Create Identification OR ELSE!

The number one thing writers must do without question, is to create identification. It’s why we go to the movies. It’s why we read books. And for the love of God it’s why we write. Without identification with your characters, your stories will suck regardless of how well your narrative is. It will be lacking an emotional connection and we, as readers will simply not care as deeply about them.

We want our readers to be happy when our characters are happy, to cry when our characters cry, to laugh when they laugh, and to get pissed off when they get pissed off. We want the readers to want to be our characters in some way. That’s why we fall in love with really great stories, be they film or book, because we connect with the characters and experience what they do.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, maybe not. So then how do we do it?

Identification is created by getting us emotionally involved with the characters. The single best way to get us emotionally involved is by letting us know what the character is thinking.

Most people start with, and stop with, the physical characteristics of emotion�" the sweating of palms, the trembling hands, the racing heartbeat, the flushed cheeks, the fevered desire. And it certainly does tell you about the character. But it doesn't do enough.

Let's take an imaginary character, call him Bob. If I tell you Bob is angry, you'd believe me simply because I wrote it. And you all certainly know what angry feels like. I could tell you also that Bob was so angry is face was red, and his hands were trembling, and the infamous vein on his forehead was popping out. That really gives you the impression of angry, right? But still, it's not enough.

Those are physical responses to emotions, and we all have them. The problem is that because we all have them, they are pretty much the same. Our physical responses are not unique!

So let's look deeper.

If you ask yourself what creates those physical responses, you'd tell me its the emotion. But what creates the emotion? Well, thoughts of course! You only get scared because of something you thought first. So thoughts come before emotions! It’s our thoughts at those moments that are unique and different. It’s those unique and different thoughts that allow us to understand the character better, to get closer to them and to care about them: to identify with them. Why? Because nobody thinks about the same things in exactly the same way.

Supposed you and a friend were walking home late at night and someone jumps out from a dark alley and shoves a gun in your faces. You both would be trembling. You both would be frightened. Heck, you both might even wet your pants. But your thoughts might be very different. 

For example, one of you might think oh my God, if I die, whose going to take care of my dog Daisy? hile This simple thought gives you a clue about the characters state of mind and allows you to learn better who he is and what he's about. This allows you to identify with him on a deeper level.

To continue the example, the other one of you might be thinking i knew i shouldn't have come here, I just knew it. That's what I get for disobeying my parents.

e Even this little snippet of thought demonstrates a personality that we can relate to around guilt (i.e. i was bad and this is what i deserve). 

If you did not know the characters thoughts in this instance, you would only know that they are scared and fearful and probably sweating. And therefore you wouldn't have identified with either of them.

Now you can use those thoughts to enhance the experience with your character's personality and create a deeper connection between your characters and your readers. For example, if you are writing a character that is under the burden of constant guilt, you can give us their thoughts always in the spirit of that trait, saying things like this happened because I deserve this. In this way, you augment your character in a way that let's us get closer.

If you don’t know the character's thoughts, you don’t know how they feel, and if you don’t know how they feel you can’t get connected emotionally, and if you can’t get connected, you can’t identify, and if you cant identify, well then, you'll just care a whole lot less, and chances are, you'll become uninterested in the story.

Keep this in mind: The reader can never be left wondering what the character is feeling; he must be in the mind of the character at all times.

Here's another example, one with the thoughts of the character masked by physical responses of emotion, and one with the characters thoughts:

Take 1:

"Bob's mother slapped him in the face with her open hand. His eyes teared up instantly as the sting of the slap echoed over his features. His cheek burned and his face went as red as a chili pepper from embarrassment. You could see by the look in his eye, that Bob became very, very angry."

Not too bad, right? you got the emotion, right? Bob is pissed. But how well do you relate to Bob? Do you really care about him at this point? On a scale of 1 to 10, I identify with Bob at about a 3 or 4 max. Why? because I know angry, but I don't know Bob's kind of angry.

Now try this one.

Take 2:

"Bob's mother slapped him in the face with her open hand. His eyes teared up instantly as the sting of the slap echoed over his features. He clenched his fists in response. He wanted the b***h to try it again. He just wanted a reason, any reason. He just wanted her to raise that scrawny hand against him one more time. He practically dared er with his eyes."

Now how do you relate to Bob? a little more maybe? I certainly do. Notice in that second piece, I never even stated that Bob was angry or embarrassed, but I'm certain that you connected with Bob on a deeper level because now you are inside Bob's head. And now you know something even deeper about him, that he was so angry that he wanted his mom to try it again, presumably because he wanted to retaliate in some fashion.

You would never have understood my Bob if i had only written the first take.

Finally, keep in mind that you don't have to put thoughts in every paragraph or feel that you have to overdo it. My approach is the "just enough" approach. I put just a thought or two around the characters words or actions that readers know in no uncertain terms where they are at.

Certainly when the character is having physical symptoms of emotions, you bet your life i'm going to drop some thoughts in there so that you'll know what's going on in their head, which will help you identify with the character on a deeper level, and therefore will care more about him.

So give thought a chance and see where it takes you! :)

Reviews

[K. D. Kromminga]

Devils Advocate...this a good advice with a cautionary tale. This type of identification should come with the main viewpoint character in the scene, which is why we need internal dialogue because normally the viewpoint character is not going to be noticing their own external signs of emotion(and a writer shouldn't be writing them). Identification can also be achieved through how your viewpoint character narrates the scene, the terms he/she uses to provide the reader with information. Third action and dialogue(sometimes the conflict between external and internal dialogue), can also help the reader identify with the viewpoint character. That being said ,non viewpoint character identification should be from visible signs of emotion, dialogue and action(please don't write down everybody's thoughts as the omnipresent viewpoint went out of style a long time ago because its unrealistic, confusing, and unwieldy). The methods are different because while we want the reader to understand the characters, the viewpoint character interacts with, we also want the reader to identify more closely with the viewpoint character.

[byPatKeegan]

Hi KD. I didn't take this as a devil's advocate approach, but rather augmenting what was already contained herein. You are absolutely correct. In fact last week, I stated the exact same thing (although not quite as articulately as you here ;) on someone's story that they were "head-hopping" in the same scene all over the place. We were seeing thoughts come from multiple characters. I provided some of the same advice to them, which is to have basically only one character per scene dominate the "thought" landscape, which you very pointedly states as viewpoint character.

I mentioned that they can utilize the other characters' words, actions, body language etc. to express their "viewpoint", rather than giving us the non-viewpoint characters' thoughts directly.

I wrote this stuff over a year ago, and it certainly could use a refresh. It wasn't meant to be a real "book" per se, just a response to giving many people the same comments over and over.

I should update this to include head-hopping as a no-no, and include the advice on non-viewpoint characters behaving badly :)

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.

[char]

I'm taking notes, just so you know. But you taught me this already, so onward. (Took notes any way) :D

[byPatKeegan]

you are too cool :)

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Helpful...I'm currently working on a manuscript, and I find myself doing a lot of describing and not a lot of delving into my characters frame of mind. I try to stop myself when i read back my chapters and remedy this very thing. Good advice indeed.

[byPatKeegan]

Thanks, I'm glad you found it useful :)

It's tough, but few people realize that we must know the character's state of mind at all times. We can't be uncertain of how he/she feels. Anyway, I ramble. Thanks for the kind feedback. Hope it helps :)

[Marc Marlon Villaflor]

Amazing! very helpful! love it! Thanks Pat. :)

[byPatKeegan]

Glad I could help :)

[the crying cup]

this is an amazing help to me! i'm gonna add this book to my lybrary because it's such a great thing to have around. keep adding chapters and i'll keep reading them! :D

[byPatKeegan]

I'm so glad it helped. I do have a few other chapters sketched out, but not too much...if you stick to the basics, they'll take you a long way :) Thanks for the kind words.

[the crying cup]

your welcome :)

[DeCipher]

This is great advice on character development. Very simple and easy to understand. Thank you for sharing.

[byPatKeegan]

Glad you liked it. Hope it helps, and thanks for reading.