Part 5.1 Character and conflict
30 mins
- Read about four ways to create characters
- Do a quiz about Novakovich’s methods of creating characters
- Discover the effect of ‘conflict’ on your writing
Character and conflict
A working author, Josip Novakovich, takes us through the creation of plot through character conflict.
According to Novakovich:
> a character is usually composed of things which change and things which stay the same
> there will usually be a selective change in the character; they will keep their inherent characteristics, but come to see things a different way
> the conflict comes because a part of the character does not conform, which causes them trouble
> that usually leads them to a make-or-break decision – this process gives you plot
> in the Ancient Greek (Aristotelian) dialectic model:
– if a flaw is surmounted, it can be repurposed to good
– if it is not surmounted, it is a “tragic” flaw which leads to downfall
A character’s disposition, or flaw, will usually attract certain responses and outcomes. If you know how your character operates, and then put them in a problematic situation, you know what they will do – and this produces plot.
Starting with a plot into which characters are retro-fitted feels less convincing to read, as the characters flow from the events, rather than events from characters. That’s not typically how life works, so it holds little fascination for us.
They formulate:
Character + conflict = plot
For those coming from a screenwriting background, this will seem rudimentary. But for those new to practicing fiction writing — of any kind, but especially prose — it is a good summary, which covers the essential points without getting bogged down in technicality.
Exercise
Give a flaw and conflict to one of the characters you’ve created thus far.
The conflict doesn’t have to be historically monumental, as long as it is personally monumental for that character. If it isn’t a big conflict for them, then why tell that story?
Reflection
I think the flaws I give my characters tend to be that they want things that aren’t good / right for them. This is the classic way of driving story, but I wonder if I miss out on some depth of character by not giving them other – related or incidental – flaws. After all, I want things that aren’t good for me, and I have other flaws to spare! In the Novakovichian model, these would be the “unselected” parts of the character, which don’t change. If I want my characters to feel human, maybe that’s some I need to consider more carefully.
There was a good dose of dialectical character theory in this section, which I know from experience, looks simple as a model, until you have to apply it…
Give the course a spin yourself!
www.futurelearn.com/courses/start-writing-fiction