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Understanding the relationship between the structure of your book and the characters who populate it becomes crucial as you revise. Take the following couple of steps to nail this.
1) Map out your characters’ journeys—internal as well as external, emotional and positive/ negative. See how the characters move into and out of each scene.
Building from your problem/ solution list, you can track the actions and reactions of your characters as follows:
Start:
Impact:
Reaction:
Result:
Impact:
Action:
Result:
Impact:
Reaction:
Result:
Impact:
Reaction:
Result:
End:
Are your characters consistent in their actions and thoughts? This does not mean that they cannot surprise you or your reader, but they must surprise in a way that works.
2) Map out your characters’ relationships to each other. You want your characters to contrast with each other. Make a character grid and start to see who owns which characteristic. Note overlap and be sure you are making your characters distinct even if they have certain commonalities.
In non-fiction, this is equally important since human beings are necessarily more nuanced and complicated than characters. In writing a book about people, you turn them into characters. You simplify them, focusing on certain elements, attitudes and action. It is not possible to do otherwise. Instead, remain as conscious and aware as possible of how the people in your book operate as characters.
In your grid show the contrasts between each of the characters. So if you have four major characters, draw a square, put one at each corner along with adjectives that describe the significant quality that distinguishes each from the other.
Husband Wife
(Timid/ Avoiding) (Brash/ Unaware)
Daughter Son
(Self-confident/ Outspoken) (Quiet/ Observant)