Characters Impact Stories

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Wednesday I drove to Flat Rock, North Carolina, to speak with a book club.  It was a great event and the group asked some very interesting questions.

One of the questions I received was: “How do you alter your writing for books authored by Craig versus those authored by Adams?”

I have three different series and the Memphis Barbeque Mysteries is a four book series for Penguin that I wrote as Riley Adams.  At first, I was tempted to say that there was no difference between the series, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized this wasn’t true at all. There’s a lot of difference between the Memphis series and the Myrtle and Southern Quilting series.

I realized it came down to one key factor.  My answer was: “The main character in the Memphis series is an extrovert.”

That’s a fact that’s startling in itself.  I favor quieter characters.  Write what you know, maybe?  I consider Myrtle, if not strictly an introvert, definitely an ambivert with some antisocial leanings. I consider Beatrice from the quilting mysteries as a major introvert who craves time alone (which is elusive in the series, a fact that can make her cranky).

But the Memphis series was very different.  1) I was asked to write this series by Penguin.  2) My editor asked me to model Lulu after some of the popular Food Network stars at the time.  None of those folks seemed introverted to me.

Having Lulu be an extrovert, looking back, influenced the series in many ways.  She fed on the time she spent with other people: it energized her. She was more apt to discuss the case with a variety of different people and get different ideas about the murderer’s identity. She sought out events; she attended parties and hung out in her restaurant with her customers and enjoyed evenings in the city.  Lulu was actively involved in planning and executing events as she’d cater various parties. She seems more impulsive to me.

In my other series, my characters are sometimes craving solitude.  They either seek out the opinion of one person (in the case of Myrtle) or they are hounded by friends when they are trying to find time to be alone (in the case of Beatrice).  They both come across as reserved and observant.  When Myrtle attends parties, she frequently can’t wait to leave. Beatrice is frequently irritated by the antics of her extroverted friend, Meadow and the fact she’s pulled into social events by Meadow.

In addition, the Myrtle and quilting mysteries seem much, much quieter overall to me. The Memphis books are vivid with the color and sound and smells of the city and the quirky people.  The other series…aren’t.

This basic difference between the protagonists in my different series changed nearly everything in the books, even the way that the characters interact with the settings.

I know there are many other ways a protagonist can impact a story or a series: especially through the ways in which they view the world (sometimes you see what you expect to find).

How does your protagonist impact your story?