Don't Shoot the Messenger! (Adventures of a Critic)

Characters and Story

Hello all! Long time, no see! Hope you're still enjoying Critic Land!

I found this wonderful quote on writinggeekery.com (wonderful place, definitely check it out). This quote deserves a chapter for itself. This describes story and how your characters can influence them.

Someone selfless might want to save everyone from the village from the wildfire no matter the cost to themselves, while the just one might be willing to leave the murderer in jail, and the resourceful one would be trying to find a way to stop the fire completely.

Each becomes a different type of story, consistent with the character.

Your characters must be defined. Your characters pull the story along, and if it was not that certain character in your story, it would be a completely different story. Remember that.

Your character must have their own voice, their own strengths, their own being. You give them a personality and you layer it with other things, vices, virtues, ideas. Your character has to react differently from another character during a situation. It is how that character reacts that shows what kind of person they are.

I read so many stories on here where the characters are all flat, or all the same. They all have the same ideas, the same thoughts, they all come to the same conclusion in the exact same way. But like above, they'd find things out differently. One person may believe that God showed them a sign and they knew. Another person may have noticed a note that had been thrown away. It all depends on who your character is.

Sorry it's been so long! I've been currently working on a novel that will not be published on wattpad, and that is taking up a lot of my time. I hope you enjoy this visit to Critic World, and remember - Don't Shoot the Messenger!