: Re: Help! My Character is too much for her story! A while ago, I started writing a short story for a competition. It was supposed to be about four girls in a shared student apartment. The plan

@Si5022468

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You have two different options for dealing with a character that overshadows the others. But before making a choice, ask yourself:

What is my aim?

If the character is disrupting the path to your aim, then ask if you want to maintain that aim, or if you'd rather discover a new one that best serves the character.

Option 1

Your original aim is a story of four characters at odds with each other that must learn to overcome their differences for the greater good. For it to work, each character must have a legitimate problem with their colleagues which will be solved through the tale.

In reality, you have three characters with minor problems and one with three major problems. The cast is unbalanced.

If you choose to stick to the original idea, you must balance their problems. I'd suggest going back to scratch and make a diagram of what is causing strive amidst them. Make sure it all balances out. If you end up on the same spot, focus on the other three and up their stakes until they are at the level of Ms Vampire (though, perhaps, make their personalities less explosive, or they'll kill each other before the story can start).

It seems to me that, as it stands, Ms Vampire's problems with her roommates stem from not accepting what she became. Could Ms Werewolf feel similarly about her condition? What about Ms Vanilla Religion? Perhaps she is hiding doubts about her religion which are shattering how she identifies and cause her to be self-absorbed? What about Ms Wrong Nationality? Could she be suffering from culture shock at deep level, causing her to slowly slide into depression while trying hard to accomplish her personal aims?

In the scenario above, all four are struggling to find their identity but end up lashing at one another. To develop, they'll learn to support each other.

Option 2

You are willing to change the original aim of the story and find a new one that better serves the now main character. Where, before, you had four women who needed to learn how to work together, now you have a tortured character who must learn to accept who she became.

Look at the other three characters. From what you presented in the question, none of them are a problem. It is Ms Vampire who has personal issues with what each one of them represents. They do not really have to undergo fundamental changes; it is Ms Vampire who does. The question is, will those three bother to spend time and emotion on an angsty brat?

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