Here are five issues I considered when
deciding to take my protagonist in new directions:
1 . Have I built my protagonist into such an iconic character that she
doesn’t need to change?
For most writers this isn’t an issue. Few of
us have created characters that stand like impenetrable rocks not needing to
reconsider their lives or their loves. Robert
Parker’s Spenser is one who we do not expect to alter his manner of
dealing with the bad guys nor waver in his love for Susan and his friendship
with Hawk. As readers, we’d probably be disappointed to see any other Spenser
on the page. We know what to expect, and we haven’t been disappointed.
2. How can I change my protagonist without undermining the character
I’ve already built?
The groundwork for change needs to be laid so
that it emerges organically from what we already know about our character. For
example, has our amateur sleuth not only been chasing the bad guys, but has she
also yearned for love and family life? Readers wouldn’t be disappointed if we
wrote an enduring love interest into the book and then had her marry. Susan
Wittig Albert’s China Bayles meets the love of her life, a Texas Ranger, they
marry, and she becomes mother to his son. Later they become parents to a long
lost brother’s child. All of these alterations in China’s life represent
adjustments she must make to how she lives her life, but these adjustments seem
to emerge quite naturally from the person we know, and readers are eager to see
where this life now takes her.
3. I’ve set my character on a path, now what?
If the path has been carefully considered, then I now have an arc
of development for my protagonist for the next few chapters in her life. She has
become a fuller, deeper more compassionate character, someone I know my reader
will enjoy seeing in her new life. Since change usually involves the emergence
of relationship complexity and often the development of another character who
the protagonist now has a changed relationship with, the writer has the
opportunity to develop a character not only integral to the protagonist’s life,
but also one who may figure into plot and subplot issues. In the second book of
Eve Appel Murder Mysteries, I introduced a wise, elderly Miccosukee Indian I
refer to Grandfather. He becomes one of Eve’s best friends, someone she can go
to for advice and someone who shares her passion for taking down the bad guys. In Dead in the Water, the two concoct a
plan for outing some Russian thugs. I’ve accomplished two things with
Grandfather: his inclusion in those Eve comes to trust shows her capacity for
extending her love beyond people she already knows, and the reader sees
impulsive Eve now reach out for help in her sleuthing schemes. Not only do I
have a new character for readers to enjoy, but I have used him to broaden and change
my protagonist. I can build future changes upon this.
4. What shouldn’t I do with changes I’ve introduced?
One of my favorite writers married her
protagonist several books back in the series. While her choice of the man to
marry was unexpected, her decision to share her life with someone was not. In
the subsequent book, the husband appears, but as a subordinate and not very
important character. In the several books since then, the husband is missing
and only a few lines of thought by the protagonist are given to him. I still
enjoy the series, but now I wonder what I should think about the protagonist.
Mostly, I wonder why the writer introduced this change if she had no intention
of making it an integral part of the protagonist’s journey and development. Why
leave on the table such a rich life change which could be used so effectively
in revealing more of the protagonist and in creating new and interesting plot
lines? Ironically, I keep reading the series in hopes I’ll find out the answer.
5. Can I use shocking, unanticipated changes in my protagonist’s
life?
By killing off Thomas Lynley’s wife, Helen,
so unexpectedly, Elizabeth George certainly did. With this surprising death,
she set herself up to write a novel about Helen’s killer, and she set Lynley
off on a journey he would never have taken as he grieved for his wife and
slowly came back to his work. It also allowed George to put more emphasis upon
Barbara Havers, Lynley’s sometime a partner. I say surprising your readers with
this kind of shock is courageous, but it may also be foolish if you lose your
readers. It appears George didn’t suffer the loss of too many fans, although
many were furious about the death. I don’t think I could pull this one off. Can
you?
You probably can add other issue to consider
when taking your series protagonist through new events in her life and
relationships. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
Bio:
Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and
reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River
Valley in Upstate New York. In the
winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of
grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators
make golf a contact sport. Back north,
the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks and
renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of
course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work.
She is the author of a number of mystery
series and mysteries as well as short stories.
Mud Bog Murder follows the
first three books in the Eve Appel mystery series, A Secondhand Murder, Dead in the Water and A Sporting Murder.
I’m with you, Lesley: why marry the main character and then have the love of her life disappear from the storyline? I’m happy to have protagonists change, even make major changes as long as they are set up well.
ReplyDeleteLesley, that seems strange, too, that the husband who should have become an important character has more or less disappeared. In my series, my main character met who would eventually become her husband, but it took until the 7th book for them to become engaged. And then something happens to create a problem for them in the current book when her grandmother moves in with them putting a damper on their alone time. They won't be getting married anytime soon at least until his teenage son goes off to college. I've had my characters change as the series progress, and even more I add new characters, who my readers like, who make changes as the books progress. In the beginning I wondered how I'd handle it if my two main characters married, but then I see that Katherine Hall Page has managed so I know I'll be able to do that, too, when they do get married.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit although I was upset by George's murdering Helen, Barbara Havers is one of my favorite characters.
I was sick of Helen, though horrified that she and her unborn child were killed. Barbara Havers is the most interesting character in George's books; I never tire of reading her internal and external dialogue. And her clothes...too much.
ReplyDeleteWe're all Barbara Havers fans!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if authors take these turns to generate buzz? Every time a favorite character gets killed on a show like Game of Thrones the Internet is abuzz. Same with books - we all were horrified by Helen's death, even if we didn't like her.
I think man series have a "series arc," in which the protagonist develops and changes.
ReplyDeleteKilling off beloved (or at least well known) characters is certainly a way to encourage interest and involvement from fans.
Hi Leslie, I am in the midst of that as well, my character is changing careers and direction. It's a tough choice and it requires lots of planning to make it work. I thought Elizabeth George was SO brave, and it was a fantastic book!
ReplyDelete