Reading : Part 1 of 5 - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
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Part 1 of 5 - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
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 dont 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 way If we were to take him away, there will be no story because its 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 well see in more detail in proceeding chapters.
Your main character isnt necessarily the one who is telling the story; he might not even appear in our story physically 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 colouring 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 isnt there physically to voice his opinions, we will have to take the viewpoint characters 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 hell 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, lets see the reasons why the main character may not be telling his own story...
Perhaps our main character is one that readers wont sympathize or empathize
with.
Or the main character will not view highly with our readers
Or the viewpoint character knows all the facts and can tell the story better
Etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let me give you an example of a secondary character telling the story of a main character
Lets say your secondary character is a psychiatrist and the main character is the patient. Depending on whats going to go on in the story, well have to choose whos in a better position to tell it. In this case, I will choose the psychiatrist.
Ive 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, well become involved in the main character because its the main characters 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 hes telling the story, is NOT our main character.
The secondary character is there to do perform a task. Hes only the voice. Its the main character well become involved with.
A secondary character doesnt play such an important role as a main character does. Therefore, information about secondary characters should be kept to a minimum. Its not his story its the main characters story and the spotlight must, most times, be kept on the main character.
Take the above example for instance. Its no relevance to the story how the psychiatrist started his career or where he received his diploma whats important, is what he has to say about the main character, his patient.
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Introduce your main character straight away, as close to the beginning of the story thats 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?
About the author:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Besides his passion for writing, Nick Vernon runs an online gift site where you will find gift information, articles and readers funny stories. Visit http://www.we-recommend.com
