Characters; how to make their lives miserable

            What is your character like? Use five or six words to describe him/her. My character is: cold, practical, methodical, ladies man

            What is the exact opposite of him? My character’s opposite is: warm, impractical, unorganized and shy

            Write a passage where your character shows the opposite traits of his normal. Here is my passage:

             Lee bent down to pick up his small son.

            “Hi Champ; how’re you doin,” he asked.

            “Where’s Mommy,” the boy asked.

            “I don’t know. What do you say we hop on a city bus and take a ride? We can have an adventure,” Lee said, distracting his son from his quest for his Mother.

            People are multi-dimensional and the character should change in the story. This method helps you to show the character in depth. You open up his character and show the inner dimensions of it.

            What does your character want most? In Lee’s case he wants: money, and for his son to be like him; that way he never completely dies.

            The Golden Age detectives didn’t change much. The stories were short and entertaining. The longer the time span the more change should occur. The single dimensional character might still be useful once in a while but he should be a deep richly complex character in most cases.

            What is your character like? What would be the opposite of your character’s desires?

For my character, the opposite of his desires would be: To live a poor but happy life alone with no family ties.

            Can your protagonist want both things simultaneously? If he learns that the things he wants most will not give him happiness, he might realize that in fact he really wants the opposite. If this happens at what point does he turn away from the path he is on and pursue a different one? What does he do that shows a change of heart?

            How can you show him torn in two directions?

            With my character he first realizes that his son is weak and will never be like him.

            Second he understands that the money hasn’t really made him happy. He doesn’t really enjoy his nice home, car etc.

            Third: His troubles get worse. A friend is missing, another friend is behaving weirdly, and Lee is scared of getting caught.

            Is there a point where he’ll give up completely? How does the protagonist sabotage his own dream? Is he right? Do we like it? What does he do? What are the choices for my character? I see it as:

1. Suicide
2. Kill a friend or family member
3. Give himself up
4. Run away...move to new location, hide out
5. Seek out and tell another character the truth

Is his solution interesting and dramatic? Does it develop inner conflict? Use four strong ways to make this character memorable, by answering these questions:

1. What is one thing this protagonist would never say? Money, I can take it or leave it.

            2 What would he never do? Admit his guilt and take the consequences.

            3.What would he never feel or think? True love and pity for his victim.

            Your protagonist must say and feel and do these things.

1. Downplay money in negotiations with a buyer.
2. Admit guilt to an attorney, a psychologist or police
3. Become familiar with someone who touches his heart and makes him feel love, admiration, or pity for her.

Your character is capable of a lot more than we know. He’s fictional and can violate our expectations. If something deeply matters to you, you can do things you wouldn’t otherwise. When upset you do things not “in character” Your character needs to do things that are larger than life but don’t overdo it.