Dear Diary: Your Character's Mind As Your Novel's Blueprint

Dear diary...

Do you recall this iconic line from the days when you used to write your best (or worst) days of your life? Once upon a time, you wondered if your crush liked you back, or complained why life was freaking unfair.

It's incredible how a tiny journal can hold so much of your own life; your emotions, secrets, heartbreaks, wonderful memories, and embarrassing moments. A diary is a collection of your stories--your short stories.

Nowadays, I actually use them for character development purposes. I always write my stories in third person point of view, so the diary method works best for me if I need a better understanding of who my characters are. 

This all began with the one character who was difficult to work with: the protagonist's mother. She was an important figure in my manuscript, and I needed her to open up, but she resisted it every time. She gave me a silent treatment.

I turned to my craft books' exercises on character development, but they didn't work. I even looked back on my lecture notes from my Hamline MFAC days, but nothing transpired. I was stumped--how could these lectures not work?!

Needless to say, I was frustrated. I debated on whether I should give up on the story. 

On draft 4, I read a paragraph about my protagonist talking about her mother's high school days. As I re-read this passage, I thought about my life in two different high schools. I was moody and quiet, so I spent most of my time writing in my journal. Many people complained that I always expected everyone to read my mind.

I had many blank journals in my drawer, so why not write this diary from this character's perspective? It was a crazy idea, but it was worth a shot, so I grabbed an empty journal and wrote whatever popped into my head.

Stephen Hawking's quote, "Quiet people have the loudest minds," definitely applies here!

I learned so much about this character, and I could relate to her in so many ways. Even though she liked to write, she preferred to draw in her diary. I ended up following her from her high school to the present day, and the more she opened up, it really helped me figure out how to structure my manuscript in a new angle. 

I highly encourage you to try the diary method for your characters. No, I'm not asking you to do this for ALL your characters--just the ones who are important to your story, or the strong silent types.  

I also encourage you to try this method by longhand, because it allows your mind to wander and explore, to tap into your own imagination in ways you didn't think possible. 

And here are the reasons why. 

1.Diaries establish structure
Remember that snippet about a diary/journal as a collection of short stories? Your character records everything that has happened to him or her. It doesn't matter if your character writes religiously or updates every few months, you still have their life story.

 You don't need to include all of their short stories in your manuscript. It would be too hard to break them down in your novel, and there is only so much your readers can handle. No one has time to read your character's life story.

You can, however, treat your character's backstory as a foundation. Your character's diary reveals important plot events. Maybe your secondary character has stolen your protagonist's guitar, and you can build up that tension. Perhaps your villain knows your protagonist's dark family secret, so you have to deliver the mind-blowing plot twist. Whatever the plot events are, these threads must have purpose. They must come together to tighten your resolution. 

Consider the setting as well. Is your character complaining about the desert heat? Is he counting down the days till he escapes his small town? Is she floating inside a spaceship? You want to avoid info-dumping at all cost, so take these details and sprinkle them in your novel. 

In addition to setting, a diary straightens your timeline. If you have ever kept a diary, you may recall putting a date on the top of a page. Don't ignore these dates--you need them! This will help you keep a daily track of the events in your novel. Sure, you want to show off the exciting and terrifying scenes, but you also need to give your chapters a breather. You will confuse your readers if you're time-hopping, so make sure you create smooth transitions.

At the very least, give your character a bathroom break between the scenes. Geez. 

2. Diaries are great for interior monologue 
When I look back at my old diaries, I was quite expressive with my feelings. When I was mad, I WROTE LIKE THIS! 

When I was in a good mood, every sentence had multiple exclamation marks!(!!!!)

When I was crushing on someone, I rambled on and on and on and on...
When I was sad, I can't...deal...with...all...this...sadness...

Yeah. So expressive. 

If you think about, that's what diaries do--they help you express your inner thoughts; things you don't want to say out loud. Interior monologue is basically a piece of writing that expresses a character's thoughts, and that's why your character's diary is handy! Your character's diary can really help you dig deeper in their complex emotions.

Whether you're writing in first or third person perspective, you can easily find some good passages and change them up. If your manuscript is told from multiple point of views, that can be fun. 

So you might be asking, "How can I show my other characters' interior monologue if the story is told from one perspective?" You can still express their inner thoughts, but in a different way. 

For example, now that I have a better understanding of my protagonist's mother, I can translate her thoughts into her actions, tone of voice, her facial expressions, and word choices. Like my protagonist, she also has a motive, so her diary helps me establish her movement and motivation. 

3. Your character will feel authentic to you and your readers
When we write in our diaries, we reveal so much of our desires, fears, likes, dislikes, and an abundance of ourselves in these pages. Our characters are doing the same thing with their diaries--they're showing us who they are. 

You don't have to spend a lot of money on a fancy schmancy journal from Barnes and Noble. You can buy cheap notebooks from Wal-Mart, or any local pharmacies. Every time I stop by those stores, I always have to think like my characters--does she like cute kittens on the cover? Does she like notebooks with inspirational quotes? Does she not give a darn about these things, and is happy with a plain composition book?

Oh, if you're into colored pens like me, get them! Like the notebooks, I also assign colored pens for my characters, too. Colors have different meaning, and they can reflect your characters' mood. 

Depending on the character, I usually throw in stickers, pictures, song lyrics, cards, ticket, or something small that has a huge meaning. We tend to keep little things that hold great significance, so why not our characters?

In a way, I guess it's kinda like a mini scrap-book. 

My pretty pens.

So if you have a character who is giving you a silent treatment, give this method a try. 

Your quiet characters will thank you for making an attempt to read their minds.