teachersnotes3.html

Character as Desire:
A character is somebody who wants, JB tells us, and thats what a character is (87).

Characters with internal or external motivation to take some kind of action, to take a journey of some sort will inspire us to journey along or to take a journey of our own. We can connect with a character who has some sort of desire. These characters are more real to us (87).

The law of inertia could be useful to examine here. It is easier for things to remain at rest. Most things need a reason to move. We are more likely to connect with a character who is motivated in ways we can understand or can visualize. What a character wants, deeply (and which can be expressed in an abstraction), will always have a particular situation and can be expressed in a way that leads to image and action(88).

What is an abstraction? A concept with different meanings for different people. Show me, then. Dont tell me. What does this concept mean for you? What do you hope it means for me? Move from the abstract to the specific--or from the specific to the abstract--depending upon your purpose and your audience.

Remember:
You will have the makings of a character when you can fill out this sentence:
___ (name)_______ is a (adj)______ ________-year old ______(noun)_____
who wants __________________ (88).

Presentation:
Is presentation everything? Many chefs would say so. The food could be the worlds best, but it wont appeal to the palate if it doesnt appeal to you on the plate. The same is true for characters. Present them effectively to your audience--directly or indirectly (89), depending upon your purpose--and the connection will be made.
I think JB hits the nail on the head in terms of ordering the five methods of presentation--using impressions of importance.
The first two are so important that we have examined them in detail in the first two chapters: image and voice; the others: action (plot?), thought (motivation?), author interpretation, and conflicts between any or all of these are also important enough for lengthy discussion.

Character as image: appeal to the senses of the reader (as discussed in chapter one). Words, actions, and things which can be seen and heard, smelled and tasted or felt with the hands, heart or gut can express and reveal character and feeling that can not be fully experienced in any other way (89).
--Let your characters experience their lives and live with them to experience them fully. Creative visualization--bring them into being. Just imagine...

Character as voice: what would your character say here? Let the character tell you--and you listen. Really listen. Let the voice fill up your mind so much that for a time you can no longer hear your own voice (91). You set or establish the much needed boundaries. One of the best ways is to use the time factor. Think for five minutes--no more, and no less--like character X, then think for 5 minutes like character Y. Analyze what they said, and how they said it. What does this tell you about them? How are they different? How are they alike?
What does voice convey to readers (92)? A lot!
JB says, Talking is an intentional attempt to express the inner as the outer(92).
The Characters want to tell us what we cant see or know without their voices, but they tell us more than the information in their speech. They are also working for the author--to reveal themselves, advance the plot, fill in the past, control the pace, establish the tone, foreshadow the future, establish the mood. What busy talk(92)!
Dialogue can be delivered in many ways, but it should be true to the characters--even when indirect, but you, as a writer, have other goals. You are constantly trying to mean more than you say, to give several clues at once to the inner lives of your characters(93).

Character as action: Plot happens (What happens? Changes?)
Weve all probably heard the phrase actions speak louder than words We learn a lot about people by seeing the work they are moved from inaction to take upon themselves--or from seeing how they avoid taking on new tasks by doing old ones, or not doing at all--and we can learn a lot about ourselves as well. What do we think of what is taking place? As John Gardner says: By our actions we discover what we really believe and, simultaneously, reveal ourselves to others(94).

Character as thought: What are your characters thinking? Are they saying what they are thinking? Do they change their minds? Thought, like dialogue, is also action when it presents us with the process of change (96).

Character as presented by the author: Here telling indirectly allows you to convey a great deal of information in a short time (97). Yet the other methods might be more effective for demonstrating the change in characters or their motivations.
As Victor Frankl says: The meaning of life must be conceived in terms of the specific meaning of personal life in a given situation(98).

Character as conflict: What is the best and most effective way to present my character? Is more than one way possible? Will they correspond? Or not? JB says conflicting presentations can tell us lots about our characters. Tension can be effective in building characters, even as it sometimes tears people or things apart. When we see change we usually see growth/development(98).