5 Ways to Limit Your Character’s Options – and Make Your Story Better 1. Opponents Who Play Dirty An antagonist obviously wants the main character (MC) to fail, but if instead of just waiting around, he actively gets in the MC’s way, his machinations can leave fewer options for the MC to choose from.This can come in the form of physical confrontation, but it can also be in the form of spreading lies or hiding the things the MC needs. It’s all very well having an honourable rival who tries to win fair and square, but a guy who takes the battery out of your phone can make for a real challenge.The MC can’t take the easy way out if someone is running around blocking off exits. 2. Locked Doors and High Walls This can be a literal locked door, like on a prison cell, but it can also be any barrier that prevents your character from getting what he needs or walking away from an unpleasant situation.Not only is it hard to get away from a vampire on a transatlantic flight, there aren’t many places to find holy water.The setting is one of the easiest things to change in a story. It may seem like the scene has to happen in the place it was first envisioned, but there’s usually no reason it can’t be moved to somewhere that has more of an impact on proceedings.Using the physical surroundings also helps bring them to the readers’ notice, making the story feel more immersive without being too obvious about it. 3. Ticking Clocks While a race against time will raisetension and pace, it also prevents the MC from doing things that will slow him down or divert him.It doesn’t have to be something as extreme as a bomb about to go off. It can be any appointment or deadline. As soon as you establish a time limit, it will be obvious the MC can’t do certain things.Even if it’s just needing to get home to watch the season finale of Mad Men, the character’s refusal to take the sensible route, if it’s going to take up more time, will require little or no explanation. 4. Family Values People belong to social groups, whether it’s family, marriage, religion, or the Boy Scouts. These groups have rules and expectations that can be extremely useful when it comes to limiting a character’s options.Shame, embarrassment, and jealousy are all easily aroused in these sorts of groups and provide excellent motivation for doing inadvisable things. 5. Job Rules Like social groups, jobs come with lines you can’t cross—unless you want to risk being booted out. And not only will you lose the emotional bonds you’ve formed, you will also lose a way to earn money.This can be a very powerful motivator for toeing the line. A cop doesn’t snitch on a fellow cop, a lawyer doesn’t breach confidentiality, someone working for Coke doesn’t date someone working for Pepsi (I’m assuming). The threat of unpleasant consequences can drive a character to take the riskier option.In most cases, characters will have ready-made restrictions already in place, and it will only require a slight shift in focus to work them into the story. Using them to limit options, rather than making it an arbitrary choice to not clear up a misunderstanding with a simple phone call, will stop readers questioning motivations. In most cases, the added pressure will raise tension and make for a more dramatic narrative overall.About the Author: Mooderino lives in England where the summers are wet and getting wetter, so it is the perfect place to stay indoors and noodle about with story ideas. In an attempt to improve his own writing and help others with theirs, he posts on the craft of writing every Monday and Thursday at Moody Writing and on Tumblr. Mooderino can be found on Twitter, where he will gladly follow and tweet with anyone interested in writing fiction, or anyone who just wants to have a moan about how blooming hard it is to be happy with what you’ve written. #writing #writers #quotes #grammar #books #tips #cartoon #saying #famous #motivation #words #inspiration #message #positivity #art #script #typo #typing #art #saying #print #motivationalquotes #reading #blogger #author #inspirationalquotes
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:40:00 +0000
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