In writing circles, instructors, teachers and peers alike will warn you to not “get out of character.” In the traditional way of looking at writing, this is a completely valid warning. A completely valid concern, since you want your characters to be believable. You don’t want them to suddenly do or say something that they have not set a precedent for, or at least proven that they have the capacity to act a certain way in response to a situation.
And yes, I want you to write your characters so that they make sense. So that they hold themselves in a way that is believable, satisfying, but not without a bit of intrigue. And this is where those “out of character” moments come in.
Most of you probably know what being out of character is. You’ve probably heard it said about you, or about someone you know. And usually you or that someone else has acted in a way that goes outside of their normal personality, bearing or flow. For example, when someone who is usually so responsible acts irresponsibly, or unpredictably.
A famous example is Archangel Lucifer. If you know anything about his story, you know that he decided he was going to stop being “fluffy, loving, and compassionate.” He decided to have some pride, care for self, and the desire to prove that humans weren’t the perfect creation. Talk about that for an out of character moment!
Taking this example, isn’t it awesome how much character growth he had? He totally changed the dynamic of what an Archangel could feel, think and do! I know some of you are probably going to say “Yeah, well Lucifer was flawed from the beginning. He was made to have some weakness.” I will agree with you on that, but it was done perfectly.
Let’s take a look at this a little more. So Lucifer proved that an Archangel could become something more. He proved that he was prone to the weaknesses that most “humans” are prone to; at the same time, however, as with all character growth and development – as well as spiritual growth and development – Lucifer was presented with a situation that no one in his illustrious position had really been confronted with before.
He was confronted with humans. He was confronted with the very idea that they too, like him had been made in the likeness and image of the divine. He was not able to accept this. And this is part of what led to his decision to go to war.
Of course, we expected him to be able to see their greatness, since he was sitting supposedly on a high enough vantage point to do so, and that would’ve been true. Except for his flaw, and THAT was his inability to see perfect imperfection. And because this was his flaw, he became the poster child for imperfect perfection.
So one might say – if they were to write Lucifer’s story – and they were content to have them act like an Archangel should, they would miss out. If they insisted that he behaved exactly as the “light bearer” was supposed to behave, then he wouldn’t have any character growth. He wouldn’t have been able to penetrate the steps or complexity of character. So if he hadn’t had this uncharacteristically selfish moment for an Archangel, then what a boring character he would be!
The same rules apply to your characters. You want them to act predictably, except around their flaws. Faults and flaws are what give us as people instability. They are what give us a “wildcard” element, even if our personalities are consistent. It is the same with any characters that you channel, or help to create and flesh out. They will be imperfect, and this is going to give you perfect soil for character growth. This is going to set you up for many marvelous “out of character” moments.
So I challenge you to challenge your characters this week. Make them uncomfortable, damn it! Put them with people they want absolutely nothing to do with! Put them in situations you know they won’t handle well, and you know they would want to keep at a distance! Make them face themselves! Push the up against the wall!
By doing so, you’re going to get a reaction out of them, and probably one that is unexpected. You’re going to see a side of them you haven’t seen before, and you’re going to see them be resourceful, exactly as you would in a similar scenario. This resourcefulness is what’s going to deepen your character.
The bottom line is this. Being out of character is not a bad thing, if done in a conscious way. Your characters should have the opportunity to step outside of their normal way of being/operating, but not because you wanted to rush them through something, or because you don’t want to put in the effort to make them evolve slowly.
Enjoy roughing your characters up! I know I will!
The Write Alignment: Your Daily Creative Attunment 