CHARACTERS WITHHOLD —

I was talking to my Gotham students about an upcoming assignment. The assignment is a character bio written by the lead character for a writing class.

(Okay. Look. I know not every character in every story is naturally writing a bio for a writing class. That’s not the point of the assignment. The point of the assignment is character voice. And I thought maybe this would be helpful to others too so keep reading.)

…I want you guys to go look at the bios you and your fellow students posted for class.

Often, this assignment comes back as three pages of a character spelling out his or her life in minute detail, hitting story points of character. Born here, parents born there, best friend here, education there, job here, pastimes here, hobbies there, medical conditions here, crimes of the past over there….

That is all informative for someone who wants a character breakdown. It doesn’t actually feel very much like a bio a person would write for a writing class though. Because the character is sharing too much information.

Characters, like people, presented with the task of presenting themselves to a room full of strangers in a writing class with a bio, withhold. Characters, like people, want to make a good impression, and are self protective.

How often does a person you meet for the first time say:

“Hi, I’m a native from Chicago with a Harvard degree, my marriage is failing because my husband is a drunk who beats me up, I just hired a hitman to kill my husband, I was recently arrested but the charges for murder probably won’t stick because, doy, I paid off the cops, my kids hate me, my pet just died, my mother is a bitter terrible woman sucking the life out of me while living in my guest room, I wish the hubs would beat her up instead of me for a change, I’m off my meds and FEEL GREAT!, I just got fired from my job for embezzlement, my house is being repossessed, and I’m selling cocaine at rave parties to make ends meet”?

Technically, for me, that’s a really fun character to write. But that character probably isn’t going to spill all that in a bio for a room full of strangers in a writing class. What that character might actually write in a bio for a writing class is…

“Hi, I live in Chicago, I have a degree from Harvard in business and have worked in corporate America in advertising for the last ten years, but have been wanting to explore my creative side so have left my corporate job to take a break to explore film writing. I have a cute dog named Dodger and two great grown kids. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all and share my writing with you and see your writing in class!”

That’s a blatant big swing for example purposes, but the thing there is, people lie, obfuscate, and withhold information in a bio for a writing class. They paint themselves in their best light for strangers. (You all did it in this class. I did it in this class. We all present our best side, and leave out some of the gory darker life details.) They leave out the darker details of life. They focus on the writing class in a bio for a writing class. And, especially when they are engaged in criminal activities, they don’t put that in an open bio to a group full of strangers because, well, what if there’s a cop in the class?

Bio: I sell cocaine at rave parties!
Cop Student: Address please!

One way audiences learn a lot about a character is, what the character withholds or lies about, and with whom. Characters who just spill information usually don’t do that in any situation. It’s also informative to see whom they share with, without holding back. But I will learn a lot about a character who has just hired a hitman to kill her husband who’s talking to her book club members about what a great guy her husband is, while wearing makeup to cover her black eye, that I won’t lie if she just spills in a bio for a writing class: I hired a hitman to kill my husband.

Think, while doing the character bio, about what a character would actually share with a room full of strangers. And what a character would withhold.

We’re all going to see the story map and plot in Booth. That doesn’t have to be in the character bio. What does need to be in the character bio is a sense of the character really speaking, a sense of that character’s voice. And a sense of how that character presents themselves to strangers.

If you are interested in learning more about character, Max teaches an advanced class on character, Character Writing.