Birds of a Feather: Your Characters & Their Friends

It’s worth noting who your characters “hang out” with. One of my favorite sayings, and I’ll paraphrase, goes something like this: You are who you attract.

Your protagonist’s choice of buddies can—surprise!—aid in the characterization process.

Friends
Merelize → in People

Some questions to consider when creating your character’s “Bestie”:

1. Is the friend a secondary character? If so, how should he or she be developed throughout the story?
2. Does the story have more than one main character, and are the characters friends? In other words, is the friendship the focus of the story?
3. Is the friendship already established at the beginning, or do the characters meet sometime during the course of the story?
4. What purpose does the friend serve? A helpful hand? Comic relief? Is he/she a drinking buddy? Partner in crime?
5. Here’s the big one: What’s the dynamic like? Do the two (or more) personalities mesh well? Is a realistic pairing? Do they connect on some level? A hardened biker and a self-involved metrosexual can be friends…so long as there is some common ground. It’s the writer’s job to make it work.

Here are some common story friendship dynamics that you can bend, blend, and harmonize:

1. The Colorful Sidekick:  The goof off. The king’s fool. Think Kimmy Gibbler from Full House. This is a friend who adds some ‘flavor.’ He is audacious, brazen, comical, and flamboyant.

Important: Never underestimate the colorful sidekick. I’ve found in my own writing as well as the writing of others, that despite the personal flaws, these types often prove to be extraordinary friends in the end.

Favorite literary example: Dominick Birdsey’s cheeky, foolhardy friend Leo Blood from Wally Lamb’s I know this Much is True.

 2. The Charismatic Crony: Your character both loves and hates her. Best friends, yes, but in most cases, the charismatic crony comes out on top. This is the prettier friend, the skinnier friend, the smarter friend, the more popular friend, etc. We all know the type. And we’re all jealous.

Important: It is possible for this friend to be innocent—she may not be fully aware of her prowess. In other cases, however, she is simply one backbiting buddy.

Favorite literary example: I have two. Gene Forrester’s larger-than-life friend Phineas from John Knowles’s A Separate Peace; Rachel’s alluring childhood chum Darcy from Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed.

3. The Caring Cohort: Quite simply, this is the friend who picks up your character when he or she falls. In fact, in some cases, this is the friend who sacrifices. Donates a kidney. Kills another. Gives up his own pleasure…all in the name of his friend.

Important: Any “friend” type that I’ve described here can lend a helping hand. The caring cohort goes a bit further.

Favorite literary example: George, who cares for mentally-handicapped Lennie Small during the Great Depression in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. (See my most recent “Old School Sunday” post). Also, although this isn’t literature, in West Side Story Tony kills the love of his life’s brother for stabbing his friend, Riff, to death. Now that’s the kind of friend I’m talking about here. Not to mention good old Romeo, who slain Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt for slaughtering his own friend, Mercutio.

4. The Best Friend: They say if you fall down, a good friend will help you up; your best friend will laugh at you. It’s true in life and it’s true in fiction. These are two characters who are practically one. Often, they will go through various life changes, and may struggle with their relationship; but in the end, they usually find their way back to each other.

Important: Generally speaking, this kind of friendship will require two main characters. They will have separate lives, but be forever tied to one another. Often the foundation of the story is the friendship itself.

Favorite literary example: Kate and Tully, whose lives (both separately and together) go through many transitions, and face many obstacles in Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane. Actually, the book reminded me a lot of the movie Beaches, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey.

I’d like to leave you with some links from Writer’s Digest, particularly if your protagonist’s friend falls within the ‘minor character’ category:

What is a Minor Character: Understanding the Minor Characters’ Role

Questions to Ask (& Strengthen) Your Minor Characters

What are you favorite friendship dynamics in literature? Film?Television? How do your characters relate to each other? Can’t wait for the comments!

 

 

 

 

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I’d like to say a few words on setting (plus, a great link)

Since my long-awaited wedding is this Saturday, and my honeymoon in Tennessee will immediately follow, you can imagine how up-to-my-ears I am with last minute details, and of course, last minute stress!

That being said, I’d like to say a few words on setting. As writers, I’m sure you heard that sometimes the setting “becomes a character” in a poem, story, or novel. Next week, I will be in a new setting of my own–The Great Smoky Mountains. I’m a Jersey girl, so talk about new surroundings! In literature, as in life, the ‘backdrop’ to our stories are worth more value than we give it credit for. We tend to focus on plot and characters, but often overlook the setting, and in some ways, take it for granted.

Even though it’s true that those other elements I spoke of–characters, plot, tension, conflict–do drive the story forward, the story itself would be completely different in another setting. Especially since a well-rounded setting includes  both time and place; an entire novel’s values, morals, and lifestyles could very well depend on the setting.

I came across a great article from Writer’s Digest this afternoon:

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/adriana-trigiani?et_mid=571494&rid=3058805

Enjoy the advice from author Adriana Trigiani, while I continue to plan for my wedding–and my new (yet temporary setting) 🙂

Satisfying those old yearnings…

“I don’t believe one reads to escape reality. A person reads to confirm a reality he knows is there, but which he has not experienced.”
—Lawrence Durrell

This week I read an article from Writer’s Digest entitled “6 Simple Ways to Reboot Your Writing Routine” written by Brian A. Klems. Klems wrote this, “…I believe that your writing should be inspired by something much deeper than getting rich or getting famous or getting even with your ex. It should cohere with your own personal vision or belief system.”

So I asked my intrinsic writing self, why do you write? This question is borderline cliche, I know. Ask any writer out there if he or she has been forced to consider this quandary. But, I contemplated the notion anyhow–I always do–and discovered some new ideas. Is it to purely to be published? No, it’s always been deeper than that. Is it to connect to people through words? Is it to use as a venue to pass along messages? Yes, definitely. Is that all? No. Not even close.

See, everyone’s life is in some way, limited. There’s not enough time to experience everything. Even if I obtain everything I’ve ever wanted, there will be other things I’ll never do, see, have, feel. When I write, I satisfy these yearnings. If I find myself preoccupied with engrossing memories, I can relive them through writing–fiction or nonfiction. If I’m coveting an existence I’ll never live, I can do it vicariously through writing.

I have to be able to have that. Regardless of where I end up with this endeavor of mine, I MUST have the capability to fill voids through this system. Without it I’m doomed. OK, not doomed. Just average. It means that much. It fills in the empty spaces. The thing is, there’s nothing I can do about it, really. It’s intrinsic.