Make Your Main Character Shine
Short Story vs. Novel: How much space do you have to develop your main character?
Hey Story Crafters,
Lately, I’ve been switching back and forth between working on a short story and a novel, so it got me thinking about how much space is available in each type of story to build character.
Last week we covered tips on how to make your main character(s) memorable. These tips are good to keep in mind, regardless of genre, and whether you’re working on a short story or a novel.
The difference lies in the amount of space you have to use them.
For example, you won’t be able to dive into the deep end of your MC’s backstory in a short story, if the story is set when your MC is an adult. You may touch on it briefly, but only in the ways it’s relevant to the narrative present. It may be summed up in as long as a paragraph or two, or in as little as two or three sentences. Depending on the type of story you’re telling, you may not tell or show examples for all of these aspects of character, either.
In a longer work like a novella or a novel, you don’t want to gloss over your MC’s backstory. It’s still important to only choose relevant moments from your MC’s past as they relate to the narrative present, but you have more opportunities to bring actual scenes to life through flashback, and show your MC’s development.
So how much space do you have to develop your main character(s)? Well, that depends on you. If you’ve read a good amount of short stories and novels in your genre, you have an idea of the beats an average short story or novel hits. Then it’s a matter of personal preference, the mark that makes the story uniquely yours.
Here are factors to keep in mind:
To develop your main character, you should have scenes that show (or narrative summary that tells):
How your MC’s personality developed to its current form at the start of the story.
How your MC is driven (motivated!) to reach a certain goal by the end of the story (regardless of whether they succeed or fail).
How your MC interacts with other characters, to reveal character traits your MC might not otherwise show.
Here are two questions that can help gauge how much space you’ll take up with your character building (They’re adapted from the questions you should ask yourself when deciding whether a scene is relevant to your story or not.):
Does this scene reveal character traits that are needed for the plot to move forward, or for character(s) to develop?
Are the character traits shown in-scene (or in narrative summary) relevant to the story you’re trying to tell?
By combining these factors—the tips for character building, and the questions you should ask yourself to determine how much space that character building may take up—you’ll have a good idea of where to insert character building in your story, and where to limit it.
Basically, a short story is a snapshot of a character’s life, while a novel lets you tell a character’s (or multiple characters’) current situation—including the goal they’re trying to reach—as it progresses, and explore their past, like a movie. Use your best judgment to determine which parts of your character development is relevant to the story, and how much needs to be shared.
Happy writing!
Leah