A few months ago, I started something new. Something that's been tempting my muse for a while, but I've been hesitant to write.
I’ve always been tempted by lots of different stories. I have a million story ideas stories racing around my head at all times. Fantasy, paranormal, dark romance, historical. But I’ve found it a little too easy to settle into one type of story, with one type of voice. Mostly because I love these stories. There’s never been a time where I didn’t want to write a story about two sexy cowboys falling in love with a bookish nerd. I love each and every one of my characters and my quirky little towns. And I’ve been very happy writing them.
But sometimes my crazy muse wants me to try something new. Maybe she knows that trying something different will push me to a new level, or help me find new enjoyment in my stories. Or a new kind of story that I love just as much as the old ones.
So I decided to take a chance and start a new, very different kind of story. Unlike some of the other books I’ve written, this one is more complex. Much darker. With more detailed worldbuilding and character arcs. One of the reasons I have put off writing a book like this is because the complexity and detail intimidated me.
Normally, I can hold my entire story in my head. I don't need outlines. I don't use note cards, complex character sheets, or plotting storyboards. I’m a pretty intuitive writer, and most of the time my intuition and an idea is all I need to find my story and get it to the finish line.
But these characters have been giving me more trouble than I’m used to. It's been harder for me to get my arms around them. Usually I know exactly what my characters are going to do, because it makes sense to me. Often it’s exactly what I would do, or a friend would do, or someone I might know would do. I understand all their fears and misconceptions.
But these new characters are hard to figure out. They take actions I would never consider (some actions that are even illegal), and I've had trouble understanding their motivations. That’s when I knew it was time to pull out my writer’s toolbox and see if I can find a new strategy to understand these difficult characters.
I went back to an old but a goodie, and tried to determine in detail all my character’s goals, motivation, and conflict. But when I started to think about why they might take the actions they did, I found the goal, motivation and conflict didn’t go deep enough for me to truly get to the heart of their needs. Yes, I understood my FMC’s motivation for blackmailing her boss is money, but why? Why did she need the money? Why this man? Why? Why? Why?
That’s when I remembered the five whys. The five whys is an analytical tool that I’ve used in project management as part of my evil day job. The point of the five whys is not to address the first issue that arises, but to get to the heart of the problem and fix it. Hopefully permanently.
To use the five whys you only have to ask why something is happening, as you in the example on the left.
When using this tool for character development you only need to keep asking yourself why your character is doing what they are doing. For instance, if your character plans to blackmail her boss, why? Maybe she needs the money quickly. But why? Maybe she has a lot of debt to a bad guy and she needs to pay him off fast. Why? Because he’s going to kidnap her sister if she doesn’t. Quickly, we’ve gotten to the real truth of why she is taking such a drastic action. To protect her sister.
The point of the five whys is to just keep winding down that rabbit hole, asking, Why? Why? Why? Why? Until you get to the very root of the issue. The rule is called the five whys, but that’s only to inspire you not to take the first few answers you receive. You can keep asking why as many times as you need until you get to the heart of the problem.
I decided to try and to apply this logic to my characters (why not😉), asking why they took their current action. Why they felt a certain way towards another character. And the more I asked, the more these characters—and the story—opened up to me. With the more whys I asked, the more complex, complicated and exciting the story became, but also the more understandable my characters and their actions became.
If you're struggling with how to determine why your characters are doing what they're doing, or what their next step would be, consider applying the five whys. Just keep asking. Why? Why? Why do they do this? Why do they keep doing this? Why is this important? Until you get to the very core of your characters. No matter how many whys it takes.
I think you’ll find a lot of secrets along the way, and a lot of fresh exciting ideas to explore, but most of all, you'll find a connection and understanding with your characters you never had before. Why not give it a try?
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