Character, Character, Character!

Heard of the movie? I’d read a couple of reviews, watched the trailer, and knew it was sad. So, armed with tissues, five of us toddled off to the local cinema.

Everything seemed normal at first. There were the usual sounds of lolly bags being wrestled open, frozen Cokes hurtling up straws, low-key chatter during the ads and previews. And then, the instant the movie began, a collective ‘Awwwwwww?’ erupted from all around us. Loud, shrill, and very, very female.

I looked at my bestie. She looked at me. I caught my daughter’s eye and then that of her friend. They both raised eyebrows and shrugged, as did my sister-in-law next to me. What was going on?

Teenage girls, that’s what.

The ‘awwww’s just kept on coming – every time Augustus spoke. Every time he smiled. Every time he so much as raised an eyebrow.

And then came the tears. Except they weren’t just tears. They were sobs. Violent ones. So loud in some parts we couldn’t actually hear the movie. The girl in front of me rocked as she cried into a jumper shoved against her mouth. And I kid you not, the girl behind me was curled in a foetal position. And then, when I looked around, I saw there were literally hundreds of them doing it. Yeah, I was a little freaked.

Once the movie ended (and it was a beautiful story), us twenty-, forty- and fifty-somethings stayed glued in our seats, watching the aftermath with a kind of macabre fascination. Girls sat huddled on the stairs, arms around each other. Group selfies were taken, even videos. After fifteen gobsmacked minutes, we left them to it.

So why did this happen? Why did this movie have such an effect on these girls?

I asked one of them (several had recognised me from their primary school days where I’d been a teacher) and she was more than willing to explain. Between sobs, that is. Yep, she was still crying and shaking twenty minutes after the credits had finished.

She had read the book, she said, over and over. As had all her friends. She was going home to read the book again if she could. She mightn’t because she’d probably get even more upset. She just LOVED the characters. They meant so much to her.

Talk about a smack between the eyes. (Me, I mean, not my young friend J)

These girls would have had the same reaction if Hazel and Augustus had been Medieval peasants rather than contemporary Americans. Why? Because John Green, the author of 'The Fault in Our Stars', had made them so real and engaging, they had leapt off the page and into their hearts.

So, I’m throwing it out there by saying this:

If my characters don’t connect with my readers, I’m wasting my time.

I could have the most beautiful and eloquently described setting; a clever and intriguing plot; godly themes. But if I have wooden rather than resonating characters, my story will be weak and illicit only a small amount of empathy. And that’s the last thing I want.

I’m a visual learner. Therefore, my movie experience was a brilliant, God-given eye-opener. Because I saw the impact on several hundred lives made by excellently crafted characters. And as a writer (and a Christian), I have the potential to do that. It may take a lot of practice, but I’m determined to get there. Anyone want to join me?

About Andrea Grigg

Andrea writes contemporary romance. Her second novel Too Pretty will be released on August 1 by Rhiza Press. Her first novel A Simple Mistake was a finalist in the CALEB Awards 2012

Andrea would love to hear from you via her website or Facebook page:
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