Writing Advice and Inspiration: Character Part 2/12

This is the next chapter in the Writing Fiction novel.  It focuses on

what is a good character, and how to create one.  Enjoy!

CHAPTER 2

CHARACTER:  CASTING SHADOW

By Brandi Reissenweber

When you read fiction, you are, first and foremost, meeting people.  Characters are the core of a story and interact with or influence every other element of fiction.  Characters are what drive a story, carrying the reader from the first to last page, making readers care.

Good writers create a sense that their characters are people--physical, emotional, living, breathing, thinking people.  As a writer, you want your reader to feel that your characters are substantial, authentic, dimensional.  Real enough to cast shadow.

THE BEAT OF DESIRE

Desire beats in the heart of every dimensional character.  A character should want something.  Desire is a driving force of human nature and, applied to characters, it creates a steam of momentum to drive a story forward.

The grandness or simplicity of the desire is not important as long as the character wants it badly.  A strong desire helps the reader identify and sympathize with the character, whereas a character without a strong desire will bore your readers.

One of the benefits of spending time drawing a main character who has a strong desire is that the story line will grow organically from the character's need.

Description, no matter how brilliantly crafted, cannot carry a story.

YOUR TURN:

Think of a character.  If that's too vague, make this character some kind of performer--actor, singer, magician--who has hit middle age and is finding that his or her career is now mostly faded glory.  Or use a parent or child who is having difficulty with his or her own  parent or child.  Then think of a specific desire for this character.  One driving desire.  Make the desire something concrete--money, a career break, the touch of a certain person--instead of an abstract desire like love or personal growth.  Once you find the character and desire, jot them down.  We'll be coming back to this character shortly.

HUMAN COMPLEXITY

Nothing is less compelling in a story than a character who acts like a million other characters you've encountered, exhibiting only one facet.  It's easy enough to fall into this trap because it's so easy to see people as types.

When you create characters, explore the specific and unique details that will make them more complex; not a type but a real person. We carry with us our histories, our experiences, our memories, each of our bundles distinctly different from anyone else's.  Craft characters in the same fashion.

Writers are sometimes drawn specifically to the allure of the all-good or all-evil character,, which is another version of the typecast character.  Unless you're writing a fairy tale, you'll want to avoid these extremes.  Whether your characters meet misfortune or not, flaws will make them more interesting and authentic.

Literature is filled with great villians.  Part of what makes them so compelling is the tiny bit of ourselves we can see in them.  Usually there is something, however small, that a reader can relate to.  

YOUR TURN:

Recall the worst person you've ever met.  A psychotic boss, a back-stabbing friend, a playground bully.  Or make someone up.  Next assign one redeeming quality to this character--kindness, courtesy, sympathy, a fondness for animals.  Then write a passage with this person in action.  Perhaps you show a sadistic ex-spouse helping a homeless person find shelter, or a bank robber arranging a baby-sitter on behalf of a woman he's just tied up.  The result?  A fully dimensional villain.

CONTRASTING TRAITS

A fascinating element of human nature is that we all possess contrasting traits, sometimes subtle, other times greatly conflicting. Regardless of what kind of contrasting traits you give your characters, keep in mind that contrasts do not leap forward and way, Here I am, a contrast!  Revel in my humanity!  The reader should experience the tension, not be spotting contrasts like stop signs along the road.

YOUR TURN:

Return to the character for whom you created a desire.  Now give this person two contrasting traits.  Let's say you chose an actress hoping to win an audition.  Maybe she's overly considerate to people but turns into a witch if she feels slighted by someone.  Jot down the contrasting traits.  We'll be coming back to this character again soon.

CONSISTENCY

All actions and behaviors should seem authentic and true to the character based on what you have established.  Contrasting qualities are moments of humanness.

Characters can do something "out of character" as long as you show the reader a glimmer of that tendency ahead of time.

Nothing is worse than walking away from a story thinking there is no way that character would have done that action.  Even if readers are very surprised by what your character does (which is a good thing), the characterization should still be consistent.

You do want a sense of surprise in your characterizations; it's part of what creates a satisfying sense of journey and discovery in a story.

You want your characters to be consistent, but you don't want characters who are completely straightforward and predictable, so much that they are incapable of discrepancy or change.

THE ABILITY TO CHANGE

Characters should possess the ability to change, and the reader should see this potential.  Just as the desire of a main character drives the story, the character's change is often the culmination.  If you don't create the potential for change, the character will feel predictable and the reader will quickly lose interest.  

YOUR TURN:

Return to the character for whom you have created a desire and contrasting traits.  Time to bring this character to life.  Write a passage where this character is pursuing his or her desire in some way.  For example, perhaps the actress is traveling to an audition she was not invited to.  (Oh, yes, it'll help tremendously if you put some obstacles in the character's path.)  You don't have to bring this "quest" to a conclusion, but have something happen that allows both contrasting traits to emerge and also try to include some hint that the character is capable of change.  That's a lot of juggling, so don't worry if it comes out a little clumsy.  Dimension doesn't always happen overnight.

WHERE CHARACTERS COME FROM

Inspiration for characters is everywhere.  Writers often construct characters by beginning with interesting people or characteristics of people they know.  Some writers even start with their own personality as a basis for a character and build from there.  

Starting with people you know, including yourself, lets you create characters that spring from a strong foundation of knowledge and intimacy.

However, keep in mind that when you deal with real people, you have to leave room for creative invention.  You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out if you're writing the story "right" or if the actual person would do what you have them doing.  Much better to let yourself fictionalize these people, transform them into characters that suit the needs of your story.  

People watching is a great activity for developing characters.  

GETTING TO KNOW THEM

Take the time to get to know your characters as if they were good friends, even the unpleasant characters whom you would probably not befriend in real life.

Investing time during the developmental stages helps you understand your characters more intimately, which allows you to put them on the page with more authenticity.

CATEGORIES:

Appearance:  Think of your character in three dimensions, taking up space.  The style and presence with which characters inhabit the world reveal a great deal about their personality and attitude.

Background:  While we certainly can't make sweeping value judgements about characters' backgrounds, the characters will undoubtedly be impacted by their previous experiences.  How they grew up, how they loved, lost, learned...all these things will help to shape them.

Personality:  This is shaped largely by the previous two categories, the end result of everything the person is and has been.  A character's personality contains the larger truths of the person, which will indicate how he/she will react and act in the story.

Primary Identity:  What is your character's primary definition of him/herself.  Ask your character, 'Who are you?'  The answer to that question is usually what the person identifies with most strongly, how he defines himself.  

QUESTIONS:

• What is your character's name?  Does the character have a nick-name?
• What is your character's hair color?  Eye color?
• What kind of distinguishing facial features does your character have?  Does your character have a birthmark?  Where is it?  What about scars?  How did he get them?
• Who are your character's friends and family?  Who does she surround herself with?  Who are the people your character is closest to?  Who does he wish he were closest to?
• Where was your character born?  Where has she lived since then? Where does she call home?
• Where does your character go when he's angry?
• What is her biggest fear?  Who has she told this to?  Who should she never tell this to?  Why?
• Does she have a secret?
• What makes your character laugh out loud?
• When has your character been in love?  Had a broken heart?
• ETC...

The novelist E. M. Foster, wrote that a character is real when the writer knows everything about him: "He may not choose to tell all he knows--many of the facts, even of the kind we call obvious, may be hidden  But he will give us the feeling that though this character has not been explained, it is explicable..."

YOUR TURN:

Go out into the world and find a character.  Observe someone you don't know, like a fellow diner in a restaurant, or someone you know only a little, like the bank cashier you see once a week.  Talk to him or her, if you like, though you don't have to.  Make some notes, mental or written.  Then fill in the unknown blanks of this person by answering all or most of the suggested questions on the preceding pages.  You'll be making up most of the details, but that's okay.  This is fiction.

KINDS OF CHARACTERS

Not all characters must be developed with the same depth.  Your main concern with characterization falls on the most prominent characters in your story.  All the dimensional aspects we've discussed--desire, complexity, contrast, consistency, change--invariably come into play with a story's protagonist.

Stories sometimes include an antagonist, a person who poses a formidable obstacle to the protagonist's desire.  But antagonists don't have to be "bad."

Secondary characters are the supporting cast.  Some of the secondary characters will go through a bit of development, but not of the same intensity as the main characters.

Extras are the character who populate the fictional world but don't have a significant impact on the story.

Round and Flat characters.  Round characters are fully developed and lifelike, possessing the qualities we've discussed in this chapter.  E. M. Foster notes that a round character is capable of surprising the reader in a convincing way, which echoes the need for contrast and consistency in characterization.  Flat characters are those who are characterized only by their role or a minor action.  

SHOWING AND TELLING

How do we put seemingly real people on the page, conveying a sense of their total humanity using not blood, flesh, and muscle, but merely words?

Showing and telling.  Sometimes it is most efficient for the narrator to just tell the reader about a character.  

But do not over rely on telling.

Revealing information through showing is generally more interesting than telling about it, because showing gives the reader more with which to engage activity.

The trick in showing instead of telling is to find the specific details that will convey the necessary information while the reader's attention stays on the character's emotion and actions--the interesting stuff.

The readers attention stays focused on the action, which creates momentum and tension while also conveying bits of characterization.

Showing also allows you to slow down and reveal the character's intricacies gradually.  Those things about you that make you human and individual reveal themselves gradually over time to the people around you.  This same thing happens in fiction, only it doesn't take a lifetime.

FOUR WAYS TO SHOW:

Action: 

Action is in demand in stories because it reveals so much to the reader.  Action is usually the strongest method of revealing a character.  While all actions are revealing, the actions a character takes in the time of crisis often cut to the core of the character's true self and intentions.

Speech: 

What people say, how they say it, and what they don't say are all very illumination.  If you want to get to know someone, what do you do?  You talk to them.

Appearance:  

A glimpse of someone can give you a lot of information about his personality:  physical looks, clothing style, gait, and facial expressions.  The way a character appears gives the reader information about how this person presents himself and occupy space in the world.  Don't just go for the obvious when focusing on your character's appearance.  

Thought:  

Fiction has the pliancy to get inside the characters' minds, often with more grace and depth than any other forms of storytelling.  In movies and plays thought is not as easily conveyed, but in fiction the character's thoughts can be bared directly to the reader.

A SYMPHONY OF METHODS

Use these four methods--action, speech, appearance, thought--in concert to create a sense of depth in the moment-to-moment experience of the story.  In real life, we experience people in a variety of ways, often simultaneously, and mixing the methods re-creates this sense of reality.

The four methods of showing can also work in opposition with one another to interesting effect.

Often a truth is revealed about a person when there is a discrepancy between two or more of the four methods of showing:  action, speech, appearance, and thought.

Effective fiction makes use of all four methods of showing characters, whether the methods are supporting or contradicting each other.  The idea is to blend them.

YOUR TURN:

Return to the character for whom you filled out the questionnaire.  You're going to put this (now fictional) person into the world and let him reveal himself.  Imagine this person is entering the waiting room of a therapist's office for the first time.  The type of therapy is up to you, but chances are this person will be feeling a little stressed.  Keeping the character in the waiting room, write a passage where he is revealed through all four of these "showing" methods.  Fr a bonus round, you can put this character in an even more stressful situation, like observing someone being held at gunpoint.  What will your character do then?

ONLY RELEVANT DETAILS

But when you shape your characters into the context of a story, make sure to pick and choose carefully what details you include.  Resist the urge to stuff in everything.  

Every character detail included in your fiction should work to advance or enhance the story you are telling.  Don't let extraneous details sit around cluttering up your characterization.  

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Last, names are not trivial; they should feel right for the character.  Granted, your parents likely named you before they even met you, and certainly before you developed a significant personality, but as an author, you have the opportunity to let the name of a character play a role in the characterization.  

Avoid wishy-washy names that don't say much about the character.

Avoid giving all your characters similar names, as that only serves to confuse the reader.  

Look for ways to reveal something about your characters through their names.

Names can also be revealing in more subtle ways.

YOUR TURN:

Go to the phone book.  Open it up and point to a name, any name.  That person is your character.  Think about who that person might really be.  Or what character would live well with that particular name.  Let a picture form in your mind.  If you like, jot down random details about this character.  If you're so inspired you may apply this character to any of the previous exercises in this chapter.  And there's nothing stopping you from doing this exercise anytime you feel like finding a character.  There are plenty of names in the phone book!

Sometimes characters go nameless.  In these instances the writers may have wanted the characters to have a certain anonymity, but your should be sparing with this device as it can run the risk of seeming pretentious and, worse, it can deprive you of a great way to characterize

Names are like the wrapping on a present, offering just a hint of what may be inside the person.