Character Builders #35 &36

People are fond of saying that "people sometimes shine brightest when things are darkest". A good deal of fiction deals with people in ugly situations: from war (A Farewell to Arms), unwanted pregnancy (A Farewell to Arms), death of a loved one (A Farewell to Arms). Sensing a pattern with Hemingway. At any rate, these prompts examine your character's response to adversity. 

While your character stands in line at the bank, a man pulls out a gun. What is your character's first response? What runs through their mind, and what action do they take? 

Does your character prefer to talk through bad situations or keep their reactions to themselves? What activities do they engage in, if any, in the aftermath of bad news or a traumatic event? 

You may consider the first prompt a scene starter if that floats your boat. Remember to think carefully. Perhaps you have a heroic character, but sometimes heroism is more in reflex than it is thought out. Maybe his first thought is "I don't want to die". Maybe his thought is "I don't want anyone in this room to die". Maybe all he thinks is "gun." Perhaps he considers the bank robber's motives, wonders if he has kids. The possibilities go on. A piece of advice given to me by my husband- a wise man in his own right, if you listen to him when not talking to cats, babies, or other animals- is to make a list of your first reactions, cross out the first four or five, and start working with some of the items you make up when you start scraping the bottom of the barrel. 

The second question deals with the aftermath, but is just as important. It's all well and good to know how your character tackles a gunman to the ground even though he's telling himself it's better to leave it to the police. It's just as impmortant to know if he has the jitters afterwards. If he's unused to stressful situations, he likely will. Does he want to discuss it with his wife? Does he want to be left alone to build his scale model replica R2-D2 in the garage? Is this indicative of how he deals with other stresses in his life? 

Obviously, there are tons of bad things that can happen in realistic fiction, and when you start adding more fanciful settings to the mix, that number skyrockets. Think outside the box when throwing obstacles at your characters as well as in conceiving of how they deal with them. 

All prompts on this blog are free for personal and instructional use, but may not be republished without the permission of the author.