Writers delight in putting their characters through the wringer. Trials and tribulations test your hero’s mettle and drive your narrative. But what happens after? In a post on Writers Unboxed, Kathleen McCleary says we also need to let our characters recover.
“As you write your characters into the latter parts of their story, as they come out the other side of whatever you’ve put them through, think through all the aspects of their recovery (or rebirth or redemption or healing),” McCleary says. She suggests some elements to consider:
- What they value. How did your characters’ journey change their thinking and their priorities? What’s important to them now that they’ve come through the other side?
- Who they value. How have your characters’ relationships changed? Who is important to them and who has faded?
- The dark side. “When you go through an ordeal of some kind, you rarely emerge unscathed,” McCleary writes. “Sometimes hardship heightens our flaws and our fears; sometimes it scars us in ways that leave us forever different and a little (or a lot) damaged. What doesn’t kill you may make you stronger, but it may not make you kinder, braver, calmer, or cheerier.”
- How they interact with the world. How does your character re-enter the ordinary world? Are they kinder and more open? Or do they have a chip on their shoulder?
- What hasn’t changed. What core values are still important to your character? Are they unchanged or stronger?
