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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a copy of
Pride and Prejudice must be in want of a Mr. Darcy. All right, so that's not factually
correct, but there are plenty of people who see a great amount of appeal in his character.
Why is that? Well today I want to talk to you about something I have come to call the
Darcy Factor. Simply put, the Darcy Factor is when a reader is drawn to a character in
a story to the point where they constantly anticipate the character's next appearance.
Have you ever flicked through the pages of a next chapter to see if you can spot your
favourite character's name? If you have, you know what I'm talking about. Now not everyone
is going to like the same characters. For instance, you might like a character who is
so nice that she giggles butterflies. Whereas someone else might find that a gross annoyance.
My favourite character might be a bitter *** who bullies children. Someone else's reaction
to that might be, 'What the hell is wrong with you?' A character with the Darcy Factor
is not someone everyone is going to like, but they are more likely to make an impact.
You may have heard that Twilight is very loosely based on Pride and Prejudice. This is because
Stephenie Meyer utilised the Darcy Factor. People can say all they want about the plot
being rubbish or the character being whiny, but the reason Meyer hit the jackpot is because
she built excitement in her readers towards the character, Edward. A book where I was
addicted to a particular character was Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones. Yes,
it is a book for those of you who didn't know. Read it. The character in question is a Welsh,
male, cowardly drama queen who is also a womanising wizard. Jones knew how to take such a charismatic
presence of a man and intersperse him through the plot, so despite the fact that his name
is in the title he wasn't present the entire time. Thus giving the reader enough separation
to anticipate his reappearance. Of course, the Darcy Factor has nothing to do with a
character who is in any way like Fitzwilliam Darcy, or whose role in a story is as a romantic
interest. My favourite fictional character is Severus Snape from the Harry Potter books.
Yeah, that example from before? Not hypothetical. Sure, there are plenty of women who gush about
how attracted they are to Snape or how he's their ideal man...but they're nuts. The reason
I love his character is because J.K. Rowling knew how to build intrigue around him in the
Philosopher's Stone. It was as those my brain was being pulled by an invisible thread. I
was so curious to know more about him. Also, every time he entered the story there was
conflict. I knew something would happen. Eve n if you hated his character, his very appearance
made an impact. He got under the reader's skin. I believe that there are three essential
elements that when applied to a character are the ingredients for perfecting the Darcy
Factory. Intrigue: Your character must be interesting. That doesn't mean that he needs
to play three types of instrument or juggle while riding his unicycle to work. They just
need a personality that captivates your reader's attention. Also, don't describe a character
as "mysterious" or "aloof." If you have to point it out, they aren't. Conflict: If your
character is fine and dandy with everything, I don't care what they do because it will
have no impact on the story. Your character shouldn't just face conflict, they should
cause it. The words they use and the actions they take need to matter and can't be easily
resolved. Tension: This is unlike conflict because it is the things left unsaid and unacted
on which remain between two people, times or places. If a character's mere presence
brings about tension in a scene, you're doing it right. So I hope that helps elaborate on
the phenomenon that is the Darcy Factor and please let me know if there are any characters
you've encountered that possess it.