Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.
Don’t forget to click the link to see what everyone else has to say on this week’s subject. It’s at the end of my post.
Do you include your character’s family in your stories?
I’ll include anything if it moves the story along. And families are fair game. After all, a character can choose their friends, but they’re stuck with their family.
If they’re anything like my family, there’s enough material there for a whole series.
I’ve said many times that my wife and daughters inspired the creation of my amateur detective, Andorra Pett. Andorra has a family herself, more specifically, a sister. An annoyingly perfect big sister, who is everything that Andorra isn’t. And who never stops reminding her of her superiority. Until she has to swallow her pride and ask her baby sister for help.
Andorra Pett’s sister and her life inspired a whole novel. In a flash of inspiration, it was called Andorra Pett and her Sister.
Argentia Pett turns up at various points in the Andorra series. Somehow, she manages to steal the show at every opportunity. Perhaps she could have another full story at some point.
Some of my characters aren’t lucky (or unlucky) enough to have family. That can be a great starting point for characterisation. The reasons can drive the character’s behaviour. Loss, revenge, or rejection are great behavioural motivators.
For example, Dave Travise was the youngest child of a large family, born to an ageing father and a much younger woman. He was made to suffer by his siblings because of this, and it made him what he is today (Or should that be tomorrow?).
The family in my psychological thriller, Where’s Lizzie?, is torn apart by the circumstances of Lizzie’s disappearance, particularly as secrets and their effects on the dynamics of the family are revealed.
In contrast, the plot of I Remember Everything revolves around an outsider who does so much to wreck the family of Suzan Halford. All to satisfy his own selfish desire for revenge.
Ultimately, the family of a character can be as important to the story as you want them to be. You can write a huge backstory or hint at it, use it to explain behaviour or force moments of introspection. Or use the absence of one to get the same effect.
And, if you’re looking for inspiration about what families are capable of, it’s probably right in front of you.
What do you think about this week’s subject?
Let me know by leaving me a comment.
While you’re here, please click the InLinkz link to check out what my fellow writers have to say about this week’s topic.
I’ll be back with another post on Thursday. See you then. Meanwhile, have a great week.
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