Novel Characters...Need Some Opinions

[RavynKarasu]

As some of you already know, I'm writing a novel pertaining to the wrestling entertainment industry. It's a fictional novel, though some characters are based on actual wrestlers [loosely] and some are characters from my other novels...and some are made up specifically for this novel.

I'm still working on the overall plot, so I'm still unable to share a proper synopsis with you. However, I've been having trouble deciding how to handle certain aspects of the characters and how you learn about them in the story.

Do you people generally enjoy a backstory to certain characters? Do you want to know WHY certain characters are the way they are? If they have families? Their quirks? etc? I mean, I would like to develop these characters so they are fun to follow as characters...I take pride in bringing my characters to life. However, the side and back stories are only part of the process for this.

I find the idea a bit complex because you have the backstories of the characters [which are brief and likely just mentioned during their conversations], the wrestling arc storyline [for the in-ring stuff], plus the actual story which is what is happening outside of the ring.

Is this sort of multi-layered story okay with readers like you? I mean, I wanted to focus on wrestling fans as my target market...and y'all are a little complex for me. Obviously, fans read. Wrestlers are constantly releasing books about their lives and Mick Foley has been rather successful with his endeavors in writing.

So my question is: How much backstory do you expect for a character? How much should I cover...or does it depend on the character and how important that character is to the story? Since several of the characters are from other novels, I want to tread carefully anyway so I don't give away too much of the details of the stories they come from. Does the multi-layered storyline pose a problem? Or, is it fine, since each part is separated clearly?

[Example: Storyline between...I dunno...Zack Ryder and The Miz. They are at each other's throat in their story arc in the ring...but then they go off together as buddies to get pizza together and discuss the match or talk about their girlfriends...I dunno. In-ring story...then their real life stuff].

Anyone have any opinions or thoughts on that? Y'all's suggestions may help me decide how to construct the story.


ALSO...been having some issues with the whole in-ring thing. I have to research the basic names for the moves and how to properly use them and design them into new moves [and there will be some fantastical movies you probably won't see in real life wrestling...but not a whole lot]. My problem is...how much of the in-ring action should I write out? Should I only do the whole matches some of the time...or every time? Should I describe parts of the matches and not others? Since there are several aspects to the novel's overall plot, how MUCH would you read about the actual matches themselves before it just got old/boring/annoying/repetitive?

Any thoughts or suggestions about how to put that together?

 

[PlaceboEffect89]

Excellent question... I think the specific character's importance to the story should determine how much time you spend on back story as well as in-ring action. Back story is always good for character building, to get in your head what this person is and stands for while you're writing, but maybe not all that important to the story itself, as long as you present a likable character who's fun to read about.
While I have so much more I could say here, I'm gonna have to cut it short for now...
But another piece of advice I would give you is to maybe take a look at the movie The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. While not very heavy on in-ring action, it gives a lot of insight to the lives of your average wrestler in an independent circuit. Could provide some inspiration for a deep behind-the-curtain plot line? I'd enjoy it, personally.

 

[Aids Johnson]

Me, Dolphs, Crayo, and TeehGohan Sandy Fappage are all great ideas. The problem for you, two of us are smart enough to want royalties, one will do it for site promotion, and the last is Blue.

 

[PlaceboEffect89]

Me, Dolphs, Crayo, and TeehGohan Sandy Fappage are all great ideas. The problem for you, two of us are smart enough to want royalties, one will do it for site promotion, and the last is Blue.

:dawg:

 

[RavynKarasu]

Excellent question... I think the specific character's importance to the story should determine how much time you spend on back story as well as in-ring action. Back story is always good for character building, to get in your head what this person is and stands for while you're writing, but maybe not all that important to the story itself, as long as you present a likable character who's fun to read about.
While I have so much more I could say here, I'm gonna have to cut it short for now...
But another piece of advice I would give you is to maybe take a look at the movie The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. While not very heavy on in-ring action, it gives a lot of insight to the lives of your average wrestler in an independent circuit. Could provide some inspiration for a deep behind-the-curtain plot line? I'd enjoy it, personally.

That's a good option...if Netflix has it, we may take a look. I just worry about one thing if I look to a movie for inspiration. I worry that people will think I've knocked it off or tried to cash in on something it had...when that was never my intention.

In reality "Win For the Ring" was created as a joke when hubby and I made some custom wrestlers in the video games and we started making up stories to go with them [not the custom stories...but just thought up as we played]. It kinda evolved from there and became more of its own thing [though we do still enjoy creating some of the characters for the video games just for kicks].

However, I suppose that people will think what they want to think no matter how hard I try to do the best I can. I do like that it's an option that I can focus more on story than action...while still putting a little action in. It was sort of what I had hoped for. I do want to do some matches...but significant ones...not just any. The matches I focused on were supposed to show something about the characters in them...or move the story along in an obvious or even foreshadowing sort of way.

I also worry about numbers. We picked 30 wrestlers so there would be 15 on each side...and likely there will be others on the "corporate" side [which is kinda like the WWE sort of status]...but I didn't want to do more than insignificant passes [like your regular background nobodies] for them...and for the 30 characters I've chosen...only a few of them will be taking center stage. We chose 30 so that I had the option to do different things...but I'll likely pick like 3-5 on each side to be our main focus.

While I share information about the professional wrestlers, most of the more intricate information will be from the independent wrestlers...who are kinda the people to root for in this story.

Still working out the details so that will make sense late when I share the synopsis. It'll be a lot of fun.

I just figured...since my knowledge is limited [though I am a fan of WWE], it would be nice to get some thoughts and opinions from other, more dedicated and knowledgeable fans...since you guys would likely be the ones to read something of that nature.

When I published my first novel, I had a market in mind, but never really discussed anything with communities that were of the same interest. So, I published the book and people who were interested in the topic were slightly interested that a new book came out yet...didn't seem all too eager to devour it.

I have written other novels in a more comfortable genre and topic. My published piece "Akhetaten's Gates" was a comical historical fiction...also labeled as a spiritual adventure. Not my normal topic. I normally write...I suppose fantasies/dark fantasies the most...but I dabble in all genres if the mood hits me right.

Being unfamiliar with how to handle the information in this area, I want to please the readers in this target area and present a novel that is interesting, fun, exciting, a bit informative, etc. I was worried that, if I published it, wrestling fans would be offended at my lack of respect or knowledge. That's why I'm taking it so carefully. I want to be respectful and knowledgeable, yet still be able to put some fantastic stuff in as well [not like magic spells or anything].

So any feedback from those interested, I appreciate it and I do read every response and want to weigh in every option very carefully. I can't please everybody, but I damn well want to try to please enough people to be satisfied that I did the best I could and it paid off. ^-^

:win: