I spent two weeks stuck on a single character's motivation

I was writing a short story about a man who finds a lost dog, but I could not figure out why he wouldn't just call the number on the collar. I wrote and rewrote the first five pages maybe ten times. The answer finally came when I remembered a neighbor from my old apartment in Chicago who was deeply afraid of phones. Has anyone else had a simple story question stall them for that long? What broke you out of it?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantnelson4d ago

Oh the "deeply afraid of phones" thing is such a good fix. I got stuck for days once because I couldn't figure out why my character wouldn't just leave a bad party. Then I remembered getting my coat stuck in a closet door at a party in college and just... giving up. Sometimes the answer is just some weird little memory.

fionat554d ago

Actually pulling from real life can make characters feel too small sometimes. If every problem is just a quirky memory, you miss the chance for bigger, more interesting flaws. Grant's character might have a deeper reason for staying at that bad party, like a fear of being alone. Blair's coat story works for a moment, but what about building a whole person? Real memories are fine for details, but they shouldn't replace giving a character their own spine. Don't you risk making everyone just a copy of your own past?

blair_torres704d ago

The coat stuck in the door thing is so real.