Stewie and Brian
If you’re working on a novel, and you’ve never heard Stewie questioning Brian the Dog about his work in progress, allow me to share with you one of the more brilliant moments from prime time television. I’m not even a big Family Guy fan, but this clip makes me laugh every time. It’s like a mini MFA, in two minutes flat, as taught by a evil cartoon toddler.
Got a big stack of papers there?
Got a compelling protagonist?
Got an obstacle for him to overcome?
Got a beginning, middle and end?
Do some friends become enemies, enemies become friends?
It’s that last one that my husband and I like to trow out at each other as a joke in that sly, drawn out voice…. friends become enemies, enemies become friends?
Feedback
So I pretty much had to blog about the fact that this was one of my husband’s bigger notes on my most recent draft.
It’s always hard to take feedback, even when it’s from someone who so thoroughly has my back, but this particular note actually sparked a bit of laughter, because, well, Stewie.
In short, my husband recognized that I have a few characters in my story that start out neutral, and then go either good or bad. His main suggestion on that front was to push their starting point away from neutral.
Friends Becoming Enemies
For the characters that end up being my protagonists allies, he suggested making them more distasteful at the start. Vice versa for the characters who end up causing trouble – he proposed that maybe they start out being on my main character’s good side.
It’s a subtle shift, but it gives even my minor characters a path to travel. The story is just more interesting if allegiances shift over the course of the story.
I’m not going overboard on this one. I’m not going to turn a neutral character into bank-robbing murderer. Nothing that dramatic. But in these final stages of editing my novel, it’s little things like this that are making it feel more complete.
I suppose some people set up these character traits from the start, outlining and doing character studies. It’s making me consider how I might make these kinds of decisions much earlier in my next project.
I hope you enjoyed this piece and learned a little something. If you found the content valuable, tips are hugely appreciated.
One of my characters was only supposed to be a side to the other two main storytellers. But he just became so fantastic – the slightly gruff, never gets the girl, still pining for his ex-wife type – that I created two more novels where he became the main character. He still never gets the girl though. It’s kind of his thing!
Ha. Poor guy. But great for you. Congrats on all the success!
In the novel that I just completed there was one character who was suppose to make appearances throughout but nothing all that special. At the start I figured she would show up when needed, say a line of two and add support. Kind of boring but a nice filler. But something happened along the way. I found myself looking forward to her appearance. She was stubborn, funny and a classic scene stealer.
When I wrote the second draft I gave her more depth and when I wrote the third I dug a little deeper and soon, she became part of the story. In short, I took your husbands advice, long before he gave it to you, and ran with it.
Big high five to your hubby. 🙂
High five! I love it when characters do that. It’s really remarkable how these people we create, who are nothing more than words on a page, can push into stories in ways we never anticipated. It’s one of my favorite things about writing. Cheers!
I love Family Guy and love your clip. And love the idea of friends becoming enemies and vice versa. My children’s book is about learning that you can love more than 1 person/pet at the same time and will incorporate a “supposed” enemy becoming a friend. Thanks!
I imagine you have to go easy on the villains when you’re writing for kids, but the main idea should hold true. I’d love to hear how it went when you’re finished making the edits…