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- Maxine Thompson has published 2 novels,
The Ebony Tree and No Pockets in a Shroud,
and has had numerous short stories, articles and
essays published in
magazines, anthologies and e-zines. Recently Maxine began an
on-line Internet column called On The Same Page, where she interviews
other new and self-published authors.
http://www.maxinethompson.com
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Show me your friends, and I'll
tell you who you are, a special co-worker once told me. First,
let me explain what special means. In Ebonics, we'll say, ''She's
a special case.'' Or if someone is not dealing with a full deck,
but yet are loveable, we'll say, ''She's special.'' So as you
see, this was a ''gem'' spoken out of a ''special'' person's
mouth.
Although, at the time, I didn't quite understand what she
meant, I now know what she was talking about is called ''character.''
In life, this could be a bad thing, but in fiction this is a
good thing. Nothing works better for memorable fiction than strong
characters with flaws. To get to the point, how
does one create memorable characters? Sol Stein, in his book,
Stein On Writing, points out that eccentricity is at the heart
of all strong characterizations. In short, the most effective
characters in fiction are tosome degree bizarre.
Character is an essential part of the best fiction. Think
of all the memorable characters in fiction. When you think of
the books whose characters resound in your head, you don't think
about, well this happened and that happened, (plot), you generally
think of who the protagonist was. Words such as ''Scrooge,''
''Pollyanna,'' and even ''Uncle Tom'' developed in our culture
to express a personality, an outlook, a character trait. And
in spite of my dislike for the Antebellum South, from my first
reading at fifteen, Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler stenciled
a place in my memory as colorful characters. (Who can ever forget
Rhett Butler's last sardonic words, ''My
dear, I don't give a d--?.''
As an African American, I grew up during the 50's with no
role models in my fiction. No archetypes that had any relevancy
to my life. But now, I--and readers from all races-- are blessed
with a list of memorable Afrocentric characters. Now, I have
Janie who left 3 husbands at the turn of the century, when all
women, (particularly Black women,) were economically dependent
on men. Janie is a mulatto with hair down to her hips. By the
standards of the Black community, the first two husbands she
married were rich. Her second husband was even the mayor of an
all Black town in Forida. Janie's third and last husband, a poor
migrant worker, was half her age. She actually left the last
husband, whom she truly loved, through death. Just think. This
book was written 50 years before Terri McMillan's How Stella
Got her Groove Back. That had to be ( The French writer, Colette,
said this was the perfect match.) So one could say that Zora
Neale Hurson, the creator of Janie, in the novel, Their Eyes
Were Watching God, was ahead of her time. Now I can call to mind
another group of memorable characters, who heretofore was nonexistent
for me as a Black reader/writer. Sula, Milkman. Pilate. Sethe
(who cut her baby's throat rather than see her back in slavery).
Creator, Toni Morrison. Nana Pouissant (who built bottle trees
to protect her family), creator, Julie Dash/ Daughters of the
Dust.
Likewise, I'm hoping that my fictional characters--Jewel,
Big Mama Lily, Nefertiti, Solly, Pharaoh and Reverend--will one
day also become household names in the literary corridors of
my reader's mind. Jewel, I hope will come to stand for endurance
with an "e." This character, loosely based upon my
mother, is the personification of Mother's love. Her story proves
that love can conquer all the evil forces of the ghetto and help
safely shepherd children to success against the odds. Big Mama
Lily, (related to one of the Seven Sisters out of New Orleans
and the seventh daughter of a seventh daugher) is a two-headed
woman (word for conjure woman). Nefertiti is the Black Scarlett
O'Hara. Solly is the eternal, talented, happy-go-lucky drunk.
Pharaoh is the Black male artist, destroyed by society. Reverend
is unbending, yet straight and narrow principle.
Eccentricity has frequently been at the heart of strong characterization
for good reason. Ordinariness is what readers have enough of
in life. The most effective characters have profound roots in
human behavior. Their richest feelings may be similar to those
held by many others. However, as characters their eccentricities
dominate the readers first view of them. The first time I encountered
this is through the character of Pilate, from Song of Solomon.
She has no navel, yet has the ability to communicate with her
dead father. I am still haunted by her dying words, "If
Ida knowed more people, Ida loved more people."
Another reason character is so important in plotting your
fiction is that people are different. The same tragic event can
happen to two people and have different effects. One person can
lose his job and never bounce back, and another will be galvanized
by the same event. These are the types of points of departure
you can examine in fiction through your characters.
These are the three major techniques I think will make the
difference in creating memorable characters who leap off the
page.
1) Point of view. Even if the character is eccentric,
you should make the reader understand his world view. A reader
will begin to empathize with characters when they walk in their
shoes. You do this through astral projection. You get your reader
to sweating and having their heart pound through the use of the
5 senses. For example, after I had crawled (touch)through the
woods on my belly, nine months pregnant, feet burst open from
running barefoot, back torn open like a choke cherry tree, where
they had "taken my milk," while they raped me, during
my escape from slavery with Sethe, (this is astral projection),
I could see how she snapped when Schoolteacher and the bounty
hunters came to get her.
2) Specificity in Details. Develop your character's
quirks, habits,motivations, and hobbies. Again, I'll use Toni
Morrison Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved. Sethe is considered
strange by the town when in fact she is very proud. For this
reason, the town turns against her after she cut her baby's throat.
They would have been there for her for the asking, after Sethe
got out of jail, if she had only asked for help. Sethe's motivation
is her pride. Sethe's mother, who was an African, who was hung
for sedition. Sethe is a recluse until Paul D comes into her
life. Sethe's hobbies are cooking and sewing. Toni Morrison shows
this through how Sethe makes biscuits from scratch, (beating
the dough as if to beat back the past,) threads a needle in the
sunlight, spits on the griddle for the temperature.etc. I really
learned Sethe through her habits.
3) Fiction that takes risks and challenges our smug
assumptions about life. Beloved challenged the writing community.
A group of Black intellectuals headed by Alice Walker protested
when Beloved wasn't chosen for a Pulitzer Prize, which later,
it was selected. Beloved is the first book to look at slavery
from a psycho-social viewpoint. The book challenged everything
I knew and believed about fiction and about life.
Don't just write about normal situations. Examine the human
hearts and the depths of what people will go when faced with
moral dilemmas. What will a mother do when she is broke and hungry
and has children to feed? I think Toni Morrison developed this
quite well in Beloved.
To distinguish between plot-driven fiction and character-driven
fiction is the same distinction you find between popular movies
and serious movies. The former categories often satisfies you,
but, like Chinese food, can leave you ravenous after a few hours.
Character-driven fiction/movies will stick to your ribs like
''soul food.'' It will make you examine the human heart and
condition. Most of all, it often disturbs you like the book and
movie, Beloved, yet you will find yourself driven to read these
same books over and over.
