User blog:TheMoirai/Writer's Workshop: Character-Story Types

Good morning friends, Oddy here! I hope that you’re all enjoying our early Christmas gift to you! For this workshop I’m going to expand on the idea of characters in your story and how they interact - as a whole. By that I mean rather than going into detail on how rivalries or relationships work, I’m going to discuss the meta approach. The idea where characters become either Story Givers, Receivers or Watchers.

I’ve mentioned these three roles in passing before, mostly in my reviews of chapters, however I never formally sat down to explain them and how you, a writer can use them! The three types of characters is something you should always have in your mind, especially in a competition story. For now, let’s talk about the three types in more detail.

The Watcher
The most common type in the stories that I’ve been reading is the Watcher, so we’ll start there first. The Watcher is the simplest of the three. They don’t actively participate in the progression of the story arc. These characters are usually very easy to pick out from the crowd as they will usually have 1 trait in common, and that is that they are usually used as comic relief. These characters can be anywhere from the Owen’s of the world, to the Katie’s, or in more wiki terms, the Frosty’s to the Anamaria’s. These characters are clearly from a cartoon show, and they work by adding comedy to the story - but rarely will they add anything of value.

I’m going to use Frosty as an example for this, I will attempt to avoid major spoilers for Frozen, but be warned, things will be implied. In Total Drama Frozen, Frosty is the biggest watcher character in the story. His entire existence revolves one other character, in fact he was created with the other character in mind. So Frosty’s interactions, for the majority of the story are strictly with one character. Now normally, this type of interaction would make Frosty a story giver because he doesn’t ‘fit’ the usual Watcher criteria. (He’s not a one-liner, joke character.) However the character who he interacts with isn’t a story receiver, at no point, due to Frosty does Twilight ever really grow or effect the story as a whole. So effectively, because he never gave story power to another character, and he most definitely did not receive ANY story power from another character he became a watcher. He watched while the story progressed, rather than interacting with it.

Watcher characters are a good thing, not every character can have a story going on, it would get way too complicated. Plus they provide a nice break from the story either through one-liners or pointless relationships. However having too many watcher characters will ruin your story (The story you are trying to tell, not the fanfiction itself). If there isn’t any story-arc going on, your story will become flat - If you are writing a much more comedy based story, go for it! Watchers are great in those settings. If you are not, limit yourself. 1-4 Watchers at any given time is more than plenty to break up the story.

Story-Giver
Story Givers are the next most common type of character. They are the characters who are going to be giving story to someone else. Now, they are a tad’ bit tricker than the Watchers to understand. A Story-Giver is going to be the character who, while they won’t grow as a character themselves, they will help develop someone else, effectively moving the story arc along. These characters. usually have one of the following; they were clearly designed with another character in mind, or they interact only with characters who interact with them- effectively forming a bubble. These characters work great in pairs. They are the Alejandros and the Trents of the world. Closer to home, they’re the Danias and the Taylors of the wiki.

Total Drama World Tour, perhaps had the most apparent story-givers. We’re going to look at Sierra to demonstrate what a Story-Giver actually does. Clearly, Sierra has the first trait, she was designed to interact (and give story) with Cody. With that in mind, the majority, of Sierra’s actions within World Tour directly related to Cody in some way. It is important to note that despite being a Story-Giver Sierra does not exhibit the second trait, of being in a Cody-Bubble, she does interact with a large amount of characters. It’s just that those interactions, always lead back to Cody. Interacting with Heather? She wants to save Cody. Interacting with Courtney? She needs to get rid of Gwen. Interacting with Gwen? She does not want potential Cody-stealers around. And then of course, she interacted with Cody. In my opinion, Cody learnt a lot about relationships, and grew as a character because of Sierra mirroring what he did back on the Island. Sierra gave Cody a story, which helped move the story arc forward.

Story-Givers will likely make up the large majority of your cast. They are great because they provide the story for your… well, story. They are the characters who will move the general tone and story-arc forward. They are the characters who will end up transforming another character. The bad thing about Story-Givers is that they do get very predictable, Sierra interacted with people to help Cody, and a story-giver will almost in all cases go home before their related receiver.

Story-Receiver
The final, and greatly important type of character is the Story-Receiver. They are almost always the most popular character in your story. For obvious reasons, they are the character who due to the hierarchy of story, end up growing the most, and get a chunk more of screen time than the other characters. As a writer, these are also normally the characters that you WANT to become favourites. They are the least-common type of character, simply because they take more effort to write for, and the overall story relies on these characters to be powerful characters. Characters like Heather, or Gwen from Total Drama. Or people like Helen, or CeCe from your own stories!

We’re going to look at Gwen, in terms of Total Drama Island. My opinion is that as a character, Gwen learnt to open herself up more and care about people. She learnt the power that interactions and friendships can have. Her own story arc really led into the idea of Total Drama Island, in my opinion, that friendships are what make the Summer so exciting, and that friendships are the best prize. Her own story relates to the overarching arc of Total Drama Island. This is what makes these characters so challenging to write for. So how did Gwen represent this? She had a NUMBER of story-givers; Trent, Cody, LeShawna, Heather, Geoff, and Duncan were the most noticeable. She had direct interactions with characters who boosted her as a character.

If you do not have at least one receiver in your story, the odds are I won’t read it. I personally, read stories to have that connection to a character. To grow alongside them. This is why Story-Receivers are so important in your story. But at any one time, you can not have too many, because it just gets overwhelming.

Choose Who Should Be What
I may have forgotten to mention a, slightly important detail. Every character should be a mixture of these three types. This is how a character can become dynamic, and grow, without being forced onto the reader.

But how do I do this? It’s not nearly as complex as it may seem, I swear! While every character should be a mixture of the three different types of story-character, they don’t (and shouldn’t) be all three at the same time. Their role in the story can change every chapter, or every story-arc. It’s really up to you! And in some cases, one character may end up being a story-giver for almost the entire story, until they’re ready to receive their own story.

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You need to understand when to give characters what kind of role. To help with that I’m going to list some guidelines that you would normally try and follow. But REMEMBER they are only guidelines, you could completely ignore them and you could still have an amazing story. There is no wrong order, or combination- it always relies on the execution of your choices.

It’s usually common sense, when you start to do it! Always think about the story arc (or that chapter) and what’s going to be happening. Is someone this character is close to going to be eliminated or returning? If so it is not logical for them to be a watcher. Instead they should be giving or receiving a story - depending on the story arc involved.

First Boot: They should not be a watcher character. They should be active in the story in some way, shape or form. Whether it be because their elimination was the result of them having a really cool story that ends up backfiring, like a(n early) relationship or their elimination is a catalyst for someone else's story.

Am I Eliminating This Person Soon? In my opinion, before a character is eliminated they should have received some story growth. (Or in Eliminated Camper episodes, or the finale.) So they should atleast have one chapter where they are the Story-Receiver. At the very least, they should have given a story to someone else- if not why do you even have them in your story?

Do You Think That They Will Go Far? A major flaw people have when it comes to writing is that they know a certain character will go far in their story, and so they end up giving them a story, 24/7. If you think a character will go far, you can afford to give them chapters where they are just Watchers, or Story-Givers. You will have plenty of time to give them a story, but it’s very easy to finish a story sooner than you would expect.

Is This Character Gimmicky? By that I mean, do they have such a bizarre trait, that it’s easy to identify them? For example Leonard, being a LARPER, and really nothing else. These characters usually work best as Watchers. But if you plan on having one stick around for a fair amount of chapters, you’ll need to have their role switch at some point.

Has This Character Been A Watcher Recently? If you notice a character is consistently being on the back-burner, and not really involved in the story, you need to change that quickly, if not they become WHO? Because the reader won’t know much about them. You may know that after the merge they have a GREAT story, but if we don’t connect with them before the merge, we won’t care.

Is This Character Well-Liked/Disliked? This is something you should be keeping track of while you’re writing. If a character like Gwen, back on the Island was disliked by the majority of viewers, the entire story wouldn’t be the same. If you notice a character who should be well-liked isn’t, or vice versa, you’ll either need to change their story to reflect this, or give them a new story to change the opinions.

As a side note, it is very likely that a character may be both a Story-Giver and Story-Receiver at the same time. This will usually happen when two characters are in a conflict, and the conflict itself is giving story to the characters involved.

I’ll keep updating this section as more questions are asked, or if I notice I need to add something here. But remember, your story-arc is what will help decide who should be a Watcher, Giver, or Receiver. I’ve included an example below so that you can see some of how it works. But remember, the best way is to actually read stories, and see how different people write.

An Example
I’m going to use a completely made up example, to avoid spoiling anyone fanfiction to explain how this might look. We’re going to take a character, and name her Nami. Nami is from a really small town, that’s off the grid and so she has a number of weird quirks. For example, she is a huge tree-hugger, and tries to save the environment whenever she can. At the same time though, she’s extremely passive, and not very vocal - and being in a setting so far from home makes her very uncomfortable and shy. However Nami hates being called a liar, and will do whatever it takes to prove she’s being honest.

Story-Receiver: For the first story arc, we’re going to make Nami a story-receiver. We want people to pity Nami - that’s the story we want to give her for now. So to do that, we’re going to take one of the meaner characters, Trev and have them have a conflict of sorts. Since Nami is more passive, she won’t really ever go against him, but this is building up a story between the two. Nami keeps to herself for the most part, so she doesn’t really have anyone who would stick up for her. But in one of the later chapters in the story arc, a character, Avril finally does. This warms Nami’s heart and so she finally opens up to them, and so she has a friendship. That would be where the story arc would end; Nami is slowly starting to be seen as less of a complete weirdo, and more as someone with a few different traits - Because Avril already has number of friends, together they are able to eliminate Trev.

Watcher: At this point, we can put Nami in more of a back seat role, or you could give her another story. However in my head, I would want Nami to go really far in the story, so to keep her fresh and fun, we’re going to have her as a Watcher for a few chapters. During these chapters we’d be able to see Nami getting along with her new friend, but as a character she isn’t really changing, and she isn’t really changing Avril.

Story-Giver: We’re closing in on the merge soon, so we want to bring Nami back into action. This time though, we want to showcase how Avril is a really caring character, who puts everyone else before her. So for the story arc leading up to the merge chapter, we want to start having Nami, and Avril’s other friends competing for her time. In this sense Nami is giving a story to Avril, by making Avril choose between Nami and the others. We’d want to give Nami and Avril some scenes where they really bond, but also give Avril and the others similar scenes. Nami is building up Avril’s story arc. In the final chapter, their team would lose, and Avril is forced to choose between Nami, and one of her other friends to send home for elimination. This would be the pinnacle moment of the story arc, you’ve been writing scenes that lead to this point - and now, to really showcase how caring Avril is, she would eliminate herself.

Story-Receiver: It’s the merge now, and guess what, Trev is back - but he’s “reformed” or so he says. At this point, it would be illogical to have Nami as a watcher. Because the actual story has something where she is needed. So you could have her be a giver for Trev, and maybe have her prove how good of a guy he is. But in this example, we’re going to have Trev be a jerk to Nami again- in secret, but be really sweet to everyone else. Trev blames Nami for his elimination. Nami would try and convince the others that Trev is only faking it, but they are still upset that because of Nami they lost their friend, Avril. With Trev back, and the hatred from Trev and the others, we’re able to really build Nami up as an isolated character, and bring her back to her roots. Maybe we’d have a scene where she remembers Avril telling her that everyone thinks that the things she does are weird. And because of this, we’re going to have Nami change her ways, and claim that she was lying about Trev. This story arc would be focused on how Nami decides that the only way to prove she’s being honest is to change who she is, and by doing so, she is able to keep the target off of her back for a little bit.

Story-Giver: With the story getting closer to the end, you’re going to have a lot less watcher characters. Nami as a character right now, is trying to prove her innocence, but, I really want Nami to be in the final 2 - with Trev, so I want to drag that story out for awhile, so we’ll have her be a Giver for now. In this arc, we’re going to have one of the couples slowly break up, just for the sake of story, it’ll be Trev and Lavigne (Avril’s other best friend.). Nami and Lavigne aren’t enemies, but they aren’t exactly close, they put up with one another. Lavigne because Nami is worthless and can’t do anything, and Nami because Lavigne is close to Trev and it’s the best way to prove herself. In this arc, we’d want to focus on how Nami is slowly showing/mentioning all of the bad things that Trev does to Lavigne. This arc is about the destruction of Trevigne. In this sense, is Nami growing as a character? Not really. But is she helping Lavigne/Trev grow? Yeah. Trev is being shown in a bad light, and Lavigne is learning that not every boy is prince charming. The arc would end with Trev having Lavigne eliminated so that she can’t spread the truth about him.

Story-Giver: Nami could at this point be a Story-Receiver. We’ll assume there’s about 5 contestants left, but I want the finale to really have a big BANG for Nami. So we’re going to delay her story again. So now the job is going to be to find someone Nami can connect with, to give a story. We want to avoid Trev, because the pair is a ticking time bomb of plot. At this point, we want to look back, and forward and really cement what story we want to tell with Nami. And in this case, I want when the entire story to be over, for Nami’s story to be about how just because someone is different doesn’t mean they are wrong/bad. And in contrast, just because someone seems normal (Trev) doesn’t mean that they are right. So in order to do that, it’s important that Nami loses her ‘fake side’ and goes back to the original super earth-friendly Nami. So we’ll have one of the other characters, Sherlock start noticing little things about Nami; like how she turns off the water when people are taking the shower (and blames the plumbing), or how she never eats the processed food, or how she hesitates when wears the clothes that Lavigne gave her (they have fur), and of course how she is always following Trev. And build up Sherlock’s story through this, by having him show off his skills, and then have Nami take him aside and tell him the truth, after they have a confrontation. This would help Sherlock grow, because he would know that he shouldn’t pry into everything, just because he can. Lucky for Nami, despite her secret being revealed, she won the final 3 challenge, and chooses to take Trev to the end, so that she can finally prove that he’s lying.

Story-Reciever: In the finale, we would have everyone, asides from Lavigne and Avril and maybe Sherlock take Trev’s side. Nami was shown to be a liar, and trying to get rid of the good-guy Trev ever since the merge. Because of the numbers, she would end up losing the finale, and claiming second place, but she did it being honest to herself. When Trev finally wins, he reveals his true colours and starts to brag and flaunt, and insult Nami. Everyone is shocked, and they try to apologize Nami, who shrugs them off. But with Avril and Lavigne’s help, she accepts it.

The overall story for Nami would be to tell the tale of being accepted for who you are, and that just because you’re different doesn't make you wrong.

In the example of Nami we really played around with the different types of a character. And you could see what kinds of things you can do with each of them. You were also able to see that even if a character is a story-giver for a portion of the story, the odds are they are still receiving some sort of story in return.

Conclusion
In conclusion, what I’ve hope you’ve learnt from this workshop is that characters should be dynamic, sometimes they’ll be irrelevant, but have really fun one-liners, or simple stories (Watchers), or maybe they’ll be building up someone else's plot (Givers), and sometimes, they’ll get their own time in the spotlight and have their story grown (Receivers.).

Think of your story as an empty city that you’re building. Each of your characters are a construction worker, and they each use a unique material. Each construction worker is in charge of building a specific building.

As the story moves along, if they’re a Watcher, they’re on a break. Construction is a tiring job, and if you overwork your construction workers their products will be sub-par.

If they’re a Story-Giver, they’re actually helping build someone else’s building. Using their own material, in conjunction with the other persons’. When they’re done, the other worker might give them some of their materials to bring back to their own building.

If they’re a Story-Receiver, they’re working on their own building, and they have help from someone else. This way they can make a more unique, and solid building.

Characters who end up getting eliminated early will have much smaller buildings than the others because their workers have nothing left to work with. But for the lucky few who make it far into the story, the construction workers would have built massive skyscrapers - built from a wide array of materials.

When you finish your story, you want a city with some small buildings, and some massive buildings! It makes it more interesting to look at. You want the buildings to all have been made with unique materials, and combinations of the materials so that no two buildings look the same! You want a city that your characters can call home.

I want to hear your thoughts! What did you think about the concept of the three character types? Do you agree, or disagree! Do you have any questions?