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Gr8! Thnaks for being kind to your characters; i guess we need an association for 'character rights' just like Amnest stands for human rights!
posted by
Sabsline
on September 9, 2006 at 6:20 AM
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Focus group.
What you need is a focus group. Get people to talk about your characters, about the plotline, and what's wrong with it - what's right with it.
But don't hire outsiders. Set up a scene with your characters, invite them in for coffee and pastries some cloudy morning in a rented loft somewhere. Have them talk as though they're real people from the neighborhood who've come in to play a role in your story. Let them talk to one another. And let them talk to you. Write a transcript of the meeting.
I used this exercise once for a story. There was a character who had to be killed off, and suddenly I found myself liking him, wanting to find a way out for him. He convinced me he'd be more memorable to the readers if I let him go, but had a suggestion for a more dramatic death scene.
If nothing else, this sidebar could be sold as a separate piece: Five Characters in Search of an Author or something...
posted by
Pat_B
on September 7, 2006 at 7:47 AM
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