But lately I’ve been thinking more about building characters
that seem to “live outside the story”. To me, this means creating an
impression or feeling that characters will live on after you finish reading.
You might also have the feeling that these people existed before you jumped
into the story. A third part of this is a hint that the characters have other things in their
lives besides whatever is going on in the novel plot. Characters that
have these rich “beyond the story” lives seem more layered and realistic.
The trick is to find the space in your story to do it,
especially if you write middle grade fiction like I do. Some of the strategies I use include:
Memories. When a
character goes to a familiar place or sees a familiar person, it might evoke an
emotional memory that can give the reader a brief glimpse at events before the
story took place. For example, in Kate Messner’s The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, there’s a brief description of an a
humorous event that happened two weeks before the story started, when Gianna’s brother
Ian was banned from using his cell phone.
Mention in Passing.
Even when the character spends most of their time in experiences and events
that are related to the plot of the story, their life seems fuller when other
places or events are quickly mentioned without a lot of detail. For example,
your plot might not take place at school, but by mentioning school or
homework, you create the sense of another part of your character’s life.
Leave a question in the reader’s
mind. Most middle grade
novels end with all the subplots resolved, especially for stand alone novels. But
that doesn’t mean you can’t leave the reader with something to think about. A
tiny question or the brief mention of a future event could give the reader a
sense of continuity for the characters.
Do you have any good strategies for creating characters that seem to have a life outside your story? We'd love to hear them!
