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How Do You Make Actions Appear Realistic?
Author: Stephen D. Rogers
Your character exists within a story, exists at a certain place and time. Your character's very existence seems centered around some desire that has thus far been thwarted.
And as if that wasn't enough, your character turns to see a rolling ball, only the ball is the size of two-car garage and heading this way.
The desire of self-preservation is powerful, and your character races for safety.
The desire to protect others is powerful, and your character pauses to grab a young child.
In short, the character acts out of logical motivations. The character responds to events in ways that suggest attaining an object of desire.
If only life were so simple.
A character in a relationship would never act in such a way that might harm that relationship. A character with a job would never act in such a way to jeopardize that job. But people do those things every day. How do you make the actions of your characters appear realistic?
You make the reader groan but believe when your character acts in ways that make sense, if not on the surface then below the surface.
Your character desires a promotion, but then remains silent when an opportunity arises because the character is afraid to stand out and risk being ridiculed.
The character only appears to be acting against desire. In fact, the character is acting in accord with a desire the character might or might not acknowledge.
Deciding not to act is a decision, but not much of an action. The story will better move forward if inaction is replaced with a different action. The character doesn't simply sit there but remains silent, refrains from speaking, restrains himself from presenting his idea.
To earn our admiration, a character must act, if even in self-defeating ways. The character should act with concrete verbs, even if the result is akin to wearing cement shoes when swimming.
What does your character want?
What does your character do to achieve that desire?
When thwarted, how does your character respond? What does your character do? How does your character do it?
How about when the next setback occurs? And the setback after that?
A character who tries and fails, but then calls it a day will not engage the reader.
A character who tries and fails, and then tries and succeeds might simply have been lucky.
A character who tries and fails, tries and fails again, and tries and succeeds has proven worthy of the prize.
It's the rule of three, a structure found everywhere from childhood fables to best-selling novels to this very example.
Your character must act to bring conscious or sub-conscious desires closer, and must continue to do so until either the desire is reached or the character reaches some understanding about that desire.
Characters should act in ways that reflect who they are and what they believe.
Actions can be unexpected, but should not be a total surprise. Sue is accosted outside the store just before midnight. The reader does not react with relief when Sue suddenly uses karate to disable her attackers, not when there has been no indication until then that Sue had such a skill.
If she does, illustrate that skill in the kitchen―perhaps she needs to kick the oven door closed―and explain the motivation for Sue learning the skill in the first place.
In the end, characters are not judged so much by what they desire, but what they do to in an effort to reach that desire.
This column first appeared on DM in 2008, but we think you'll agree that it still has some good information!
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