(from “75 Fiction Writing Commandments” by Frederick Barthelme
- Characters, almost anything you put in a story can be bent around to serve as characterization as well as action (the way Jackson throws the ball and what kind of ball it is – base, foot, soccer? – and to whom (or at) he throws it, etc.
- Everything contributes. Maybe it’s a homemade ball. Maybe it’s old. Maybe it’s brand new, just stolen from the Walmart.
- Cause is essential to the story – a character wants something, and wanting it takes some action which has consequences for themselves and others.
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- A character is a collection of data that somehow mimics a real person to the degree that the writer and the reader can experience what the characters experiences.
- The data is at once the characterization and the experience.
- There’s no set way to create characters – usually, you’ll need a minimal physical description, some aspects of his/her personality, some desires/wishes, some attitude toward others and the world.
- Your Allegiance is to the emotion/spiritual success of your work, not to any particular story
- Be sure the characters in the story feel full, complex, complete, multifaceted.
- Be sure the reader can see all the stuff – don’t hide it.
- Don’t forget the background, the physical context for the events of your work.
- Be sure to get what the story means on the page, even if you have to start by writing it out
- Revise everything. Nothing is sacred. If the story doesn’t “work” (ie touch you, just like a movie or a song), then change the story.
- Have a close up and a telephoto mode for looking at your work
- See the details but don’t ask your reader to “figure them out” – put them on the page.
- Use sensory information a lot. We want to inhabit the world you make.
- You’ve got to write and you’ve got to keep writing even when it seems like there’s no point.
- You’ve got to get better, open yourself to what “better” might mean.
- Train your eye, ear, heart to respond to the intimate, touching, clever, off-putting.
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