: Re: Needing Help Fleshing Out Male Character So He's Not Just a Stock Character I have been working on a fantasy novel for the past twelve years, during which time there have been drastic changes.

@Kristi637

Vote Up Vote Down

Maybe instead of fleshing him out, you should remove him from the picture entirely --or mostly. He could be a) dead b) mostly dead c) presumed dead or d) just missing. That might seem like the easy way out, but it could actually work really well with your given back-story AND serve the interests of your narrative and your characters.

First, the pretext: Clearly, his past has caught up with him in some way. He could be out on some new cloak-and-dagger mission for his family, or, he could have refused the mission and been kidnapped (either by the family or their enemies). Or someone the family cheated in the past is out for revenge, and he got caught in the crossfire.

Next the story: Absentee fathers are one of the mythic archetypes, and can be powerful story engines --they can even be more vivid in their absence than in their presence. Depending on your story needs, you can decide if the father should be idolized or despised, if he's a good guy or a bad guy, if your character is Stronger Without Him or obsessed with rescuing him, etcetera. He can still show up in flashbacks, and you can still keep his mysterious secret machinations --that's actually even more plausible if he's not around --and if he's not all-dead you can easily bring him back in some form for the sequel (think Darth Vader).

(0)

Login to post a comment!