Characters that Last

We took our final school field trip over the long weekend *homeschool teacher smiles as she types, watching her young charges splash in the backyard pool* and one of the places we visited was Old Tucson Studios, locale of over 300 film and TV shows.  We were just coming off of a study on pioneers, railways, the gold rush, etc so even though this wasn’t a “real” western town, it was certainly close enough.

One of the guides led a tour of the studios, pointing out the buildings, roads, and horse troughs used in various movies by the likes of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Kurt Russell. Now, my kids have no idea who any of these people are, but when the guide mentioned filming some scenes from Little House on the Prairie, well, they started paying attention. And when we found out one of the buildings housed memorabilia Michael Landon had donated to the studios, woo-doggies, we had to take a few pictures.

My son wanted to know why Laura was so famous. After all, he reasoned, haven’t other people written about their growing-up years?

Great question. I told him Laura just wrote it better than the others. I also suspect the TV show had a lot to do with her longevity (though her books came out in the 1930s and the TV show wasn’t until the 1970s.) And, for children’s writers, tying into the curriculum helps. 

Later that day we listened to a short talk on stagecoach drivers. The actor mentioned One-Eyed Charlie. And again, my kids perked up. They knew all about One-Eyed Charlie. (Spoiler alert) She was the character I mentioned last week in the book Riding Freedom. Women weren’t allowed to drive stagecoaches so very few people knew she was a woman until after she died.

What makes a character—real life or fictional—remain popular for generations is the question I’m thinking about as I begin editing my current WIP. I’m trying a new approach as outlined in the book The Weekend Novelist Re-Writes the Novel. I’ll go into more details next week, but let me leave you with this teaser. The author, Robert J. Ray, teaches that the rewrite is the time to work on your antagonists, through their subplots, since in the initial writing you were focused on your protagonist and the main plot. He says:

Antagonists hold the key to dramatic tension, entertainment, retellings, book sales, film rights.

He holds Jane Eyre up as one of his examples. The story has been read for over 150 years and contains seven antagonists.

As other antagonists deepen the stack of subplots, they create more trouble for Jane (her chance to grow) and a more dramatic story for the reader.

One of my goals as a writer is to create at least one enduring character in my career. Sure, I’d like to create more, but to have imagined an Anne Shirley, a Charlie Bucket, or a Harry Potter, I would consider my job well done.