Dissecting Books: Reading as a Writer Part 3
By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
Welcome back to my series on how to dissect books to understand how and why they work. In other words, how to “read as a writer.” (Here’s where to find Part 1 and Part 2.)
Last time we looked at plot. This week we’re going to think about characters and theme.
I’d suggest sticking with the same three books we selected last time. Just as a reminder, they were three of your favorites in your chosen genre, and they were recently written, highly rated, first in series or standalone books.
(1) How does the writer make you care about what happens to the main character?
Notice I didn’t say like the main character. Likeable main characters are easier to sell, but successful fiction has been written with unlikeable main characters.
So look at the techniques the writer uses to make you sympathize with or like the main character. Look at what makes the main character interesting or compelling. Think carefully about why you’re willing to keep reading about this character.
Does the writer use the character’s actions to gain your sympathy? Do they use hints of backstory? Do they use dialogue by other characters or other character’s internal perceptions of the character?
Create a practical list of techniques that you can use in your stories. This should be a list of techniques, not a list of things to copy.
So if the main character in the story you’re analyzing gains your sympathy by helping an old lady cross the street, that doesn’t mean you need to have your character help someone across the street. It means you write down “show the main character doing something nice for someone else.” You want to deduce general principles from specific examples.
(2) How did the writer show the importance of the story goal to the main character?
If the main character cares about the goal and has a strong motivation for pursuing it, the reader will also care. Study how the writer brought out the main character’s goals and motivations in each scene as well as in terms of the overall plot.
How did they show the importance of the goal? Did they use physical symbols? Did they use conversations with other characters? Did they use internal dialogue? How much of each did they use?
In other words, how did they make you care about the story goal?
(3) Does the character grow over the course of the book?
Not every story will have a character that grows and changes over the course of the book, and this can be genre-specific at times. For example, James Bond is basically the same in every book.
Take note of how the writer shows the character’s internal state at the beginning. If the main character is afraid of a committed relationship, for example, how has the writer shown that?
How has the writer woven that internal growth in with the external conflict? Look at the ways that each major external challenge also forced internal change.
(4) If the book had a theme (and most books do), what helped you see that theme?
Themes in fiction can be broad—for example, justice will prevail. They can also be narrower—for example, being a parent is worth the cost.
Could you identify the theme in the book? If so, how did the author make it clear to you? Themes aren’t usually stated explicitly. They’re generally woven in through action and through the growth of the character.
If you want a copy of this series that you can download, sign up for my newsletter. I’ll be making it available to my newsletter subscribers as a PDF in the near future.
Interested in more ways to improve your writing? Check out my Busy Writer’s Guides such as Showing and Telling in Fiction, Deep Point of View, or Internal Dialogue.
Image Credit: Lynn Lopez/freeimages.com
Jul 17, 2016 @ 19:29:02
This was a very useful mini-series of posts, most especially where you discussed key events. Glad I found it!