On developing character

I've been thinking about character development a lot lately

The reason is, that's what causes a lot of my stuff to come of the rails as I'm writing it. I put in a scene strictly to develop a character.

That causes everything to come to a screeching halt, yet writers seem to be compelled to do this--insert a scene simply to show how clever we are when we create our characters. It doesn't advance anything, doesn't illuminate anything other than our own genius. Yes, it's an exercise in egomania. I am as guilty as anybody. However, I am fairly good at spotting this in my own stuff and cut it when I run across it.

Like this--I had this long, complicated thing in Seer, basically going around my elbow to get to my ass, simply to show that one of my characters is the kind of guy everyone loves, respects, and admires. Thankfully, when I re-read it I realized that and removed it, and then worked in some other stuff that still showed that but also was part of the story. Much better now. Much more subtle, and effective.

I learned this from the master, Shakespeare. Re-read Act I, Scene I of MacBeth. The king's army had just won a bitter and hardfought victory and the characters on-stage are discussing MacBeth's critical role in it. They admire his courage, his skill in battle, his faithfulness to his king . . . ironic, considering what happens later, but still, with a few lines one begins to understand the character, and this is critical for how he accomplishes his later treachery.

This scene literally sets the stage, advances the plot, and develops the character. Clever, economical, effective. Again, the master.

I'm not saying one should never do something like this. There are times when it's acceptable, even required. If it's a long running TV series, for example, with beloved characters, a little chit chat between characters that doesn't advance anything is fine, sometimes adding to the flavor of the show. The greatest TV show in history, Homicide: Life on the Street, was great at this. The writers knew just when this sort of thing is called for and they were excellent at writing little scenes between characters that had little to do with what was doing on but added to the richness of the show without causing the plot to screech to an awkward, tedious stop. The operative word is little. They didn't get carried away.

So, if you're a writer and you have the sense that your work has somehow come off the rails, re-read what you're working on and see if there's anything like that in there. Five will get you ten that there is. Cut that out and redo it.

While you're at it, re-read Shakespeare. Let him teach you. As I said, the master.