Consistency

We continue our series with Benjamin Collier as he discusses the art of storytelling, particularly the reasons for character consistency. Here is Ben’s post on The Message in your story – part 3.

“Whatever your message, make sure the story you are creating (the world, the characters, the events) is actually compatible. I’ve seen writers completely change characters part way through, or change the way that their world works, in order to try to accommodate a particular message…”

“Recently the comic book community was in an uproar because Captain America revealed that he had been a Hydra agent this whole time. That simply doesn’t make sense, and the fans know that. Not because it’s weird for a character to switch sides, but because we’ve seen things from Captain America’s perspective, and we know that it doesn’t fit his views of himself or the world. The revelation asked people to ignore what they already knew for the sake of a plot twist. Fans were understandably upset.

When we’ve already seen things from that character’s perspective and they are clearly one way or another, and then you ask the audience to ignore all of that for the sake of pretending that they had always been another way, then you lose the confidence of your audience. Why should they take anything you say seriously after that?” …

Intrigued? Read on at The Message – part 3 Consistency

If you missed parts 1 and 2, you can catch up here:

The Message – part 1 Hidden Gems

The Message – part 2 Factual Thinking

You can read all of Ben’s posts on his blog at benjaminfrog.com

Pick up your copy of Ben’s book, The Storyteller’s Handbook

Happy writing everyone!

Lynne & Kirstie