Writing Boldly, Without Fear
By Heather Webb | October 24, 2019 |
At the moment, I’m wading through the deep end of revisions. Though revisions can feel drawn out and challenging, this is my favorite part of the writing process. I’ve been poring over my agent’s notes, and as I do, a series of little light bulbs have been clicking on, one by one. Suddenly I find myself viewing my manuscript in a completely different light. The story has two alternating points of view, telling different “sides” to the story, that eventually merge together, and it all takes place in gritty, turn-of-the century New York City. The problem is, Character A is very solid and her motivations are clear, her stakes high, and her resolution satisfying. Character B needs work—she’s naïve and just too good. Good enough to be annoying. No one likes a Pollyanna and so I’ve ruminated on how to shape Character B while still preserving her personality. It’s taken me quite some time to brainstorm and to try a few different ideas, and I wasn’t sure why that was, but I’ve finally struck upon something.
The real problem is that I’ve been holding back. Afraid to make Character B a difficult character to like, afraid the reader would reject her because of her flaws. In my head, I’ve been constraining myself with historical character tropes as well as not going deep enough. That’s not the kind of writer I am, or want to be. Flaws, after all, are what make characters interesting and also human. When a character either battles or overcomes their flaws, it lends the resolution weight as well, giving the story a much more satisfying end. So why then, had I been afraid?
Writing without Restraint
For one thing, this novel is a risky venture. I’ve—once again—tried on an atypical time period in a setting with purely fictional characters. In other words, the book may not sell. (Historical novels have a set of rules and I’m bending a couple of them here.) I’ve been down this road a couple of times before, and it’s not an easy one. But that’s just it. There isn’t a single thing that’s easy about writing or selling books, and holding myself back by being too afraid to step out, or by considering the commercial aspect alone, will not create a great book. I suppose I’m writing about this today because I didn’t expect this—I didn’t expect that after seven novels I might fall into the trap of making choices about characters to target the marketplace. Of being afraid to shake things up. Needless to say, I’m grateful, as always, for my critique partners and my agent and their wisdom. Now I know I have to bust out of this place of restraint and fear, but how do I do it?
I sat myself down to answer and think about these things:
- You must toss your expectations of who this character is out of the window. Rather than crafting her, follow her on the page. Let her show you her secrets and her deeper thoughts. How do they surprise you? Ask her questions and let her answer you, in her own voice.
- You must give your character nuance, a tic, and a flaw. How do these aspects of her character come through in three different scenes? How do they shed light on her motivations? How do they help her and also prevent her from understanding her world around her in a more evolved way?
- You cannot be afraid to take your character to difficult places. What’s the most difficult obstacle you can present to her? How does it prevent her from achieving her goal at various points in the story? How does it change her world view? Does her flaw play into this as well? This means you will have to go to difficult places emotionally, too. This, I believe, can be one of the major underlining issues. We hold back because where we must go is frightening and emotionally taxing, and we must channel it to the page. No easy feat.
- You cannot be afraid of experimenting. To slice and dice and rewrite sections of your manuscript. Writing takes work. So what? Everything worth having or doing is work. That work is what gives the object of your desire weight and meaning.
Finally, I’ve been counseling myself to look the fear in the eye. After all, I’m already committed. I’m six drafts into this novel for one thing, but also, I feel its message for readers, as well as its personal meaning for me, are too important—far too important to take the easy way out, to hold back. Now, I’ll just need to make a few bold choices because, hell, I just may be setting myself up to fly.
Can you share a way in which you caught yourself writing a certain character or scene or even a story idea as a reaction to fear? How do you keep the pen moving, the ink flowing? How do you push boundaries in your own writing?
Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of historical fiction. As a freelance editor and an adjunct in a MFA in Creative Writing program, Heather has helped many writers sign with agents and go on to sell at market. When not writing, she feeds her cookbook addiction, geeks out on history and pop culture, and looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world. To date, her books have been translated to seventeen languages.
Hi, Heather. This is a problem I have faced. When I am invested in a character, I often don’t want to give her flaws, but we are all human and we all have flaws. What I’ve learned is that it helps to place characters in a position where they must make a choice between two bad alternatives. They must do something the reader won’t like in service to a laudable goal. So, an otherwise upstanding character might bend the rules to get what he wants, but he will later regret it because he has a conscience. Giving the character agency and the opportunity to make decisions that will not sit well with the reader is a good technique to create more complex characters. Good luck! See you in Salem.
This is really excellent advice, Chris, and you’ve said it at the perfect time. I’m adding this to my question list!
Look forward to hearing about your projects in a couple of weeks. :)
Hi Heather. I think I sort of have the opposite problem. Not regarding the fear–Oh, I have a ton of writerly fears. But I think I was oblivious to the fear of making a character unlikable. And I obviously shouldn’t have been, lol. Seems I should have spent a lot more focus on what readers might or might not like about them.
Indeed, the emphasis of my current rewrite is making one of my protagonists more likable. Or maybe it would be better to say more relatable (that’s a more achievable goal). Regardless of my slightly different issue, as always, you provide an interesting perspective and wise questions to ask ourselves. Wishing you the best with it! See you soon.
I agree with you, Vaughn. Relatable is often enough and mostly the goal, though I’ve also noticed readers becoming very vocal about characters not being likable these days. I suspect this is why I inadvertently made my Character B way too good. At any rate, I’m looking forward to hearing about your project more very soon! :) Counting the days until Un-con…
Though I have a comparatively modest number of books under my belt and much smaller audience, I’m dealing with the fear-of-difficult-places concern, too, as well as a bit of worry about brand confusion.
My past fiction has been largely described as fun, fast-paced romps, but this book is far more serious because of the subject matter. It’s also romantic WF versus contemporary romance. Theoretically I’d be smarter to set it aside and work on another project, but something in me insists I must go on. So I shall, though I’m having to write in shorter spells because of the book’s emotionality.
I think you’re doing the right thing, Jan! Sometimes we need to branch out into uncharted territory because it’s a way to grow in our craft, and our subconscious somehow realizes this and steers us in that direction. Other times, it’s a calling to work on a particular story we’re harboring inside us for one reason or other, and we need to purge it from our system. In any case, this is exciting! I hope it goes well for you. I suspect you’ll be very pleased with the results.
Ah, to be a fearless writer. You can apply that statement to a multitude of decisions, styles, rules. Pat Conroy, one of the greatest writers of our time, said as he signed my copy of his book Beach Music, “Don’t be afraid to break the rules once you’ve learned them.”
Although Pat broke a lot of rules, I’m not sure we can always get away with it today. But over the years his words have inspired me to write my heart, and not sweat the craft in those first drafts. More than anything, don’t write to please a literary agent or some publisher. Writing without fear should be a writer’s number one goal. Until you learn that, you can never be truly satisfied with your own work.
Wise words, Pamela! In this case, I’m not aiming to please an agent, but to please readers who are increasingly complaining about unlikable characters. Funny though, I usually end up writing characters with plenty of sharp edges. Receiving the feedback was so helpful as it reminded me to put my focus where it should be–deepening my character so she might come alive.
Thanks for your comments today!
Heather:
First, congrats on sticking with this novel through six drafts. You’re right — that takes commitment.
One reason I avoid challenging my characters, messing up my their lives. isn’t only fear, but laziness. that it’s a lot more work. It means digging into their past, questioning their motives, putting obstacles — big ones — in their way. The lazy writer in me wants to give them a smooth path from first paragraph to last. But there’s no tension, no conflict, and no story in giving your characters a free ride.
Absolutely. You said it. It’s much more work to push them harder, isn’t it?
And thank you! It is many drafts, but this isn’t unusual for me. I tend to have anywhere from 8-12 drafts. I write like a builder constructs a house: with foundation first, followed by walls, roof, etc, etc, so I layer as I carry on from one draft to the next. :)
Heather, thanks for sharing. And thanks for soothing my own concerns of how my characters are shaping their story rather than me shaping what I thought theirs might be like. As you say, I think I’m letting go and flying, a bit more at least.
Good luck, Elaine. I hope your protagonist comes alive!
Hi Heather! Im talkinf from Brazil and im in process to learn english, therefore, forgive any bad use of this amazing (and necessary) language! =D
Like you, I like revision. I think this like a “true writing” because it is the chance to work on the brute mass of words and put shine on a no light jewel… so, I like revision.
About the theme, when we won a “first novel’s challenge” shpuld fear be less aggressive? If we write another novel with a same style the our own footprints is there and we can to step on a secure place. I’m in the planning state of my second novel and im thinking easier than the first time.
I’ve a problem with my main characterI’m afraid it looks like the main character of my first novel, like if me do not could not enter it’s mind to do diferent… the main character of my firsr novel is a young girl, blond, axe skilled (it’s a medieval fantasy) and who does not know the world and the new protagonist is a man, a hunter, survivalist with a great occult power but anyway I’m afraid they are very similar…
I wanted only expose my opinion (and my terrible English!) and participate with this discussion.
I’m grateful for this blog and all of you who help so many people!
Hugs from Brazil!
I wonder whether the discussion about likable and dislikable characters tends to oversimplify the issue because real people are likable in some ways and dislikable in others. We’ve all had the thought or heard someone say, “I really like so-and-so, but…” And then the dislikable bit gets nailed to the page.