The Character Interview

Going deep to write people more empathically

Interview, Samuel Burton

When we try to make characters take action, the action stalls.

Every so often, when planning out a novel, things get stuck. We can spend weeks and months making notes about characters and all the adventures we’re going to take them on through our novels, but if we have a next step in mind that doesn’t feel believable for that character to take, things stop flowing.

It’s easier in these moments to become self-critical, and to worry that our idea isn’t good enough, or that we haven’t properly outlined. (Or even perhaps that we’ve outlined far too much.) In fact, it’s quite rare that the process is at fault here. Instead, what’s likely going on is that you’re trying too hard to drive the character’s life and make all their decisions for them.

Yes, I know that we’re talking about writing fiction, and that it is a novelist’s job to tell stories about characters who aren’t real. But the thing is, novels work best when characters feel real, even if they aren’t.

Here’s how to keep the action moving forward without stalling. The trick is to work with your characters as a team, rather than becoming their director or worse, holding them hostage to your own agenda.