Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2014 19:10:45 GMT -5
I thought this was an interesting topic, so today’s post will be on writing believable character redemptions! If you want a character to find redemption after committing horrible acts without trying to justify their actions, you need to focus on the acts they’ve committed. Very often, characters are forgiven too quickly or their redemption is forced without them having to answer for it in any way. These problems can often be solved, however, if you handle the situation with care.
Here are a few tips to writing believable character redemptions in your story:
Focus on the deeds
In order to figure out whether your character can be redeemed and in what way, you need to focus on what they’ve done. If your character has done something really awful, there’s not a big chance you can get your audience to forgive them. If someone has done something petty, like steal, you can easily explain why that action occurred. Focusing on the deeds will help you come up with a logical way that your character can be forgiven. If the act is too atrocious, however, you can’t expect your audience to move on from it—and they probably shouldn’t.
Look at back story
I mentioned stealing before and I think it’s a good example to explain the use of back story. If you want to justify a character’s actions and explain why they did something terrible, develop their back story. You don’t have to flat-out say that your character stole because they were poor and needed to eat, but you can give us clues. Maybe that character doesn’t have a home. Also, keep in mind that mental illness or certain disabilities might cause a character to act in different ways. This doesn’t mean those characters are bad. If you want to explore these issues further, please do extensive research. You do not want to spread the false idea that people with mental illnesses or disabilities are dangerous and need to be feared, which I have seen in many novels, so be extremely careful.
Show character growth
You can rush redemption. It’s usually not done in one specific scene, so make sure you focus on character growth. Sure, your character can save a child or do something else heroic, but that doesn’t excuse everything they’ve done in the past. Your other characters will not just begin to trust that person—there will still be issues. You need to show your audience how your character has come to terms with all the bad stuff they’ve done and how they’ve made an attempt at earning their forgiveness. You don’t have to strip down their personality and make them this great, heroic individual; you just have to explain why they’ve changed their ways. You need to make us trust them.
Think about emotions
This ties in with back story, but if you want to show believable redemption, you have to show your character’s emotions in some way. Focus on whether they did something out of anger, sadness, fear, etc. If a character was at a low point that might help explain why they did the things they did. Get into their heads and think about whether you would have done the same thing. That’s the best way to relate to a character.
-Kris Noel
Here are a few tips to writing believable character redemptions in your story:
Focus on the deeds
In order to figure out whether your character can be redeemed and in what way, you need to focus on what they’ve done. If your character has done something really awful, there’s not a big chance you can get your audience to forgive them. If someone has done something petty, like steal, you can easily explain why that action occurred. Focusing on the deeds will help you come up with a logical way that your character can be forgiven. If the act is too atrocious, however, you can’t expect your audience to move on from it—and they probably shouldn’t.
Look at back story
I mentioned stealing before and I think it’s a good example to explain the use of back story. If you want to justify a character’s actions and explain why they did something terrible, develop their back story. You don’t have to flat-out say that your character stole because they were poor and needed to eat, but you can give us clues. Maybe that character doesn’t have a home. Also, keep in mind that mental illness or certain disabilities might cause a character to act in different ways. This doesn’t mean those characters are bad. If you want to explore these issues further, please do extensive research. You do not want to spread the false idea that people with mental illnesses or disabilities are dangerous and need to be feared, which I have seen in many novels, so be extremely careful.
Show character growth
You can rush redemption. It’s usually not done in one specific scene, so make sure you focus on character growth. Sure, your character can save a child or do something else heroic, but that doesn’t excuse everything they’ve done in the past. Your other characters will not just begin to trust that person—there will still be issues. You need to show your audience how your character has come to terms with all the bad stuff they’ve done and how they’ve made an attempt at earning their forgiveness. You don’t have to strip down their personality and make them this great, heroic individual; you just have to explain why they’ve changed their ways. You need to make us trust them.
Think about emotions
This ties in with back story, but if you want to show believable redemption, you have to show your character’s emotions in some way. Focus on whether they did something out of anger, sadness, fear, etc. If a character was at a low point that might help explain why they did the things they did. Get into their heads and think about whether you would have done the same thing. That’s the best way to relate to a character.
-Kris Noel
