.jpg)
Just like ourselves in real life, our characters have to make choices. We present them with a variety of Opportunities as we write their stories. Often they have an Option to accept or reject the Opportunity; other times they have obligations (another O word!) that may dictate their reactions or may cause them to agonise.
The choices they make can resolve a problem, or create a problem. One interesting comment I read recently was: When a character is faced with 2 options, both should have positive and negative consequences.
In His Leading Lady, Jess is asked to impersonate her twin sister who has gone missing. She has to weigh up the pros and cons: trying to save her sister’s career versus doubts whether she can fool people, especially the director of the show, Kyle Drummond, to whom she has taken an instant dislike.
Later in the story, she is offered the lead role in Kyle Drummond’s new show in London’s West End, in place of her sister. An amazing Opportunity, but this time, she has to consider her other obligations – to her sister who has always dreamt of a lead role like this, and to her friend who is her business partner in a dance and drama shop and business.
With both these Opportunities, Jess eventually chose the right Option, but there are times when our characters make the wrong decisions. Jess did that when she chose to believe something a friend told her, not blindly, but because other evidence led her to believe it was true.
There are times when a character genuinely believes she has no Option but to pursue a particular course of action. In Her Only Option, Neve thinks (as the title suggests) that she only has one option, even though it is a heartbreaking one.
Sometimes the reader is led to believe the character’s decision is the right one, even when it might not be. Other times, they’re aware it’s probably the wrong one, and is then waiting for the fall-out. Either way, it adds to the tension that keeps a reader reading!
Interesting post Paula. Those options and opportunities keep the plot alive and as you say adds to the tension, making a great story,
ReplyDeleteCarol
Thanks, Carol - and thanks for suggesting this topic for me! :-) The more I thought about it, the more I realise how much a character's options (and decisions) form an integral part of every story.
DeleteSometimes those opportunities and options and what happened with them can also help create our backstory.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Debra, you're right. The characters' past options and choices can bring them to the point where our stories actually start.
DeleteOur readers have to make choices, and I feel they look for inspiration in stories. "This character made this choice--and this is what happened."
ReplyDeleteQuite honestly, I think readers look for entertainment or escapism, not inspiration, in romance stories. At the same time, they need to be able to relate to our characters and the decisions they make, and empathise or agonise with them!
DeleteI think they look for escapism and entertainment, but I have learned that an author is missing an opportunity to connect emotionally with readers if she is forgets that readers deal with problems all the time. In books, they "see" how characters resolve problems, for better or worse, and they can decide to emulate the actions of characters they relate to.
DeleteInteresting theory, Ana - but I, personally, have never been influenced by any fictional character to emulate their behaviour or actions! All I want is for readers to become involved with my characters so that they can empathise with how those characters react and deal with problems and conflicts, and not because I think they (the readers) should deal with their own problems in the same way!.
Delete