Plot Advancement Through Character Development and Dialog

Delivered at the International Mystery Writers Festival, Owensboro Ky, August 2009

Any story, particularly and especially a work of fiction, must at some point or other inexorably revolve around interaction - in some fashion - between people.  Whether it is conflict or alliance, there must be interplay between people for any plotline to develop.

            Characterization is as central to the success of your story as the plot-line itself.  You must therefore spend as much time in the creation of your main, secondary and ancillary characters as you do in sussing out the conflict that will create your story.

            We must therefore consider your characters as important as the plot itself - and that we can advance that plot by the efficient and clever use of those characters.

            One method of advancing the plot through characterization is the use of dialog.  There are times when characters talking and interacting with one another moves the plot forward that simple narrative cannot.  Having a character explain a portion of the plot to another character - or in an introspective talking-to-myself segment - is an invaluable asset in giving your story personality as it unfolds.

            In order for that to happen, characters must first be:

• Introduced: Their existence must be revealed to the reader. They can be "lead" characters who will be a part of the plot through its resolution, or "secondary" characters, who will interact while exposing or advancing a tertiary aspect of the plot and then depart, be killed off, or simply impart literary wisdom and depart, or "auxiliary" characters whose appearance is momentary, but who bring information or conditions integral to the eventual resolution of the story.

• Identified: Their place in the story must be defined. The questions must be asked ...who is this person, why is he or she here, and what bearing does his or her presence have on the character(s) with which he or she is interacting? The answers to these questions postulate an identity for your characters in relation to the plot progression.

• Developed: A personality endemic to the story must be established, even momentarily. Particularly for lead characters, those whose participation to the story is critical to its progression and resolution. And it is very important that the personalities of yoru characters - particularly the lead characters, including the "heavy," have their own personalities. There is a tendency among authors to make all the characters talk like that author. Don't. Give one an accent. Give the other a high squeaky voice and yet another, a low, booming sound - or a sing-songy method of speaking... you get the idea.

• Motivated: They have to do something, say something, know something, to be there. Your lead characters may be searching for answers - and that search may be key to your plot. Other characters will cross their paths who will pose additional questions, supply answers, or lead (and often mislead) the lead characters to the answers they seek. These characters can be semi-sustaining ones or merely ones that the lead characters will happen upon, who will add to the resolution (or the confusion) and move off the story's radar for good.

Author-supplied narrative is always necessary to set a plot direction.    Narrative supplies "facts" and movement, background and substance that envelopes the characters in your plot.  It is a very easy thing to let the author explain the story and through that explanation, carry the characters along.  However, the author may find it more expedient to combine supplied narrative with plot development accomplished by the characters themselves.

Where the plot centers on the characters, a simple and effective development tool is to simply let the characters talk it over.  Let them supply the movement that you could do narratively - but which they can accomplish with personality, with idiom, and occasionally with humor.  Your characters can arrive at - and thereby transmit to the reader - one of those "aha moments" that every book must come to, in order to turn the direction of the plot toward proper resolution.  And believe it or not, your characters can do it much more interestingly than the author can, at times.

Let us look at one example.  In this case I have first rewritten a passage of  Raise The Titanic, by Clive Cussler, as pure author narrative, and then re-presented it in the original dialog.

This is the narrative version I wrote for purposes of comparison.  Gene Seagram is a government scientist with a hair-brained idea.  Dirk Pitt is the central character in the book, and is already developing into something of a Superman at Cussler's hands.  There are 17 Dirk Pit novels now.  Keep in mind, this book was written several years before the actual wreckage of Titanic was discovered.

Gene Seagram stared up at the man seated in the pilot's chair.  He knew he needed Dirk Pitt's help, and he said so, straight out, no posturing, no preliminaries, nor mentions of harsh words from the past.  He could see Pitt's eyes narrow.  Seagram told Pitt that the marine engineer's talents and seemingly uncanny abilities were needed greatly for perhaps the greatest seagoing salvage job ever attempted.

Salvaging the Titanic.

Nothing like a good salvage operation to whet the appetite of a marine adventurer like Pitt, Seagram knew that, too. 

Pitt's reaction was one of incredulation, as Seagram thought it would be.  The dark-haired man with the opaline eyes merely stared at the Meta Section chief in wide-eyed wonder.

Pitt didn't think it was technically possible to raise the old liner from two miles deep underwater, and in a hoarse whisper he said so.  Then there was the matter of salvage rights - Titanic was a British ship owned by an American company - to say nothing of the insurance companies and the descendants of those entombed in the wreck.

Seagram smiled thinly.  He knew that more than two hundred engineers and scientists were working on the technical problems related to the salvage at that precise moment, and secret government funding was being arranged.  And Seagram was aware of international salvage law - that once a ship was lost with no hope of recovery, it became fair game for anyone who wanted to spend the money and effort on salvage.

Pitt rambled on about the problems concerning such an operation - not the least of which was the terrible pressure at that depth - more than two and a half miles down, the ocean exerted a pressure of more than thousand pounds per square inch - working at depth alone posed some major engineering problems.

But Gene Seagram was undaunted.  If we can put a man on the moon, he was sure, we could return the Titanic to the light of day.  And that was overcoming Pitt's objection that the moon shot consisted of landing a four ton capsule on the ground - not raising a forty-five thousand ton hulk from the bottom with abyssal pressures unheard-of in such operations.

Pitt seemed to be looking through the windshield of the Ford Tri-motor at a jet aircraft that was lifting from the airport's main runway.  But Seagram could tell the man was weighing his options.

After some small talk about Pitt's cohort, Albert Giordino, who was at that moment on a clandestine operation near the liner's grave, Pitt broke into a grin and shook the Meta Section chief's hand.

He was aboard.

Cussler, though, knew that his characters were intelligent, interesting men, and he let them set the scene for the great adventure that was to follow.  To make it more interesting, he made sure that Seagram and Pitt didn't like each other - btu Seagram needed Pitt's expertise.

"...Admiral Sandecker assures me that you're the only man who stands a remote chance of pulling off a ticklish job."
            "What job?"

"Salvaging the Titanic."

"Of course! Nothing like a salvage operation to break the monotony of-" Pitt broke off in mid-sentence, his deep-green eyes widened and the blood rose to his face.  "What ship did you say?"  His voice came in a hoarse murmur this time.

Seagram looked at him with an amused expression.  "The Titanic.  Surely you've heard of it?"

Perhaps ten seconds ticked by in utter silence while Pitt sat there stunned.  Then he said, "Do you know what you're proposing?"

"Absolutely."

"It can't be done!"  Pitts expression was incredulous, his voice still the same hoarse murmur.  "Even if it were technically possible and it isn't, it would take hundreds of millions of dollars ... and then there's the unending legal entanglement with the original owners and the insurance companies over salvage rights."

"There are over two hundred engineers and scientists working on the technical problems at this moment," Seagram explained.  "Financing will be arranged through secret governemt funding.  And as far as legal rights go, forget it.  Under international law, once a vessel is lost with no hope of recovery, it becomes fair game for anybody who wishes to spend the money and effort on a salvage operation."  He turned and stared out the windshield again.  "You can't know, Pitt, how important this undertaking is.  The Titanic represents much more than treasure or historic value.  There is something deep within its cargo holds that is vital to the security of our nation."

"You'll forgive me if I say that sounds a bit farfetched."

"Perhaps, but underneath the flag-waving the facts hold true."

Pitt shook his head.  "You're talking sheer fantasy.  The Titanic lies in nearly two and a half miles of water.  The pressure at those depths runs several thousand pounds per square inch, Mr. Seagram; not square foot or square yard, but square inch.  The difficulties and barriers are staggering.  No one has ever seriously attempted to raise the Andria Doria or the Lusitania from the bottom ... and they both lie only three hundred feet from the surface."

"If we can put men on the moon we can bring the Titanic up to the sunlight again," Seagram argued.

"There's no comparison.  It took a decade to set a four-ton capsule on lunar soil.  Lifting forty-five thousand tons of steel is a different proposition.  It may take months just to find her."

"The search is already under way."

"I've heard nothing-"

"About a search effort?" Seagram finished.  "Not likely that you should.  Until the operation becomes unwieldy in terms of security, it will remain secret.  Even your assistant special projects director, Albert Giordiano-"

"Giordino."

"Yes, Giordino, thank you.  He is at this very moment piloting a search probe across the Atlantic sea floor in total ignorance of his true mission."

But the Lorelei Current Expedition... the Sappho I's original mission was to trace a deep ocean current."

"A timely coincidence.  Admiral Sandecker was able to order the submersible into the area of the Titanic's last know position barely hours before the sub was scheduled to surface."

Pitt turned and stared at a jet liner that was lifting from the airport's main runway.  "Why me?  What have I done to deserve an invitation to what has to be the biggest hair-brained scheme of the century?"

"You are not simply to be a guest, my dear Pitt.  You are to command the overall salvage operation."

Pitt regarded Seagram grimly.  "The question still stands.  Why me?"

"Not a selection that excites me, I assure you," Seagram said.  "However, since the National Underwater and Marine Agency is the nation's largest acknowledged authority on oceanographic science, and since the leading experts on deep-water salvage are members of their staff, and since you are the agency's Special Projects Director, you were elected."

"The fog begins to lift.  It's a simple case of my being in the wrong occupation at the wrong time."

"Read it as you will," Seagram said wearily.  "I must admit, I found your past record of bringing incredibly difficult projects to successful conclusions most impressive."  He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his forehead.  "Another factor that weighed heavily in your favor, I might add, is that you are considered somewhat of an expert on the Titanic."

"Collecting and studying Titanic memorabilia is a hobby with me, nothing more.  It hardly qualifies me to oversee her salvage."

"Nontheless, Mr. Pitt, Admiral Sandecker tells me you are, to use his words, a genuius at handling men and coordinating logistics."  He gazed over at Pitt, his eyes undertain.  "Will you take the job?"

"You don't think I can pull it off, do you Seagram?"

"Frankly, no.  But when one dangles over a cliff by a thread, one has little to say about who comes to the rescue."

A faint smile edged Pitt's lips.  "Your faith in me is touching."

"Well?"

Pitt sat lsot in thought for several moments.  Finally, he gave an almost imperceptible nod and looked squarely into Seagram's eyes.  "Okay, my friend, I'm your boy.  But don't count your chickens until that rusty old hulk is moored to a New York dock.  There isn't a betmaker in las Vegas who'd waste a second computing the odds on this crazy escapade.  When we find the Titanic, if we find the Titanic, her hull may be too far gone to raise.  But then nothing is absolutely impossible, and thought I can't begin to guess what it is that's so valuable to the government that warrants the effort, I'll try, Seagram.  Beyond that I promise notning."

Pitt broke into a wide grin and climbed out of the pilot's seat. "End of speech.  Now, then, let's get out of this hot box and find a nice cool air-conditioned cocktail lounge where you can buy me a drink.  It's the least you can do after pulling off the con job of the year."

This example advances the plot of Cussler's novel by bringing the hero character into the quest.  And it does so, interestingly, by having the man who doesn't like Pitt be placed in the position of having to ask for his help on a scheme that is by all admissions foolhardy.

Nevertheless,  Cussler didn't merely infer that his characters "said" things - not always anyway.  He modified the assertion by saying that something was said wearily.  He also used such devices as "asked," "murmured," and so on.  What I'm saying is, modify the description of the tone and expression used in the speeches of your characters.  And sometimes you modify well by modifying not at all.  Note Cussler's adept skill at writing the dialog without using "said" on any of its forms at all.  His idea is to modify by not modifying, and letting the speeches, which he writes skillfully, speak for themselves.

Simultaneous Development

If we accept the postulation that character development - particularly among your lead characters - is at least as important as plot development, then it might serve both purposes to attempt to do both at the same time.

In Code of Theophilus I developed the personalities of editor Peter McDermott and his reporter and best friend Rod Pitcher by creating a light and pithy interaction between them that surfaces often throughout the book.  McDermott and pitcher (and their boss, Charlie Hume) recur in three other books and their development continues - but there is consistency in their development. It's as if two very real men were developing their friendship, and learning how to talk to the other, where the verboten signs are - we all have them - and finding common interests and forms of humor.

You might also note in this passage that the conversation between the two men, which takes place at the actual Middleton Tavern in Annapolis Maryland, pulls together an element of the plot and helps put the two men on the correct course, while at the same time develops their characters in such a way that their mode of conversation becomes familiar to the reader.  Later in the book - and even in the next (as yet unpublished) book of the McDermott series, their means of talking to one another is consistent to the extent that it develops in the same way and along the same lines.

Pitcher sat down and took a sip from McDermott's untouched lukewarm beer.

"One of my sources says some of the trinkets taken in the warehouse fire are showing up on the black market."

McDermott stared at his beer glass which now had a major sip out of it.

"Yeah?" he asked.  "What are you hearing?"

Pitcher took another sip.  "The stuff that was taken in the heist can't be fenced at your local pawn shop.  It goes on web sites that are password protected and passed around from domain to domain.  Unscrupulous collectors who have more money than sense will pay a pretty penny for some of this stuff.  I verified it by checking out one of those web sites."

"How do you know how to find and get into those web sites?" McDermott asked, not taking his eyes off the glass on the table, the contents of which were rapidly disappearing.

"Don't ask," Pitcher said, sipping.

"It's time to start writing," McDermott said, involuntarily licking his lips.  "You write what you can about the stuff showing up on a collectors' black market.  I will write about the fires and a possible connection without naming our friends we checked on today."

"You going to write about the cold suit?" Pitcher wanted to know.

"Don't be silly.  There's enough other things to write about but I don't want to tip Bagbey's hand - he's mad enough at me."

"He'll get over it," Pitcher said, sipping again.

"He'll have to," McDermott asserted.

Pitcher drained the glass and leaned back.

"I was going to drink that," McDermott said, irritated.

"No you weren't," Pitcher returted, indignantly

"Was too!"

"Were not!"

"Was to!"

"Were not!"

"Bastard."

Certainly, dialog can be used to set up sub-plots that ultimately fit into the puzzle that comes to fruition later as a resolution.  Often, these sub-plots themselves help define the characters and their roles in the eventual conclusion.

In his historical novel, Annapolis, William Martin told the stories of three fictional Navy families whose lineage stretched from before the American Revolution to the first Gulf War.  Naturally, it was necessary to illustrate the way things were done at the United States Naval Academy, including the settling of riffs between midshipmen - a process that often involved the liberal use of fists.

This passage is presented here first as a rewritten complete narrative of the events leading to a Bancroft Hall feud as told by a midshipman to his senior officer father - and his father's reaction to an obvious breach of military decorum.  I present it secondly as originally written.  The son and legacy is Will Stafford.  His father is Captain Abraham Stafford.

By the time they reached the Tripoli Monument, he had thought of nothing, so he took the direct approach, asking his father if he had suffered hazing at the hands of the Academy upperclass.

Abraham Stafford nodded.  Everyone is hazed, even though, as Will said, it is supposed to be against regulations.  The elder Stafford stopped a moment and rubbed his chin.  There are times, he thought, when regulations meet traditions, and when that happens, regulations often lose.

But that wasn't a bad thing, he mused.  A good hazing lets you know where you stand in the chain of command, and it helps you think straight when someone is making you recite a page of Jane's Fighting Ships while standing on your head...

But wait, Will was saying something - he was asking whether an upperclassman had ever put his hands on Abraham during a hazing.  Did someone do that?

Yes, and Will had done nothing about it.  Regulations.  And traditions.

Captain Stafford put his hands on his son's shoulders and gave him two choices - the usual two - put the boy on report or take him somewhere and beat the shit out of him.  Abraham smiled at the thought, knowing which choice his son would make.  He'd best get his wife to start baking the caks he'd send to his son in the brig.

By the time they reached the Tripoli Monument, he had thought of nothing, so he decided to be direct.  "Were you ever hazed?"  "Oh, sure," Abraham nodded, smiled benignly.  "Everyone gets hazed."

"But isn't it against regulations?"

"When regulations meet traditions, regulations sometimes lose.  A good hazing lets you know where you stand in the chain of command.  And it helps you to think straight when someone forces you to recite a page from Jane's Fighting Ships while you're standing on your head..."

"Did... did an upperclassman ever put his hands on you in a hazing?"

Abraham stopped and looked at his son.  "Did someone-"

Will looked down at the gravel path.

"Have you done anything about this?" asked Abraham.

"Not yet, Sir, there are regulations.  There are also traditions."

"You have two choices, then." Abraham put his hand on Will's shoulder.  "Follow regulations and put the boy on report.  Or follow tradition and beat the shit out of him."

And Will felt better.  "If I end up on report for fighting, you'll understand?"

"I'll even have Mother send you a cake."

The fight that followed did much to harden Will Stafford into the senior officer that William Martin postulated he would later become - useful to be sure, during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.

The exchange between father and son gives a decent insight into the moods and concerns of both men.  It's an impression that the reader will take with him for the rest of his acquaintance with the characters.  As noted, the exchange shows an interesting side of Will Stafford that continues through his career - which jumps ahead from midshipman to captain at the time of the Pearl Harbor debacle.

Even as the exchange opens the minds and hearts of the two Staffords, it also advances the plot into the next phase - and keeps the story moving.

It's another example of plot advancement through the development of characters using dialog.  Clearly the interaction of principal characters helps explain the yings and the yangs of the story being developed by the author.  It places the characters where they need to be in order to add to or resolve the conflict being written.

In short, character development is at least as important as plot development in any story - in fact, the two may possess a symbiotic relationship, that is, they must be developed and must progress together in order for the story to be successful.

Characters as "Themselves."

As touched upon earlier, it is of considerable importance that each character have a personality of his or her own - that each has a recognizable quirk or individuality that a reader can recognize instantly, with little or no effort.  Readers can easily be confused by some characters who are seemingly alike but who are at odds with one another in the proliferation of the plot.  Make them look different, act different, sound different, give each one something unique, something instantly apparent as the character appears and moves off the page throughout the story.

In conclusion, fiction revolves around people - the characters the author creates to facilitate the story he has cobbled together from the air around his head.  Actually creating those characters, rather than just writing them, can do much to advance your plot, develop your story and give it a "human" identity that will make your work memorable to those who find themselves between the covers.

Remember - the difference between fiction and nonfiction is - fiction has to make sense.