Changing Lanes
I recently watched a ten year old movie that had great characters: The alcoholic father with the estranged family and
the workaholic, nasty young attorney who had everything handed to him on a
Tiffany platter. It was a well-written movie and I was craving more information
about these two somewhat regular guys who met by accident on the New Jersey
turnpike. The alcoholic dad attended A.A. meetings and dreamt about buying a
house for his family in order to keep everyone together. The only problem was
he also dreamt about Champagne and bourbon on the rocks, to the point that he
walked into a bar on a tough day and called for intervention immediately after
ordering the drink. The other character started noticing his own character
flaws, his strange cranky behavior, his infidelity and almost ran into a church
at the precise moment his conscience started playing with his ego.
Mesmerized, I enjoyed the
relatively successful conclusion. Of course, it made me think of the characters
in my manuscript.
Are they interesting? Do they
have depth and dimension enough to be called characters or are they simply
elements who shift around between pages?
Would readers want to know
more about them and do I explain enough about their feelings and desires? I certainly don't want to bore anyone.
Readers: Are regular people with
normal, every-day lives considered boring? What is regular? What is normal? The
two men in the movie are well-defined characters and as the movie progressed,
they became better men and better characters. They changed lanes, thus the
title of the movie.
You've all probably seen this and I'm just way behind the times, but if you haven't, it's worth a look.
You've all probably seen this and I'm just way behind the times, but if you haven't, it's worth a look.
Writers: I know I make my characters
change lanes, but is that enough?
Real people in real time are boring, but compact their lives and events and it becomes interesting.
ReplyDeleteIf they have a detailed past with lots of character strengths and flaw and they change over the course of the story, then you are doing good!
As depressing as it sounds, Alex is correct. Most of our lives are only interesting when condensed to a Cliff's Notes version. Weddings, babies, funerals--basically, anything that is truly meaningful--are the only things of global interest (non-friends and family).
ReplyDeleteThat's what great writing has to capture. The atypical, the big moments. Great movie!
I think when we take the ordinary and cast them into the unusual, whether it be a place or a situation, that's when the story gets moving.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen that movie. Sounds like I'll have to.
Never seen it, sounds good though. It's funny you ask if regular, every day people are boring in relation to my blog yesterday about everyone and their brother writing memoirs. I mean, we all have our own definition of boring and ordinary, so what I might find dull, someone else might find riveting and really relate to. We all define normality, too. I don't think my life is exciting compared to my cousin who climbs mountains in Japan. But by the same token, my life seems exciting compared to a friend of mine who never leaves her house. It's all relative.
ReplyDeleteI know one thing. The 'regular' people I know online are never boring, and that certainly includes you. I enjoyed this post.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of the film but never seen it. I think regular people are fascinating. Everyone's got a story. The key, to me, is getting into them and seeing their fears and flaws, making them people I can relate to, root for.
ReplyDeleteHey Eve! I saw this movie years ago and loved it...when I was in film school they told us that movies were like real life with all the boring bits cut out.
ReplyDeleteEveryone does have a story, but not everyone's story would make a good film, or book...or...maybe they would, given the right author to find the story in the mundane..
You know it's funny because my motto (in life, not writing) has always been, "If you're not weird, you're boring. I never wanted to be boring. I don't want my characters to be boring either, so I like to make them flawed. Obstacles show the traits in our characters that give them the opportunity to really make differences in their own lives and others. So I throw those in everywhere.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has a story a tell and every character has flaws so I try to let those come out. Because I don't want to read about someone who is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI purchased Contour last year and it's a great tool which helps with plotting for your protagonist. The idea is that your character must go on a journey of discovery. A boring character can be made less boring by their actual circumstances.
ReplyDeleteGreat questions to ask! The fact you're asking them and thinking about it, proves you're giving it your best shot.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to determine what "regular" is anymore. And great point by Diane above me. You can put an ordinary character into some crazy situations and bring out the best.
As a newspaper reporter I interviewed thousands of people and my favorite saying is, "there are no boring people - just boring writers." You may think someone is boring until you found out they used to be a clown in the circus when they were young or some other interesting fact.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it's seldom about whether the characters have interesting lives -- but it's about whether the writer can make them interesting.
ReplyDeleteRegular people with normal everyday lives are only boring if I don’t care about them. If I am involved with the story, and the characters, then ordinary people are interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think if there are emotions and conflict, even "normal" people can be interesting. Everyone has their dramas, whether they're small and personal or big and conspicuous.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen that movie, but I'd like to! I'll never forget what someone once said about their kids. She had a quiet daughter and a talkative, opinionated one. She referred to the talkative daughter as "a much more interesting person."
ReplyDeleteI think quiet people can be interesting, and any character you create can be interesting, given the right conflict and circumstance surrounding them in a story.
I've heard about that movie, but never saw it.
ReplyDeleteI find normal people put in extraordinary circumstances to be riveting storytelling.
You got down in your last couple of paragraphs. They might have been normal people, but each of them made a journey and completed a substantial character arc.
ReplyDelete"The two men in the movie are well-defined characters and as the movie progressed, they became better men and better characters. They changed lanes, thus the title of the movie."
The winning points in this story, from my humble viewpoint, are:
+ Well defined characters
++ they became better men
+++ they figuratively swapped lives - adding an engaging twist to the ending of story - Even if that direction wasn't always clear, it was still something sensed -- almost from the beginning.
Some of the best stuff in the world has been about very, very ordinary people. Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman. Will Smith's character in Pursuit of Happyness. Gary Cooper's characters in a number of things. James Stewart - Mister Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life.
And, oh yeah, the most boring character EVER at the very beginning was a teenager who just wanted to get away from his Uncle's farm and go to the Academy... Luke Skywalker.
Sometimes a boring character can make a much more interesting story than an "interesting" one. I'd much rather see Good Will Hunting than just about anything starring Sylvester Stallone... but I'll admit all of the little short guy's films are great escapes from reality (except from the first Rocky - An interesting character AND an interesting plot.)
Ron H.
PS - Like your site. None of the things I had mentioned, at least from today's quick perusal.