Ed Catmull is one of the founders of Pixar, and I really enjoyed his book, Creativity, Inc. about the history and inner workings of Pixar. I especially loved this insight he shared:
“The definition of superb animation is that each character on the screen makes you believe it is a thinking being.”
Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc.
I think this is true for characters we experience on the page as well. Characters in a book come alive for us when all the characters seem to be thinking beings rather than just words on a page.
For the writer, knowing your characters’ backstories is critical for creating this illusion. You can probably think of a person in your life who made you scratch your head until you learned more of their story, right? My daughter once had a friend who was really talented at sports, but was extremely hard on herself even when it seemed to us like she’d played well. The reason why became very clear after interacting with her overly critical parents.
Just like how we have little light bulb moments with real people, we can create the same sensation with our characters too. Characters can make lots of odd or dangerous choices and still feel believable to the reader, but only if we’ve taken the time to develop a backstory that supports it. (It’s important to do this for ALL your characters, not just your main character!)
I’ve found it’s often easiest to work backward on these sorts of plot puzzles. Start by figuring out what weird, crazy thing you need to your character to do or want, and then go backward using the question, “Why?” to find pieces that can make it work.
When I started working on The Lost Girl of Astor Street, what I knew was that Piper’s best friend was missing, and Piper went looking for her.
But why would she do that? If my best friend went missing, I would certainly help the police as much as I felt able, but my instinct would not be to start my own investigation. So I had to figure out why Piper felt this was a good idea. For Piper to come across as brave rather than stupid, her choices needed to feel logical to the reader.
I started brainstorming potential answers to the question, “Why?” Maybe she felt responsible for some reason. Maybe there was something Piper knew about her best friend that no one else knew. Maybe she didn’t trust the police. Maybe in general she didn’t trust people.
Many of the things on my list led me to ask another why. It’s important to keep following those backward until you can identify an origin. If Piper felt responsible, why? If she doesn’t trust people in general, why?
When I kept following my “why?” backward about Piper’s trust issues, I ultimately landed on her mother’s death. When Piper was 13, her mother got the flu. Everyone around her said she would be fine, but then her mother died. That would leave a girl with some trust issues!
So then if I had a scene where Piper was being told, “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find your friend,” I could show Piper remembering being reassured that her mother would be fine . . . up until her mother died. Then Piper’s decisions about pursuing the case don’t seem so ridiculous, and my reader understands why Piper is making this decision. Piper then begins to feel like a thinking being.
And when you apply this intentionality to not just your main character but your other characters too, you end up with every character on the page feeling like a thinking being!
Do you know the “why?” behind the weird/bold/dangerous decisions your characters are making?
Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as two historical young adult novels, The Lost Girl of Astor Street and Within These Lines. Within These Lines was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, as well as a YALSA 2020 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com, which has been on the Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list since 2017. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
This is just the post I needed. My main focus right now is learning better ways to find backstory and character motivation.
I put that book on hold at at the library. On Disney+ they have a couple series going behind the scenes at Pixar. It was fascinating. I even wondered about books about an animation company? That’s just a spark. My favorite was the one about the character art director. She was so cool, she dresses vintage and is very classy, feminine, and put together. I thought she herself would be a great character.
I need to watch those! I love behind-the-scenes stuff. Your spark of a book idea sounds fun!
I love searching for character motivations! It’s like solving a mystery.
I had to ask myself so many “why?”s when unearthing both my hero and heroine’s pasts, but especially the hero. And even towards my climax, I find myself asking for the reasons. Like, there’s a part in my story where my heroine learns that my hero is fairly good at cooking. I didn’t really answer why until a couple pages ago, where I discovered he’d gotten a job in the kitchen of Hohenheim palace after escaping his shackles at home. I also learned how he managed to learn Italian, play the harp, and join the opera too.
I think it’s really fun too! I often have discoveries like yours late in the draft and have to layer them in during edits.
This was such a fabulous book. So inspirational. Working backwards is a great tool.I should give it a try with my Riverbend Friends story.
It took me a long time to figure out the value of working backward! I tend to develop stories in a very linear fashion, so jumping around is never my instinct.
Ooh, what a helpful way to think through things!