Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABC - Character;s Actions #MFRWauthor #Am writing

Last week we looked at the way characters reacted to situations. Reaction often calls for action. Keeping the action consistent can be a problem. Remember the action must be natural for the character's nature and to the seriousness of the situation to which he or she is reacting.

Take a man who learns the woman he's been dating is also dating another person. Th make his actions work you must consider a number of things. How long have they been dating? How important is she to him? Did they have an exclusivity bit between them.

For the man to react to an action such as murder, you'd better make sure he and the girl have been in an exclusive relationship for more than a week or two. Also is he looking at others?

Does he shrug off what happened. This would work if they were just dating with no exclusivity.

So as you see the action provoked by the reaction needs to be logical or the matter will become a tempest in a teapot. Knowing your character is important to making the fiction work.