An interview with my main character
Getting to know my character better as a way to uncover their story
I just returned last Sunday from an amazingly productive four days at the Superstars Writing Seminars conference, and it’s been a busy week of catch-up. I plan to summarize some of the things I learned (and share some news about the novel I pitched), but first I need to complete a short story for my MFA program. Toward that end, here is a peek inside my process for writing this one.
I wrote the first 800 words of a short story a while back, but found myself stalling out a few pages in. This sometimes happens when I start writing from an underdeveloped premise and don’t manage to catch hold of the story as I’m writing. Through a bit of serendipity and good timing yesterday morning, I received an essay from Jade Eby’s newsletter, The Rebel MFA Way, that recommended mining your character’s backstory to better understand them and find inspiration.
Specifically, she posed the question “What kinds of things did your character pick up in their childhood that they brought into adulthood?” and then offered a list of example questions with which one can interview their character. Virtually none of this background info typically makes it into prose, as Eby noted; but it theoretically gives you, the author, much deeper insight into your character.
I took her template and interviewed my own character, Marvin, a corporate drone stuck in a dead-end career who is becoming literally mummified in his cubicle tomb. While I still need to tease out the story’s plot, this exercise did indeed help me flesh out Marvin and the core misbelief he needs to overcome.
What childhood messages and life scripts did your character receive?
“You need a stable job and income. Everything else is secondary.” Marvin’s parents experienced poverty and homelessness early in their lives, and vowed to never be vulnerable again. They hammered home this message time and again.
“Art is a hobby, not a job.” Marvin’s artistic talents showed themselves young, and he started winning competitions in elementary school. But his parents never once let him entertain the idea of making art for a living. So eventually he stopped taking his art seriously. He still made art, but adopted his parents’ view of it.
“Work hard and don’t let anyone down.” Marvin took in this life script without much pushing because he’d always had a strong work ethic and pride in everything he did. And when it comes to his art, he’d gladly put in a 16-hour workday, but because of the messages he received in his upbringing, he has a hard time looking at his art as “work.”
“Keep up appearances.” Don’t let anyone see you in a negative light, even if you’re feeling down or experiencing challenges. Even though his parents’ financial troubles earlier in life were largely not their fault, they bore shame throughout Marvin’s childhood. They tried to always look like they had their shit together, even when they didn’t, and Marvin absorbed this as the right way to live.
What is the life script your character heard the loudest and why?
“You need a stable job and income. Everything else is secondary.” This message directly translated to fear—fear felt by his parents because of their own history, and which they directly channeled to him over and over again. The very idea of being unemployed or not having a known, regular source of income is terrifying to Marvin.
How does he react when this belief is challenged?
Because this belief connects directly to a visceral emotion rather than to an abstract idea, his reaction to anything challenging this belief is similarly visceral and emotional. It’s hard for him to think objectively about the idea of instability—such as the kind that would come from giving up a stable job to try to make it as an artist.
What internal conflicts arise in relation to these messages?
The older he gets and the better his “hobby” art becomes, the stronger the conflict grows—largely unconsciously—within him. He sees each passing year as opportunity passing him by, and feels the weight of working a job that holds no purpose for him grow heavier and heavier.
Which life script needs to be challenged the most in order for your character to grow?
“I will be in real danger if I try to make a living as an artist.” He’ll be stuck in his stable yet dead-end career and his art will languish if he doesn’t challenge this life script.
What events or experiences can your character have to challenge their life script?
Just as a wheel stuck in a rut needs significant force to push it out, Marvin needs something to happen that’s strong enough to get him unstuck. If he’s going to move onto a new path, ultimately that will be up to him, but he’s so stuck that he needs an external catalyst of some kind. Since the life script of a stable job and income is what’s keeping him stuck, something to change that status quo should suffice (such as a layoff or other significant job change).
If your character’s childhood self could see himself now, would he be proud, confused, or disappointed?
Probably a mix of confused and disappointed. Confused because the younger Marvin would be wondering why the hell he’s doing what he’s doing, and disappointed because it’s not how the younger Marvin envisioned his life. Is he really honoring his passion if he’s just doing it on the side, as a hobby? Or, from the opposite perspective, is he really honoring himself if he’s pushing himself into poverty by pursuing his passion? Then again, maybe his future self is looking back and saying, “Dude, it doesn’t have to be either-or!”
Yes, those who know me probably recognize more than a bit of me in Marvin. Which means that perhaps the eventual short story that emerges will be interesting to almost no one besides me. But Eby’s essay is part of her series “Writing Fiction to Heal in Real Time,” so if this story achieves nothing beyond enabling my own healing, that’s good enough for me.
Michael, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!
I am so impressed with the depth you've brought to the surface for Marvin (and perhaps, yourself?). I can't wait to see where you and Marvin go next in the journey!!
You and Marvin are in good company with that struggle Mike.