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FOR FICTION WRITERS

BY MIKE KLAASSEN 

 

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September 2014
Volume V, Issue 3            
Published monthly
ISSN: 1948-7150  

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In this issue
Feature Article: Using Sequels to Enhance Characterization
About Mike
 

Earlier this month Gerri and I attended a wedding for one of her relatives in Kansas City. The ceremony was outdoors under tall pines, and the weather was gorgeous. The reception was in the historic Van Noy Mansion, which provided a beautiful setting for me to meet many of Gerri's relatives. Gerri and I even got to practice our dancing.

Between visits with Gerri's parents and her sister that weekend, we slipped over to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Not a large museum but well worth an hour or two, especially if you are able to fit in lunch at the museum restaurant.

More recently we attended a bluegrass concert at the Bartlett Arboretum in Bel Plane and went to the remodeled Fox Theater in Hutchinson to see Yakov Smirnoff. I'm still laughing!

This month's featured article is about using sequels to enhance characterization.

Happy Fiction Writing!

Mike
FEATURE ARTICLE: Using Sequels to Enhance Characterization
by Mike Klaassen

During my analysis of John Grisham's novel The Client, I noticed how sequels enhanced his characters.  As a reminder, a sequel has three phases: emotion, thinking (which includes review, analysis, and planning), and decision.

The first phase of a sequel provides you with an opportunity to show your character's temperament, his emotions and how he demonstrates them. A character's reaction may range from little or no emotion to such emotion that his behavior borders on irrational. The type of emotion demonstrated by a character tells you a lot about his personality. How does your character react to success? With humility or with bravado? How does he handle failure? With quiet resolve, or with anger? What does that tell you about your character's personality?

The thinking phase of a sequel allows you to show how the character's mind works. Sequels often show a character caught in the horns of a dilemma: a situation involving a choice between equally unsatisfactory alternatives.  What is the character's thought process? Does he consider the situation from all angles? How does he make sense of complex problems? Does he think deftly or clumsily? How does he work out an answer?  What better way to understand a character than by learning how his mind works?

The final phase of a sequel is the decision. How does your character make a decision? Does he procrastinate? Brood? Agonize? Forge ahead? Does he second guess himself? Worry? Does he have nagging doubts? Does he take fate into his own hands or does he wimp out? What does that tell you about his personality?

As you can see, the emotion, thinking, and decision phases of a sequel are powerful tools for character development. From a troubleshooting perspective, if you want to deepen characterization in your manuscript, consider expanding the sequels, or even adding new ones.

    

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE?  You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Author Mike Klaassen publishes "For Fiction Writers," a free monthly e-zine.
ABOUT MIKE
 
Mike Klaassen is the author of two young-adult novels: The Brute and Cracks. He has also written numerous articles about the craft of writing fiction. In addition to young-adult novels, his current projects include a novel set during the War of 1812 and two nonfiction books about the craft of writing fiction.  
           
You can learn more about Mike and his novels at www.mikeklaassen.com 

Mike Klaassen
P.O.Box 4781
Wichita, KS 67204-0781
(316) 744-4325
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