Ring Psychology Special Edition

Writing, like any other artistic or creative undertaking, is far from an exact science. We ain’t masters of the game. We don’t have a special rulebook. But we do know a thing or two about writing that’s helped us out from time to time. And here’s where we share our secret voodoo methods with you!

CHARACTERS
Part two of three

What makes a good character? What makes a great character? What makes a bad character? While these questions can be debated for years, here is a question that has a clear cut answer. What can a great character do for my story/comic/movie/whatever? The answer is easy. It does everything. A bad story with a great character becomes a decent story. A great story with a bad character becomes a decent story. A great story with a great character becomes an unforgettable story. Over the course of the next month, we’re going to look at four very different characters that come from different types of media. The goal is to simply get to the core of what makes these characters great. Hopefully, we’ll all be able to take some ideas away from this and apply them the next time we’re creating our own characters.

“Part Two: Criss Angel”

Have you ever seen a man walk down a building? Ever seen a guy hit by a car and come out of it unscathed? How about seeing a guy walk through a plate glass window without breaking the glass? No? I have. The man’s name is Criss Angel, and he’s a magician. Or more accurately, he’s an illusionist. Now, I know a man can’t levitate and I’m relatively positive he can’t disappear and re-appear hundreds of feet away, but Criss Angel sure as hell makes it look believable. Now what can we, as storytellers, learn about characters from Criss Angel? Barely anything. The most important barely anything imaginable.

The thing about magic and illusions is that they are deceptions of the mind, so to speak. We know, for a fact, that what we just witnessed is not possible. However, there’s no way to explain or rationalize it when we’ve seen a good illusion. And trust me, if you want to see a good illusion just watch “Criss Angel’s Mindfreak” every Wednesday evening on the A&E network. I’m not here to talk about why it’s a great show, I’m here to talk about what makes Criss Angel a character worth paying attention to. When it comes to the little things, this guy is a true master. Subtle movements, body language, phrasing, eye contact. Little things that seem automatic and pointless are actually the things that make this guy such an amazing character.

When it comes to pulling of a magic trick or illusion, the most important factor is controlling the audience’s attention. It’s as much about the flourishes and details as it is about the main props. It’s as much in the wording used to set up a trick as it is in the trick itself. This is something that we don’t pay enough attention to as storytellers. The small things. A silent moment, a narrowing of the eyes, the squeeze of a loved one’s hand, the deep breath before a fight. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in explosions and iconic poses and long drawn out conversations when writing. But just as in real life, we often times forget to stop and smell the roses. The very first book I read about writing comics was pretty old school. It was also pretty close-minded. It said you MUST write a comic a certain way. Hero at rest, hero in conflict, hero triumphs, hero back at rest. Now, I fully disagree with anything that tells me how I MUST write, but this isn’t exactly a terrible idea. For example, there was a huge Batman storyline called “Hush” a few years back. A huge twelve-issue big action romp. Want to know what my favorite memory is from that series? It’s this quiet scene between Batman, Catwoman, and Alfred in the Batcave. Alfred is stitching up some of Batman’s newest wounds and Catwoman is commenting on Batman’s incredibly scarred up body. It’s quick, just a few pages, but it’s often these quiet scenes that have the most impact. Not only that, but great character moments such as those make your big action scenes later on carry much more weight.

Subtlety is almost a lost art. Everything is ultimatized and maximized and super sized in today’s storytelling. And I love it that way. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t write small stories. But it’s the small moments in my stories that separate them from the millions of other stories out there. It’s a quiet movement or a sideways glance. It’s the art of less is more. An art form you can easily learn by watching a master like Criss Angel.

And that’s it. One more week in which we’re going to tackle the best character of them all, Batman. It’s a finale we can all be proud of and you won’t forgive yourself for missing. Or at least, I won’t forgive you for missing it.

Until then, this is Aaron “No More Mutants” Hall, signing off.