Character Development Thread

[ThinkerLover]

I know I'm not the only one who has noticed that there os far too much erotica out there that is simply lacking in character development. Let's start a thread of points that you find are important in creating characters that stay interesting.

I'll start....

Conflict Between Characters
In my taboo story Sisters' Indulgent Secret (see link in my signature), I focus a lot in the beginning on creating tension between the sisters in the attitude of "I hate you for no reason other than that I do". This makes it much more interesting as the two girls start to compete over the narrator and then turn their amorous attention to one another and thereby explain where the misplaced anger comes from.

Far too often, we write stories as a sequence of "This happens>then this happens>then this happens...." and we reallt ought to tell them in a series of "This is where we are>these are the only choices> the character chooses this>this is how everything is changed..."

The point is - make a solid back-against-the-wall reason why the character must engage in this activity. All adults can be consenting, but it's no fun if there's no struggle at all - even if it a struggle within themselves.

Okay, guys weigh in...

 

[CWatson]

it's no fun if there's no struggle at all - even if it a struggle within themselves.

...Well, yes... What's your point? (I mean, yes, a lot of stories on Lit lack that aspect; there's no challenge or build-up or anything. What do you have to say on the topic of struggle?)

 

[ThinkerLover]

That is the question. For example, someone wants to write a story about an office romance between Tom and his secretary. Cliché though it may be, the author wants to do it because it excites them for some reason.

Now, think of the story in a real context. Why would Tom not go home and get his lovin' from his wife? The challenge is to find something creative in it.

Cliché and boring would be, his wife got tired of the same old same old with him. Something better would be: wife expects that he will cheat on her. He doesn't want to but she is so fixated on it that she doesn't seem to respect him because she has some sick, twisted obsession with it. See? Back-against-the-wall scenario - he's damned if he do and damned if he don't.

So he comes up with a plan: Maybe his secretary would go along with it. He'll warm up to her, gain her confidence and ask her to participate in his plan to have his wife catch him in bed with another woman.

But when he does, he discovers that the secretary is in love with him and threatens to report him if he stops making love to her for coercing her into sex to advance her career. He can't seem to win - what will he do?

This is one example of such a way to create conflict in the story.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... Far too often, we write stories as a sequence of "This happens>then this happens>then this happens...." ...

Yes, there are a lot of those on Lit. They are called stroke stories, and serve the same purpose as the centrefold in Playboy, and require as much character development as the centrefold has biography. Don't denigrate them; a lot of readers come here just for that.

The

... "This is where we are>these are the only choices> the character chooses this>this is how everything is changed..."...

stories also have their place in Lit, but it is for a different purpose, just as Playboy might carry an article on a really with-it men's fashion show. Equally some readers come here for these stories.

Surely there is room enough in cyberspace for both?

 

[ThinkerLover]

Oh, I don't disagree, Snooper. Sometimes, people just like a written porn movie and that's fine, too. My character development thread is meant to encourage conversation on a different breed of erotic literature - one that is simply more in-depth.

There's definitely room for both and i certainly don't mean to speak down on any authors' work. I just hope to create some dialogue for those who do wish to have more character development is all.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Dragonlipz]

Good thought to thread -

I wrestle with it all the time. Character development is integral to quality writing and storytelling. How to move the story forward while filling out the characters emotions, motivations, inclinations, actions: there's the rub.....
Again, it's a great subject to use for a thread...

 

[ThinkerLover]

Thank you, Dragon. I'm glad that my point is made. Here is another thought:

NArration
Is the story told from first person's point of view? If so, then we get a unique internal monologue perspective of where they are coming from. But if told from a third-person perspective, we allow other opportunities to surprise the reader. For example, if you have a story about Mary, a nun who is longs to enjoy the company of a man she has met while in missionary work, a scene may read like this....

The candlelight inside the chapel stung at my face, warming me with comfortable distraction. I was finding it harder and harder not to think about the exhilirating touch of Mr. Farmington's thick fingers as he grabbed my arm...

or in third person, you can build up some suspense.

Sister Mary bowed over the candlelight, her brow furrowed in concentration. From afar, she would be seen to be praying, but Mary's mind was too distracted to pray. She was thinking about the candles - about the warmth of them. But more importantly, she was not thinking of him - of his touch. Yet, in the instant that she rewarded herself for not thinking of him, the spell was broken...

There's also the satyrical commentary that removes the reader farther from the story and allows us to see everything from a light-hearted or even comical philosophical perspective...

Now it is often said that one never thinks of someone more than when they don't think of them at all. The elephant in the room at this sanctuary was Mr. Farmington's sensual touch on Mary's arm. Now several days in the past, it lingered with her in a way that few casual grazes do...

Narration can be a key element to exposing the character either all at once, or in surprises.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... Is the story told from first person's point of view? If so, then we get a unique internal monologue perspective of where they are coming from. But if told from a third-person perspective, we allow other opportunities to surprise the reader. ...

There is nothing "unique" about the internal monologue, nor is it confined to first person. The same thoughts can be given in a third person:

"The candlelight inside the chapel stung at her face, warming her with comfortable distraction. She was finding it harder and harder not to think about the exhilirating touch of Mr. Farmington's thick fingers as he had grabbed her arm..."

When I am reading something, I like to identify with one of the characters, and first person forces me to identify with the speaker. In this case, as I am a male then identifying with a female would be difficult. A nun must (by definition) be, to some degree, an adherent to a religion, and an atheist really fails to understand that form of self-delusion. Again if the character is young, an old person finds it difficult to empathise.

Even worse is writing in the second person, where an opening sentence such as: "As you shed the top of your bikini, you feel the warm breeze across your bare breasts ..." really does leave a 69 year old man somewhat at a loss.

 

[emap]

Actually you kinda missed one there, both of you.

First person limited, I've done that last couple of stories, where you set up the action and leave the emotions to the reader. It's not easy granted, kinda hard to do a set story and let the reader decide what to do but as far as I can I leave it up to the reader.

No I'm not planning on doing a CHYOO story anytime soon, it takes me a long time to do a regular story, a CHYOO would be 3+ stories set as one, take me a decade just to do it.

 

[BedtimeStories77]

I'm left wondering if there is a story idea within this thread or if it could be better suited in Author's Hangout.

 

[HardNightDay]

I'm fascinated by the lack of interest in this thread, bordering on open hostility to this thread. It's quite unexpected.

I agree that many stories on Lit lack character development, I agree many people like it that way. I for one like the middle ground between a full blown novel and a stroke story. However, whether a story is short or long it never suffers from a little character development. The two greatest sins of character development I see repeated frequently are:
1. Breaking with the character - just like an actor should never break out of character, a fictional character should not depart from his or her own role.
2. The characters have no depth - they are like robots executing a sequence of events.

but, we all know that...

To me the secret to good character development, whether the story is short or long is not to write about what is happening, but what the character(s) think about or feel as a result of what's happening. Example...

Description of an event
"John untied his wife's nightgown, letting it float to the floor, suspecting that she had just come from seeing her lover."

Description of John's reaction to an event
"John's hands trembled as he loosened the strings that held his wife's nightgown in place. A lump formed in his throat at the same time it did his pants as the gown floating gently to the floor. He wondered if his wife had just come from her lovers home. What had transpired only an hour ago? His heart was racing as he held her and realized...."

Ok, cheesy, but it's what I had off the top of my head. In my opinion a lot can be said about a character without going into long narratives about the characters life (a personal pet peeve of mine).

As to POV, I wrote my first few stories in first person. As we all know it's just easier to build a connection with the reader that way. I think this is a good POV for beginning writers interested in character development. As they build their skill, they can work on third person.

I'd be interested in other ideas for character development, in particular in short of very short stories.

Edit: also pardon the numerous spelling and punctuation mistakes, it's a first draft.

 

[ThinkerLover]

Hmmm. The POV discussion certainly gives me a lot to think about. Very good thoughts, everyone. Please, contribute more ideas for ways to improve character development in our stories.

I tihnk we're starting down the path that i had in mind when I started this thread. Let's turn the tone of this thread around to more constructive than critical.

Thanks,

TL

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

I'm left wondering if there is a story idea within this thread or if it could be better suited in Author's Hangout.

You are probably both right and wrong. The AH is where it should be, but only if the AH reverted to being the AH and not just the General Board under another name. There is so much rubbish posted there that I have almost completely stopped going as it seems largely a waste of time.

Edited to add: I suppose I should justify my criticism of the AH. The first ten topics after the stickies at the time of writing are:

The last person to post here wins...
Twist a fairy tale with me. . . chain story idea
Sarah Palin
Chicago Litogether 2009
The Bast Theory???
NaNoWriMo 2008
Isolated Blurt Thread
The Naked Party Thread
The Obscure Pop Culture References Thread
Shove, Shag, Marry

The six of those I have highlighted in italics are entirely rubbish, and I would not regard the Sarah Palin thread as contributing much to authorship.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... I'd be interested in other ideas for character development, in particular in short or very short stories. ...

Read the acknowledged experts and learn from them. Dickens was brilliant "There stood Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast, substantial smile"; four words used, and yet every reader can see her in the mind's eye perfectly.

 

[emap]

I don't know about perfectly, I'm sure if she was a petite gal and some pictured her as large she would be a bit mad.

That said though, I don't remember the book so I can't comment on the example you quote but general terms, if a lady is only a set peice and not a main character/love interest, you don't need more than four words on what she looks like unless what she looks like is the reason she is seen.

Moving beyond that though, snoopy is right, yes I actually just said that. Developing a character is more than just 5'6" D cup breasts and weighing 110 pounds. Most of the time a character is not a body, it is a mind and personality, hopefully being the main draw the body only a secondary thing.

Which actually brings us back to the porn and erotica. Porn is more or less all about the body and what another body does to the first body, erotica is all about the mind and personality in the bodies and how they get together to do those things. I mean seriously, some of the best erotica has no actual sex, they lead up to, they cover all the reasons why these two want the others body nude pressed against them and screaming in bliss, but it skips the actual sex. Sometimes they gloss over it, sometimes they fade to black and pick it up again the next morning. That's the difference, erotica is all about the whys, wheres hows and whens, porn is all about the what. Granted the two share certain things, both have people having sex, porn sometimes covers some of the hows and whys but mostly never the twain shall meet.

 

[BedtimeStories77]

Snooper, I had no idea it was that bad over there. Seems a lot of boards are becoming "clique-ish". I never understood why BDSM chat and GLBT chat needed a CHAT sub board. Or Am Pics and How To for that matter.

 

[HardNightDay]

Most of the time a character is not a body, it is a mind and personality,

I agree with this. In fact, I think it's not an accident that characters are called, well, characters. They have character, that's what's interesting about them. In fact, unless physical attributes are central to the story I often think it work better leaving them out. As in snoops quote above. The reader really needs know other description than Mrs. Fezziwig is, one vast, substantial smile. Their imagination will fill in the rest of what they want Mrs. Fezziwig to look like.

Further, it can distance the reader from characters. For instance, I happen to be a guy attracted to smaller sized boobies. The fact that the majority of characters described in the stories have size D, DD, or even E boobs is a turn off when i visualize the character, one then reads on and realizes that the size of their boobs is quite irrelevant to anything having to do with the story.

Sometimes leaving physical characteristics vague allows the reader to abstract the person, or fill in what they find appealing.

 

[HardNightDay]

Snooper, I had no idea it was that bad over there. Seems a lot of boards are becoming "clique-ish". I never understood why BDSM chat and GLBT chat needed a CHAT sub board. Or Am Pics and How To for that matter.

I can very much understand why those boards exist. I do wish, however, that the bisexual board was filled with topics more interesting than "How big do you like your penis?"

 

[KarennaC]

Just my opinion, but I would say this thread should stay here; even though it's something that would be of general help to any authors, some of the examples people have given have potential as story ideas. It would, unfortunately, be likely to get lost on the AH.

One thing about character development that I find is important is keeping a consistent voice. This is true regardless of what person you're writing in, though it shows most in first person. For example, I recall reading a story on Lit that I thought, for the first few paragraphs, was narrated by an 18-or-so-year-old male. I've forgotten most of the details of that story now (might have blanked them out), but imagine my surprise when I came upon a sentence that identified the narrator as a thirtyish business woman!

When one decides who their main character is, one should decide what that character sounds like, and keep him/her sounding that way throughout the story unless there's a reason for change. For example, Eliza Doolittle's narration might change in the course of a story as Professor What's-his-name teaches her to act like a lady. But in general, especially in short stories, the narrator's voice would stay the same. If one is writing a character completely unlike oneself (much older, much younger, different gender, different sexual orientation, etc.), it gets harder to do so, but it can be done if one knows from the start how the character should sound.

Sometimes readers' preconceptions get in the way, too, though. I discovered that, even though I do pretty well narrating from a male's first-person POV, doing so on Lit confused some people because my username is obviously female and they assumed the narrator was a female. So when I write from a male's POV, I generally use third person.

By the way, I think the Eliza Doolittle/Professor Thingie (totally blanking on his name) thing would make a good story, though it may have already been done: What if he decides to teach her to be a lady in public and the complete opposite of a lady in his bed?

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... Professor Thingie (totally blanking on his name) ...

Henry Higgins.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... By the way, I think the Eliza Doolittle/Professor Thingie (totally blanking on his name) thing would make a good story, though it may have already been done: What if he decides to teach her to be a lady in public and the complete opposite of a lady in his bed?

What a good idea.

 

[HardNightDay]

If one is writing a character completely unlike oneself (much older, much younger, different gender, different sexual orientation, etc.), it gets harder to do so, but it can be done if one knows from the start how the character should sound.

I think this is crucial for any story. Obviously the use of accents can help, or slang, but to me one of the more powerful tools of character development is description of a persons action. For instance, in a non-erotic story I was writing the other night, I was describing a small child and one of the descriptive phrases I used was "....collapsed into a heap of giggles at my feet." I couldn't think of a more powerful way to relate the youthfulness of the person.

 

[GratefulFred]

None of my stories can be classified as wanker stories and it's a shame so many authors are under the impression that they need to please the masses and weave a story to support the discriptive sexual acts.

Though HardNightDay tries to find the middle ground my opinion is I wish more authors would strive for a much lower percentage of sex in their stories.

Strive for Literature of an adult nature rather than erotica with a touch of literature.

 

[Jack4rp]

Two important aspects: Consistency and staying true to the character's "personality".

If you aren't consistent with your character, then you may as well not develop them at all if you're just going to toss it all out the window by the second paragraph.

Stay true to your characters, and DEVELOP them over time - there's nothing erotic about a woman becoming a total whore by page two after you've painted them as a saintly figure. Do it slowly(Slower?), stay true to the personality you've set up and have them, along with the reader, pondering these changes they are feeling if you're going to drastically change them.

One of the goals of good erotica should be to connect the reader and the characters, and being inconsistent and having people rapidly changing personality traits(Unless explained why) can easily destroy that connection.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... there's nothing erotic about a woman becoming a total whore by page two after you've painted them as a saintly figure. ...

I blame the voting system.

If good votes are what you, the author, want above all else, then the little miss perfect saint turns into a nymphomaniac begging for a multiple penetration gang-bang about five past midnight on her eighteenth birthday, or preferably four minutes earlier. It will also help if she looks like a fourteen year old.

This is fine somewhere like Lit, but it doesn't work quite so well when the punters are paying for their kicks. All the e-book publishers will tell you that paying customers demand a little more character in their stories.