Writers have a saying: “Kill your darlings.” But sometimes Little Cat doesn’t like to kill his darlings. Sometimes he likes to let them think they’ve escaped… Then trap them by putting his paw on their tails. THEN kill them. And then, finally, put them on Human-Mom’s knee while she’s trying to read a book. This string of perfectly understandable and logically defensible decisions usually leads Human-Mom to scream and swat the dead mouse away. Which doesn’t make sense to Little Cat at all. Then again, maybe she’s saving it, and she’ll eat it later.
Actually, Middle Cat comments sagely, a writer playing with their characters is not that different from a cat playing with a caught mouse. Sometimes the character even survives the experience. Other times? Well… cue sad but oddly stirring music.
Writing is all about Decisions
There are the decisions you make as an author. Decisions that affect your character. And then there are the decisions your characters make in response (even if you’re writing a poem or an essay, you still have to have characters and you still have to make them feel real).
What happens when you start to like your characters? Do you punish them all the more? Or do you go easy on them? The latter might not make for a particularly interesting story. But not every story needs to be dialed up to eleven for it to be interesting. I mean. There’s more than one way to skin a–. You know what? Never mind.
Big Cat, Little Cat
Cinematography: Erika Grumet
Executive Producer: Rocket
Big Cat: Frob
Little Cat: Widget
Description Below.
Communicating your Characters’ Decisions: Motivation, Judgment, and Charisma
Whatever you do, the best writers make their characters seem relatable. Even when–no, especially when–the character is making decisions the audience might disagree with. Some authors even seem to make a game of it. Euripides writes Medea as if he is trying to make the main character seem as monstrous as possible, yet as sympathetic as possible. And if you read all the way to the end, Robert Caro is doing the same thing with Bob Moses in The Power Broker.
So the question is: how? How do you make your character seem relatable when they’re making decisions that are stupid or wicked or petty? Do you psychologically dissect their motives? Concentrate on their relationships and other positive aspects of their character? Or is your character just a magnificent bastard whose horrible decisions your audience loves to hate?
Description
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Three identical panels. In each, two cats, a large orange with orange stripes and a small grey with grey stripes sit on cushions and consider life’s mysteries
Panel 1
The large orange says: “Maybe I’ll just have one more cookie.”
The small grey wonders: “Not that I’m judging, but how many cookies have you had?”
Panel 2
The orange looks abashed as he says: “Um. Seven?”
The small grey presses the topic: “And how many times have you said: Maybe I’ll just have one more cookie?
Panel 3
The large orange smiles and says: “Definitely No more than six.”
The small grey relents, observing: “Well. They are really good cookies.”
