A little while ago, I started trying to write a story. And for a while I loved it, but I've always been really scared about introducing more than like--five characters. :P And pretty soon even the five charaters I had been writing had gone completely stereotypical and I couldn't get them to do anything.

So, here's the premise. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I could make it more interesting?

Young, immature girl, marries older, mature man. Neither is thrilled with the other, and for all practical purposes they're separated. Then she meets his nephew, falls in love with him, problems ensue. She discovers that she has magical powers, and she and her lover flee from the Emporer. Hubby ends up in the dungeons because of his connection to her.

And I have five major characters--

Nessa--the girl
Nolan--the husband
Azriel--nephew, lover
Aisling--the queen of a neighboring country Nessa flees to...

oh, dear. :P I have four major characters...um....

ok. :D *blush*

Any ideas?

What does each of them want more than anything else in the world?

Nessa...more than anything else in the whole world, wants to feel beautiful.

Aisling...wants freedom for her people

Nolan...wants his high position as an official back

Azriel...is highly unstable. I have no idea.

Why?

The fact that you are asking that question is a bad sign.

In order:

Expose Nessa to people in abject poverty, or something else that will get her thinking something other than shallow, vapid, selfish thoughts. Also, if you can do this without having her whine and angst and be generally insufferable, you should give her some kind of horrible physical injury with lots of scars.

Depose Aisling and put a tyrannical despot on her throne.

Depending on where you want to go with Nolan, you've got a couple of options. Personally, I'd rather see him be a nice sort of fellow who actually sort of likes Nessa, but if you're wanting him to be a villain, then I'd say give him his position back, or even have him be the one to take over Aisling's throne. Or you could have him tortured for a while while he's in prison, go insane, and decide that the way to get his position and his mind back is to get Nessa back, dead or alive, and THEN have him take over Aisling's throne. Somehow. Extra points if he's both horrifyingly creepy and somewhat sympathetic.

I really don't know how to help you with Azriel, since I don't have any idea of his personality or his desires. Is he jealous of Nessa? Is he actually nuts or just slightly off? Is it a good crazy or a bad crazy? These are questions you should be asking yourself.

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A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.
~Charles Peguy

Nolan IS nice, and I don't really want him to be a villain. :) The story is crawling with those already. :P And considering that the government is kind of one of the villains in the story, I rather hate to give him his position back... idk....

Azriel is yes, jealous of Nessa for the time being. But really, he's a self-centered jerk, who wants what he wants, and once he gets it, he's on to the next new thing.

Here's a new, better question. Does anyone have any favorite resources for writers? Links or anything that I can just do myself?

You should give Nolan his position back, IMO, if only to stir up a bit of trouble. If he's nice, like you say, he could a) get in trouble for speaking out, b) not say anything and be horribly guilty (yay inner turmoil!) or c) go along with the atrocities because he's been convinced or convinced himself that they're for the greater good.

As for Azriel: you say he wants what he wants, but what is that exactly? Why is he like that? Most people, even if they are self-centered jerks, have reasons for it. Figure out what those reasons are, and you'll be much more able to write a complex, nuanced character.

The reason I'm saying all this (and the reason Var asked you about the characters' desires in the first place) is that if you're having trouble figuring out a plot, figuring out what the characters want and then throwing obstacles in between them and their desires is a pretty surefire way to at least get somewhere. Alternatively, you can figure out what the character values most and take it away, and your plot will grow out of having the character try to get it back.

As for resources, if you don't have a copy of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, get one. It's a tiny little book, but oh so fantastically helpful.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is another one that I love. She's witty and fun to read, and her advice is excellent. You might be particularly interested in the following passage:

I heard Alice Adams give a lecture on the short story once, one aspect of which made the writing students in her audience so excited that I have passed it along to my students ever since. (Most of the time I give her credit.) She said that sometimes she uses a formula when writing a short story, which goes ABDCE, for Action, Background, Development, Climax, and Ending. You begin with action that is compelling enough to draw us in, make us want to know more. Background is where you let us see and know who these people are, how they've come to be together, what was going on before the opening of the story. Then you develop these people, so that we learn what they care most about. The plot--the drama, the actions, the tension--will grow out of that. You move them along until everything comes together in the climax, after which things are different for the main characters, different in some real way. And then there is the ending: what is our sense of who these people are now, what are they left with, what happened, and what did it mean?

A formula can be a great way to get started. And it feels so great finally to dive into the water; maybe you splash around and flail for a while, but at least you're in. Then you start doing whatever stroke you can remember how to do, and you get this scared feeling inside you--of how hard it is and how far there is to go--but still you're in, and you're afloat, and you're moving.

Last, Imaginative Writing by Janet Burroway is very systematic and thorough in terms of basics. It also provides a ton of examples, as well as exercises, that I found incredibly helpful. It's most often used as a college text, so it might be a bit technical, but as I recall it's fairly easy to understand. You're also a senior (right?) so it shouldn't give you any trouble. It can be a bit pricey new, but I'm sure you can find it used somewhere for less. Do try and get the second edition, though, it's got way more exercises and things.

Var also has a list of good writing books, so you should ask her. Oh, and if you can take a creative writing class, that's always a good thing, too. :)

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A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.
~Charles Peguy

I disagree with most of OC's specific suggestions, because I'm difficult that way; I think there's several ways you could work each character, and it's best to go with something that resonates for you. ;)

In answer to your question, Meg--the "Why?" at the end of your response to me--it's important to know what your characters want, because those wants are what you can use to drive the story. A character who wants something and has to struggle to get it (or has it but has to struggle to keep it) is sympathetic to your audience; we all understand what it is to want.

Also, understanding what your characters want helps YOU get to know them better. Ideally, as an author, you should know your characters better than you know most real people (after all, you can get in their heads, which you can't do with people IRL unless you are secretly a psychic ninja); even if you don't necessarily share their wants, you should sympathize with their wants, and have a certain understanding of how far they'll go to get them.

As an author, that sort of understanding can make your life easier in a couple of ways.

First, if you know what your characters want, creating conflict becomes easy. Take a look at Kitteh's suggestions, all of which involve snatching those wants out of your characters' hands. Look at all the chaos it creates, the glorious potential plot threads. Suddenly there's a million problems that have to be dealt with--and your characters are going to care about those problems even more than you do, which brings me to my second point.

If you know what your characters want, you can manipulate them.

Now, there are people reading this (perhaps you included) who are going to say--but I'm the author! I can manipulate them anyway! They are my little puppets, born to dance in whatever manner I choose, and I am THEIR GOD *insert maniacal laughter*. Which, you know, is valid to a certain extent; nothing's going to stop you putting whatever words on the page you wish.

HOWEVER. Manipulating your characters using their wants, as opposed to just having them do whatever you choose, will force your story to grow out of your characters--organically. This creates a more cohesive story, with conflict that matters to the reader, and makes it seem more like we're reading about people rather than puppets.

Also, it's more fun. *insert further maniacal laughter*

As for resources, I feel like I've linked you to some stuff before, but I can't remember what, so here are my basics:

Holly Lisle has a bunch of articles which I recommend largely for their universality--no matter your writing PROCESS, a lot of her advice is very good (which is more than I can say for most writing resources). The articles are all in that thin column that goes down the middle-ish of the page; my favorites are under "Feature Stories" and "Writing Life," but if you're interested in mechanics, her "Workshops" are good as well.

I'm fond of Limyaael's Fantasy Rants as an inspirational tool--I don't agree with all of her opinions or tastes, but she almost invariably has me thinking "Oh, but this could work really nicely if you did it THIS way--" and that's good creative juju, for me. Also, IMO, she's very good at explaining WHY things don't make sense, which is more important than pointing out WHEN they don't make sense, if you're a learning writer (and aren't we all?).

I also have a few blogs I follow because the writers' processes interest me, and a buttload of more specific articles that I usually bring out when I crit, so let me know if there's any particular issue you want advice on (or if you want more detailed advice on characterization, shoot me a PM because I eat that like candy).

That said. Figure out what Azriel wants. He does want something, even if he's not telling you what. And Nessa's want is one of my favorites to read and to write--there's so many ways you can play with it. (One of my favorite takes is actually from an older YA book, "Jennifer Murdley's Toad" by Bruce Coville; I haven't read it in years but there's a scene near the end that I still remember well.)

Do let me know if the rambling is incoherent. You're bumping up against a problem I've hit so many times my head's probably got permanent bruises, so I'm interested in helping you out if I can.

@Meg: I didn't by any means intend for my advice to be the only thing that I think you could or should do; I only meant it as some suggestions, nothing more. Obviously, it's your story, and you can choose to do with it as you will. I was trying to be helpful, but it's been pointed out that I came across a bit nasty. Sorry for sharking at you; it wasn't intentional.

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A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.
~Charles Peguy

LOL! Limyaal makes me laugh in spite of myself. :P thx for sharing that Var.

At this point Azriel REALLY seems to only want to have as good a time as he possibly can before he dies. And I know that really deep down, he's terrified of having to die someday. But that's all. He's frustrating and for as outgoing as he is, he's very emotionally unresponsive and closed off. :(

You said Nessa's want is one of your favorites. what do you mean by that? What makes it your favorite? What's this scene that you remember so well?

No, you're fine, OC. :) I tend to treat even commands as suggestions sometimes. :P LOL! So don't worry about it. :D

the one problem I'm having with seriously destroying my character's lives and throwin problems galore at them is I don't want my story to turn into an angst/melo-drama/torture/misery/chaos fest. :P And frankly I've done that before and I just got sick of my character's crying and going insane, and killing themselves all over the place.

At this point Azriel REALLY seems to only want to have as good a time as he possibly can before he dies. And I know that really deep down, he's terrified of having to die someday. But that's all. He's frustrating and for as outgoing as he is, he's very emotionally unresponsive and closed off. :(

That's good! You can work with that! Why is he terrified of dying? Is there a specific reason, or is it just a general fear? Does he think that having a good time will somehow make it easier when he does finally have to die?

Honestly, I get excited when one of my characters seems closed off, because it usually means that there's a whole lot more going on inside than he's willing to let other people see. Maybe some part of him has some actual affection for Nessa, but he's not letting himself admit it. Maybe he lives a shallow life because he can't face himself. What I'd do, in that case, is find some way to make him face it. How he reacts, when he does face it, is up to him.

Re: Nessa's want, I think what Var meant (and correct me if I'm wrong, Mum) is that it's so easy to play with. There are all sorts of ways to develop her that stem from manipulating that want. For example, maybe the reason she ran away with Azriel in the first place is because he understood that desire and used it against her. Also, it's an interesting one to do, because (and this is me talking about why I like it rather than Mum, I have no idea what she thinks about this) more often than not, that particular desire grows out of something else. Why does she want to feel beautiful? Because it will make her accepted, either by other people or by herself? If that's the case, why does she feel she needs acceptance? Is she just insecure, or is she truly not accepted? It can go all sorts of places from there. Also, if it's really acceptance that she wants, maybe that's part of why Azriel was able to charm her--maybe he understands that desire, because he has it himself, and he could use that to endear himself to her.

And frankly I've done that before and I just got sick of my character's crying and going insane, and killing themselves all over the place.

IMO, the trick there is to destroy their lives without having it turn into an angst fest. Some of the most compelling stories are the ones in which the characters have everything taken away from them and then they overcome it. Messy is good! Breaking is good! I think broken characters are the most interesting, because it's all the more epic and wonderful and inspiring when they come out of it and beat the crap out of the bad guys. (Extra points for beating the bad guys in such a way that doesn't necessarily include having them die or even become miserable. For me, it's much more emotionally satisfying to just have them become unimportant. "Oh, that jerk? Yeah, I really don't care what happens to him anymore. I'm completely me, and he's irrelevant.") Personally--and I recognize that this may just be one of my particular buttons--I care much more about characters who have had horrible things happen to them. Then when they are awesome despite or even partly because of that, I find myself rooting for them much more than if they were just one-dimensionally "cool". The ones who do it without angsting or self-pity, who do it because they say, "Okay, enough is enough, this stops here," and turn into total BAMFs? SO MUCH LOVE.

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A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.
~Charles Peguy