FUN WITH FOILS

Yeah.

All stories are built on conflict, however large or small. All stories are built on contrast, however vast or subtle. You might be a bit stumped in just how to "color" your characters in, or you want to "cross-section" your story and what your characters bring out in each other.

Here are a few things to think about when building your characters and their relationships.

PIN DOWN YOUR STARTING POINTS

Chances are, you already have an idea of who your story's protagonist is and where you want to go with them. What trait(s) of your protagonist are relevant to the main story? What is the role of your second character in relation to your protagonist? Do they look out for your protagonist? Or bring out their irresponsible side? Or even bring out your protagonist's sweet side?

Conversely, is your "second character" so similar to your protagonist that they "hold up a mirror to them"?

What is your "second character"'s relationship to your protagonist? Close? Distant? Awkward? Are they someone your protagonist cannot avoid, or someone they can avoid, but chooses not to?

Whether starting from your protagonist or your story itself, thinking "opposites" in relation to what you have (whether partially or wholly) is a good place to start and a thematic "cheat" to move forward with.

Once you have an idea who these two "opposing" characters are, know that a "foil" in a story itself is not to "create" traits within the telling of the story, but to emphasize the traits they have already.

The difference in body language between The Fortune Cookie's Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon)

and brother-in-law "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (Walter Matthau) says it all.

THINK BEYOND THE PHYSICAL

With your foils, their contrasts aren't just in the form of actions and physical traits, but also attitudes, experiences, pasts, and goals. Your two characters might technically have the same goal in mind, but their motivations for going after it may differ, or start to diverge throughout the story.

Since Gingrich is a known thorn in the side of insurance company 

lawyers O'Brien, Thompson, and Kinkaid, it's not a stretch to assume 

he's using the Hinkle case to stick it to them as well.

HAVE YOUR CONTRASTS MAKE SENSE

Remember when building your characters, contrasts, and their role as foils that their traits should still make logical sense for your setting, tone, etc. A good writer might seemingly be able to write around anything, but these contrasts should still be true to what you want your story to accomplish.

Willie, Harry, and Harry's ex-wife Sandy (Judi West) represent three ultimately-

opposing motivations in their effort to receive a large insurance indemnity.

HOW MUCH WILL YOU EMPHASIZE YOUR DIFFERENCES?

Depending on where your story goes, your characters' contrasts don't necessarily have to be stark or diametric. Your characters might seem peachy-keen in their interactions at your story's start, only for tensions between them to rise. Or they seem diametrically-opposed at first, only to come to realize they are not so different from each other.

Oftentimes, I find that the most nuanced sets of foils come from placing the contrasts more subtly, i.e. characters with similar motivations become more obsessive of even the smallest differences between them. This more absurdist angle would be right at home in a comedy.

Actually, that's pretty much this guy's job in a nutshell.

Remember the role of tone, after all. Your foils should fall right in line with it.

WRITE OUT A "T " (OR OTHER KIND OF) CHART

Any good story will make it easy for you to pick out, compare, and contrast a pair (or more) of foils. In terms of "cross-sectioning" something you've already written or put together, a "T" chart is the simplest way to see your foils broken down side-by-side.

Here's an example from my own work, concerning the characters of J and H:

Yes, believe it or not, J and H are friends, albeit not in an ideal friendship. The "push and pull" between them is apparent right away, and with H using J the way he does, something is bound to happen over the course of the story.

Built upon proven character archetypes and "little details", you can see how J and H view and interact with each other. And keep in mind, this chart only shows how these two characters operate together. With other characters in the same story, different things will happen.

Keeping in mind the role of "opposites" and the like will help you find new directions for your characters, refine the contrasts within your story, and bring it to its full character, dramatic, and/or comedic potential.

Different, but not so different.

Copyright © Chynna Moore