The Relationship Equation
I consider myself a very character-oriented writer. I'm all about character arcs.
They're my favorite things ever.
But only recently did I become all about character relationship arcs. In the course of my research, I've found there are relatively few sources out there that discuss developing character relationships.
So, to solve that problem, I developed a quasi-mathematical equation to help me and other writers understand the basics of character relationships.
Let’s start with a Confession: I’m going to be honest upfront. I hate math. No, I don’t just hate it. I LOATHE it.
Image Source: Internet
I'm an English major for crying out loud.
But I've found that very simple math can help visually explain important principles of fiction. If you hate math too, maybe I can convince you that this is at least worth looking at.
My Goal: To give you an equation that can help you understand how relationships work in real life.
Purpose: So you can improve your characters’ relationships and, by extension, the overall story in your WIP.
Disclaimer: I’m not a relationship expert. I'm not a psychologist or therapist. But I do have some experience with relationships in my own life. And, as it turns out, that's really all you need.
Definitions…
In K. M. Weiland’s Creating Character Arcs, she writes,
“Too often, character and plot are viewed as separate entities—to the point that we often pit them against each other, trying to determine which is more important. But nothing could be further from the truth. Plot and character are integral to one another. Remove either one from the equation…and you risk creating a story that may have some awesome parts, but which will not be an awesome whole.”
In short, character is inextricably linked to story and plot.
To put it mathematically:
Story = Relationships
But that's not the equation I want to talk about.
Image Source: Adobe Stock
The more authentic the relationships are in our fiction, the more authentic your story will be, and the more involved our audience will be. This is because we are social creatures. In general, we strive at all costs to relate to others. We've developed this trait in order for our species to survive.
So, if a protagonist’s character arc is integral to the plot, then relationships that protagonist has, whether it be with major or minor characters, form the web of your story.
First, let's define what a relationship is as it will help define necessary terms for the equation.
My definition:
A relationship is a shared experience with obstacles which informs bias and affects motivation and how that motivation is expressed in the story.
This is a loaded definition. Let's break it down:
1. Shared experience
2. Obstacles
3. Informs character bias
4. Affects character motivation
5. How that character expresses the motivation
Pro Tip: Obstacles in any character's relationship should always showcase the most important traits in your characters. If you create a list of obstacles that highlight your character's most important traits, you already have a working outline for your story.
The Relationship Formula
Image Source: Adobe Stock
Now, for the thing you've all been waiting for. I reveal to you…the Relationship Formula:
R = C + C*
Where R = Relationship and C = Character
*The most basic relationship requires at least two people.
We learn from the definition of Relationship that character can be broken up into two terms:
Character (C) = Motivation (M) and Experience Bias (B)
Let's discuss these terms.
Motivation: The thing that incites the character to act. Their actions are expressions of motivation. In other words, motivation drives an inevitable action response. Without motivation, the character stands and watches the sun set on their lives and dreams. In short, the characters do nothing without motivation.
Experience Bias: Our own personal experience which is perceived as the “whole truth” rather than just part of the truth.
Everyone in the world is biased. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s just a fact of life. We carry around our own view of the world…called worldviews! And the relationships we develop over the course of our lives inform our experience biases.
Is this a lot to grasp? Hang in there with me. I'm a visual person, so let's see if we can express this in a visual way:
Character (C) = Motivation (M) x Experience Bias (B)
Therefore…
(R) = (M x B)…
Relationship = Motivation times Experience Bias.
That's it. If you know your protagonist's motivation and experience bias (or worldview), then you can create interesting relationships with other characters.
Character Motivation
Next, I want to dive deeper into Character Motivation and how you can use it to affect character actions in relationships (and, by extension, make your relationships more real and engaging for the reader). This is, in my opinion, the most important part of the equation.
This is not an exhaustive list. Only a few ways I came up with. See if you can come up with some of your own.
A few ways you can use character motivation to affect how characters act in their relationships are:
Having their motivation reveal their perceived role in the relationship.
What are your characters' perceived roles in the relationship? Who thinks they're the leader? Who thinks they're the follower?
Using a character's conflicting motivations to create tension in the relationship. In which case, your equation might look like this (as if this wasn't complex enough):
(R) = (M1 x M2 x B)
The important thing to remember here is that people are complicated and can be motivated by different things and those motivations can, at times, conflict with each other.
Image Source: Lucasfilms
For example, let's say you're…a farm boy who grew up on a desert planet and you really, really want to get off that rock. You help your uncle every year but can't see an end in sight. Then suddenly, a space wizard appears! And offers you a way to leave, and you suddenly come face to face with your fears. Yes, you're motivated to leave but this isn't how you imagined it would be. You wanted to join the Academy. You're also motivated to help your aunt and uncle run their moisture farm for another year because it's safe. It's the world you know.
Your mixed motivations give you pause, creating a little conflict with the space wizard.
Image Source: Avon
Showing how proactive (or not) the character is in the relationship. Sometimes a lack of motivation can be a source of conflict and tension within a relationship.
Tying motivations (and relationships) intrinsically to the stakes of the story. If stories are about relationships, you could argue that relationships ARE the stakes in the story. For example, in romance stories, they're all about if the main relationship will survive until the end of the book.
Pitting a character’s worldview against another’s. This is great when you have a group of characters that are forced to work together but disagree with each other's point of view.
Showing how characters’ backstories motivate their actions in the present. You could say that a character's motivation is founded on their backstories. We don't need to know your character's entire backstory, but it should be shown in little bite-sized pieces throughout the story.
The list can go on.
Lastly, I want to give you some questions to think about while you're developing your characters' motivations, biases, and relationships:
(M)otivation = What is your character thinking?
(B)ias = Why do they feel that way?
(R)elationship = How do the other characters they are interacting with feel and think?
Ask these questions for your Protagonist, Minor Characters, and Antagonist. These questions will help feed into your story's tensions, struggles, and the ultimate outcome of the story.
I know some writers will create character relationship arcs in addition to character arcs. They try and show how relationships evolve over the course of the story, and I think that’s a really good idea that more writers should adopt.
You could organize it into a Three Act structure or whatever feels natural to you. Character relationships are complex. They change and evolve over time. We, as writers, need to spend time learning how they work in real life so we can show them more authentically in our fiction.
How does this connect to other learning?
The Relationship Equation connects to the principle of character development, which is a common skill that all writers spend their lives perfecting. In this case, it is character relationship development.
Image Source: Adobe Stock
“What do I do now?” -you
Take your current WIP (or your brand new story), and do the following:
Develop your web of characters
Apply the relationship equation to them by developing their motivations and biases
Create connections between characters that are natural and authentic
Be conscious of the state of various relationships at the beginning of the story
Develop obstacles that showcase important traits in your characters that affect the relationship in the middle of the story
Show the different state of the relationship at the end of the story
You're looking for how one character's motivation and biases (which may not be interesting in and of themselves) make interesting interactions with another character's motivation and biases. Then create a relationship arc that evolves over time in a fascinating way.
