Challenge Your Characters

Conflict is the one and only thing that truly reveals character. We go about our daily lives taking the path of least resistance. We smile pretty to each other and don't always say what we think or act as we wish we could.

But put us under pressure, and what happens? Ever have an argument with your spouse and say things you never intended to? Ever hear of a man who lost his job committing suicide? On the other hand, how about a child raised in poverty becoming a Congressman? Put a person in a conflict-filled situation, and his character is revealed.

Let's say there's a man you work with who seems to be a loner who doesn't care much about other people. Now let's say the building catches fire. He pulls out half a dozen people who would have died of smoke inhalation, sustaining third degree burns to do it.

What if that external event had never occurred? You might have gone another ten years and never been aware of that man's depth of character. In your books, you must create that burning building. Think about it: If not for the Civil War, would we ever have known just how resilient Scarlett O'Hara really was?

In essence, we have to push our characters to the wall to force them to show on the outside the kinds of people they are on the inside.