the next is very useful. But I couldn't find a place to leave comments. But your post was inspiring!
DeleteI don't know about the motivation bit as I'm not a writer. I think a writer should just write the way they want to. It's the character and his/her experience that makes the story interesting and captivating.
ReplyDeleteDropping by from UBC.
I appreciate your visit via UBC and hope you enjoy writing the rest of the month on your blog.
DeleteMy writing is mainly poetry. I try to write stories...I have ideas in my head but I cannot seem to get them down on paper. Some day I will really try my hardest to get the brainstorming process down so I can really try to write. I need to figure out my characters and their back stories and how I can portray them. I cannot wait to read more of your blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, and I'm glad you found my blog interesting. Before I wrote fiction, I wrote poetry. One of my short stories just morphed into a novel. I hope participating in UBC will help those words keep coming for you. It's good to see another writer in UBC.
DeleteWell, my fiction endeavors have never progressed past some fanfic, so I don't think I can offer much advice, but I will say this is an interesting post. The idea that you have a character who is not yet who you want her to be seems a perplexing challenge.
ReplyDeleteActually, now that I think about it, maybe I do have a suggestion . . . when I was writing fanfic, I was never particularly good at writing in a linear fashion, but would often write random scenes as I understood them and then fit them together. Maybe if you first write the end point for Deidre--where she is the brave woman you envision--it will be easier to work backward and more fully understand and reveal her motivations for getting there.
Thank you, Cheri. I've been struggling with wimpy Deidre for several weeks, actually months. Her willingess to leave Scotland to follow her fiance to the penal colony in Van Diemens Land actions show her to be passionate and a risk taker, that is when she's not fainting. But writing this blog post yesterday and reading your comments helped me revise so that her actions fit who she really is. I'm not so linear either, but I do try. May your own work go well.
DeleteI can see where you are at Beth. As a fun project, although it may turn serious if I find the time, I am half way through a novel. At this stage it is all story but I have not painted the picture of the leading character, in fact any of the characters. My view was to write the story then go back and fill out all the necessary descriptions so the reader can see what I see when writing. Not sure if this is the right way to go, but seems to be working for me so far.
ReplyDeleteDespite all the advice online and in writers' magazines, there is no one right way to write. Some writers I've worked with have a process similar to yours. They write that first draft -- and it may be all story -- but in the revision stage, then the details emerge. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteMy writing so far has been mostly non-fiction, and I expect it to continue to do so. However, it does give me something to think about in the personal writing I do in the new blog I am getting to write.
ReplyDeleteI need to understand the audience, and how they'll connect with me, so perhaps letting them see more into me and my motivation will establish a deeper connection
I'm looking forward to seeing your new blog. I actually taught technical writing and have written a text book, so I understand the challenge in shifting from one type of writing to another. Best of luck in your personal writing -- I'm still figuring out how to identify the audience that loves historical fiction. So much will depend on how you define your audience.
DeleteI'm glad you've found a writers group. My critique group is so helpful.
ReplyDeleteAs for writing scenes that reveal character motivations. I'm striving to show and not tell. On of my pitfalls was saying how the charchters felt. Im working on Improvements to dialog sprinkled with bits of action to show the mood.
Ah, you have a writer's critique group. I think the group I just joined is more of a mutual support group, no sharing of drafts, but more strategizing over marketing. The Internet Writing Workshop has been more than helpful for critiques, though I don't submit work there very often. Yes, showing, not telling -- that's the challenge. Thank you for visiting.
DeleteInteresting post, Beth, and I think I now inderstand why you might have been reading _San Miguel_. The setting and character conflict is a bit like what you are writing about. I hope you give it anther try, because Boyle does a great job flushing out both Marantha and her daughter's motivations. It was a tough time for women. Here are some questions: Does Diedre really have many options? Did she go with her husband because she was insecure in their relationship? Or, does she secretly want a life, something English marital life could never have given her? Just questions. Maybe if you interviewed her, or journaled from her perspective, you might learn about her.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. Yes, I will give Boyle another read; I know you think well of it. The biggest surprise for me this week was coming to an entirely new understanding of Deidre -- I'm reworking her entire character and it seems so much truer to who she is. Yes, I will add your questions to others I'm working up and keep writing her story in whatever form it comes. What helped me most was to realize that underneath her conventionality lies passion and a high level of risk-taking, despite her class or the time she lived in. Thanks for pushing me back to Boyle. He's back on my 'to read' list. :)
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