Writer to writer: From think to ink - Gail Carson Levine 2014
Character cogitation
Character building
So far we’ve gone into what Patrick might do, but actions are only one of the tools for making multidimensional characters. What else do we have?
• Thoughts.
• Feelings.
• Speech and writing. Writing includes letters, journals, text messages, and the like. Speech, naturally, is dialogue.
• Appearance.
• Setting, sometimes.
Let’s start with thoughts. Remember the prompt in the last chapter about Kaylie’s text message? What does Patrick think about her accusations?
He might think, Kaylie is hysterical again. I wish she didn’t get like that. His ruminations might continue in the vein of countercriticism.
Or he might think, She’s right. When things go wrong, I forget everything else.
Or, I have to change her mind! I’ll give her a present. Wait, I don’t have money to buy a present. And he’s back to obsessing about himself and his loss.
It’s writing time: List three more thoughts that Patrick may have about Kaylie. Save them.
Notice that Patrick’s thoughts help define him, just as his actions do. In the first example, because he thinks that Kaylie has overreacted, we wonder about her. If we find out or already know that Kaylie does take offense easily, we’re likely to regard Patrick as accurate and in the right. But if Kaylie is calm and levelheaded, we’ll form a different impression of Patrick, a negative one.
We probably like him in the second instance, because his thoughts reveal him as willing to accept a difficult home truth.
In the third case we may start agreeing with Kaylie.
Notice that I’ve given Patrick’s thoughts in the first person. We can present thoughts and feelings only from two points of view (POVs): from Patrick himself as a first-person narrator, or from a third-person narrator who can inform the reader of the contents of Patrick’s mind. If Kaylie is telling the story, we’ll discover Patrick’s thoughts only if he mentions them in speech or writing.
Ways of thinking are probably as distinct as ways of speaking. I say probably because I can’t be absolutely sure, since I’m not telepathic. It’s hard even to listen in on our own thoughts; we have to split ourselves in two to do it!
Try for yourself. What happens to me, the moment I attempt it, is that the thoughts I was hoping to eavesdrop on cease and switch over to the thoughts of me endeavoring to listen. I remember what I had been thinking, but I can’t quite catch myself in the act.
Still, we often guess other people’s thoughts from what they say and do, from knowing them. Sometimes we get in trouble for expressing our guesses.
Patrick, as we imagine him, may cogitate in long, looping sentences with many clauses and parenthetical asides. He may doubt himself in every other thought. Or he may think in short bursts of certainty. Or any other way. His mental processes give him depth, whether he’s a deep thinker or not.
The timing of a thought needs some consideration, too. Intense action—for instance, while Patrick is racing away from the bully he just accused of stealing his allowance—may not be the moment for lengthy contemplation. We can give him a quick thought or two and delay the rest until he’s hidden himself in an abandoned shed.
It’s possible, however, that Patrick is a compulsive thinker. Even while he’s running so hard he can barely breathe, he’s musing about his birthday in two weeks that he may not live to enjoy, or he’s looking at the bright side: if the bully catches him and puts him in the hospital, Kaylie will pity him and forgive his bad behavior.
Or Patrick may not be introspective. He doesn’t do much reflection on the page no matter how much we want him to. We’re stuck with his actions, his limited thinking, and what other characters say to him about himself.
Hey! you may be thinking. We’re stuck with Patrick? But we made him up. Yes, we’re the creators, but once we invent a character and a situation, we’ve narrowed the future possibilities. Our story has momentum. Patrick is now destined to think certain thoughts and make certain decisions. Other thoughts and actions have become out of character, unless we go back and change him.
Time for thinking prompts!
• Imagine Kaylie’s side of the friendship. She’s in her room, fuming about Patrick. Write her thoughts, either from her POV or from the viewpoint of an omniscient (all-knowing) narrator.
• Here’s an old nursery rhyme, which you may know:
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Tell the story of the nursery rhyme from the spider’s POV. Give it spidery thoughts, whatever they are. Make up the workings of a spider’s mind.
• Estelle and Joe have been assigned a homework project together in magic school even though they hate each other. Each plans to make the other look bad. They meet at Joe’s house to work on the project. As the omniscient narrator, show how it goes, dipping frequently into the thoughts of each one. Make Estelle’s way of thinking different from Joe’s.
Have fun, and save what you write!