Matt:
Hello, this is Sydney Story Factory. My name is Matt, and this is How to build stories. What keeps you coming back to your favourite stories? You know, your favourite TV show or that book you keep slipped under your pillow. It's not because of the smell. Oh, it is? Are you rubbing cheesy puffs on your books so they smell good? Stop doing that.
Look, actually, what we're here to talk about is characters. All characters have two sides to them and inside and an outside. Their inside describes how they think and feel, their outside describes how they, they look and act. The most interesting characters, I think are the ones with a juxtaposition between the two. Like a big contrast, a really strong difference between their insides and their outsides. What do I mean? Let's take a look at this. See this beehive? Is it interesting? Oh yeah. I guess a little. Yeah, well, let's have a look on the inside. What are you expecting to see, bees? Let's find out. It's full of computers guys! Cool contrast, huh. So cool, in fact, that I went out and bought myself a new computer watch and filled it with the insides of a beehive. It's leaking a lot of honey and uh, I've been stung three times in the last two minutes.
Let's try this out. Can we come up with different combinations? We'll create examples of each and you can try mixing and matching them yourselves. How about a relatable inside? That means we want to be able to relate to how this character thinks and feels. So what if they get nervous when they're in new situations? I could relate to that.
Student:
Maybe they've just gotten head lice.
Matt:
Maybe. And now we want to pair that with an exciting outside. So maybe our nervous character has, um, electric hands or they are a lamp. Don't be so nervous, little guy. Now we want to try a relatable outside. So what would a character look like that we can all relate to? Perhaps an 11 year old child.
Student:
A kid with lice?
Matt:
Do you have lice?
Student:
No.
Matt:
Now we want to create an exciting inside. That means we want to think about how this character thinks and feels, but we want it to be exciting. Sound tough? Maybe. Do I have a solution? Yes I do. Will I tell it to you? You bet. Will I tell it to you right now? I'm being told I have to tell it to you right now. Ah, here we go. Here is an A+ guaranteed method to create characters with interesting insides. The four F's. The first F is for friends. Who does your character hang out with? The second F is for fear. What is your character afraid of? The third F is for fire. If their house was burning down, what would they save? And the fourth F is for funny. Tell us something funny about your character. Something strange or unusual that they might not want anyone else to know.
Matt:
Got it? Here they are again: friends, fear, fire, funny. Creating characters, that is all there is to it. So make sure your characters have exciting insides and outsides. So you surprise your reader and they want to find out more. And make sure your characters are relatable on the inside and the outside so that we can see ourselves in them and we relate to how they think and feel. And if you get stuck trying to decide how to make your characters feel, why not try the four F's? That way we know who your character relies on, what it is that makes them afraid, what it is they value and what makes them worried. And that's all there is to creating characters with interesting insides. Now you guys get outta here. I want to find out whether I have interesting insides.