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Creative Writing Tips -
Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start? by: Nick Vernon In the beginning of your story you have to grab your readersí interest and sustain it till the end. Our hook is our character. Readers keep on reading to find out more about the character. To see what heíll do in the story; how heíll solve his problems. What his goals are and whether heíll achieve them. And because our character is the reason readers become hooked on our stories, establishing him at the start is a must in a short story. And it is essential to establish him at the start because we donít have the capacity in our limited word length to introduce him at our leisure. The bond between readers and character has to be developed almost immediately. You might have a few characters though. How do you decide who your main character will be? A main character is one that drives the story. Think of it this wayÖ If we were to take him away, there will be no story because itís his story we are telling. The story will unfold by what is happening or what has happened to him. When you establish who your main character will be, the next thing to do is to find which of your characters is in the best position to tell the story. Will your main character tell his story or will you give that role to another character? This is what we call Viewpoint and what weíll see in more detail in proceeding chapters. Your main character isnít necessarily the one who is telling the story; he might not even appear in our story ëphysicallyí but will be there through the thoughts of others. So the viewpoint character might be a secondary character. Whoever is telling the story is the viewpoint character. The viewpoint character gives the coloring of the story. Whatever this characters says, we will believe. It may or may not be true, according to the main character, but because he isnít there ëphysicallyí to voice his opinions, we will have to take the viewpoint characterís word for it. In a novel you can play around with viewpoint. You can have several viewpoint characters. In a short story it works best with one. So your main character, whether heíll be telling his own story or someone else will be doing it for him, has to be established at the start of your story. Having said that, letís see the reasons why the main character may not be telling his own story...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let me give you an example of a secondary character telling the story of a main characterÖ Letís say your secondary character is a psychiatrist and the main character is the patient. Depending on whatís going to go on in the story, weíll have to choose whoís in a better position to tell it. In this case, I will choose the psychiatrist. Iíve done this because the patient is confused, being the one with the problems. The psychiatrist knows all the facts and his opinions will make things clearer to readers. So, as the secondary character (the psychiatrist) unravels the story, weíll become involved in the main character because itís the main characterís story that is been told. This may get a little confusing to the beginner writer. As they write they will have to keep in mind that the secondary character, although heís telling the story, is NOT our main character. The secondary character is there to do perform a task. Heís only the voice. Itís the main character weíll become involved with. A secondary character doesnít play such an important role as a main character does. Therefore, information about secondary characters should be kept to a minimum. Itís not his story ñ itís the main characterís story and the spotlight must, most times, be kept on the main character. Take the above example for instance. Itís no relevance to the story how the psychiatrist started his career or where he received his diploma ñ whatís important, is what he has to say about the main character, his patient. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introduce your main character straight away, as close to the beginning of the story thatís possible. Enable your readers to form a bond and that will keep them hooked. Is your main character established at the start of your story? |
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