Monday, September 20, 2010

Starting MC from Strength

All---

I've been planning this post for just about a week now, reflecting on a challenge I'm facing in the introduction of my MC in Sublimation, but in the mean time Anne R. Allen posting up a concise list of important points about introducing your protagonist. While I don't think developed writers (even unpublished ones) need necessarily adhere to this list religiously, it's a great starting point for writers who are still in the early stages of learning their craft and a good place to start thinking about some important questions.

I'd like to focus on something that doesn't figure on Allen's list: the importance of starting your MC out from a position of strength.

This has been a huge struggle for me with Sublimation, but it is a challenge that can apply to stories of many different genres. In my case, it's not divulging any big secret to say that one character focus of Sublimation is the struggle of Alec Smith, consummate man-in-control-of-every-situation, as he gets caught up in situation over which he finds himself powerless. It's a universal human story, and I'll keep the details mostly to myself for now.

Here's the challenge. This arc develops from position A (Alec in control) to position B (Alec powerless) to position C (however the plot resolves). The problems is that position A is really not very interesting and really doesn't figure into the story much at all. After much struggling, I ended up starting with the slope down to position B, with flashbacks and implications covering position A. That way the story starts off where things are interesting but the character development can still be understood.

Sounds reasonable, and it doesn't read that badly.

Unfortunately, I've realized that the reader has no emotional investment in position A. They don't see a strong character become weak. They see a weak character remembering when he was once strong. For some stories, that can be okay -- but those are different stories, and typically only take place in the advanced stages of position B.

I'm working out a way to correct this in Sublimation, but I'm sharing this not so much to talk about my book as to call attention to this challenge for other writers. In most cases, especially if you want sympathy or empathy with your characters, you need to start them out in a position of strength, and then tear them down. It does not need to occupy a large percentage of words or pages, but it does need to be fully realized.

Remember the classic check mark picture of plot action, where you start off high, fall quickly, and then climb your way even higher? Ideally, in most situations, you to mimic that with your character development. Start strong, fall, then work to get back up.

Anybody else have any examples from their own work of grappling with this question? Where did you end up? Any good examples of published work that exemplifies success with starting from a position of weakness?

.Nevets.





5 comments:

  1. I faced this problem with Rooster. I started the book at a point when my main character was already down in what you call position B. I was personally fine with it, but others suggested that I "show the good times" which I did in about a page at the beginning. I've always felt slightly conflicted with that. The opening feels boring to me, but I can see how the information can be helpful to understanding the character's journey.

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  2. It's felt very boring to me, too. This is a real struggle. I'd like to say I'm 100% satisfied with what I finally came up with last night, but I definitely am not. Basically, I now start with a short chapter that shows the character's strengths through a veil of mystery and is full of ominous warnings. I think it might be a good compromise.

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  3. Hmm, I think I understand what you're talking about here, and I agree with Davin that it can feel very boring, especially to the writer. It seems that from a reader's perspective, though, it would be more helpful than anything else. In the end I'd say go with your gut feelings and do what works for the story. Seeing where the character came from before they fall can be a good thing. I think I did that with Cinders - where she's at the top of her game as she's just become a princess with a loving hunk of a husband. Is that what you mean?

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  4. Exactly, Michelle. It doesn't have to last long, but it's enough for us to understand that her later emotional tension is not simply her way of life. It's a descent from something. I think it's important for most stories, because it helps the reader hope for the ascent back out.

    You did it really well, because even in the language of that, there's a sense that something is stirring inside *cough* Cinders *cough*. ;-p

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  5. I like prologues; they have many uses (flash forward, flash back etc), but how about a dream? Your MC is out there, slaying the dragon, getting the girl (or whatever he used to do in phase A), and then wakes up, and realises that he's actually in phase B. Big disappointment etc. I'm not a fan of literary dreams on the whole - they're often cop-outs; a waste of words - but I think they can have their place.

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