Tuesday, April 27, 2010


As a writer have you ever felt like the task of assembling a cast of characters is akin to hiring personnel to guard the President? Often that is what it can feel like if you don’t have a strategy to help you to perfect those memorable, yet fictitious beings.

Developing characters that readers will remember and talk about as if they were real, takes skill, a vivid imagination and WORK. One of the best ways to build your characters is getting to know them, and at times, become them. Get inside their heads and feel what they feel, see what they see, walk and talk like them. Sound crazy? To some it may be, but there is a line from Driving Ms. Daisy that stayed with me. The scene was that of Ms. Daisy making a statement of assumption to her driver Hoke. His simper yet profound response was, “How can you see what I see, lest you seeing through my eyes?”

How can you the writer be true to the reader lest you know who your characters are from the inside out and present them in a way no other author could?

Start with a character chart. You don’t have to marry the first draft, just sketch them out and then take a look at how you have or plan to use them to move the story along.

I once read that the characteristics of a character should be written in such a way that your reader will know who they are even if their name doesn’t appear in the scene. So how do you do that? Add those little idiosyncrasies that may not initially be picked up, but are key to who they are, what could possibly transpire if they show up or you tick them off. Equally as important to building the character is their profession, education, life experiences, family dynamics, personal fetishes and much more.

I will reiterate that building strong characters takes work, but it can also be fun. Bounce their personalities of a few friends or professionals who can help bring clarity to road blocks.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope this has been helpful to you. I invite you to return next Tuesday. Our topic will be Too Much Drama. Until then – blessed and don’t forget to use your words to bear good fruit.

Linda!

16 comments:

  1. I am agree with you on this thought that building character is the difficult task but its also a fun to do this. I have a very good experience behind it. But however your article is very informative the people who are related to this work like me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

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  2. Thank you for visiting this site and for your comments. Please come again as we will discuss other topics regarding writing and the business of writing.

    Linda!

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  3. Great advice Linda,
    One of the best compliments to my work is when I hear people talk about my characters as though they are their family and neighbors...

    angelia

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  4. Great hearing from you Angelia. I encourage you to keep up the good work. Your readers will always appreciate it.

    Linda!

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  5. Linda, great advice. I don't even type one word until I know my characters like I know the back of my hand.I know what their favorite soda is/what they wore to prom/how much they love or hate something and the list goes on and on.

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  6. If I told you that most, if not all books written be it fiction or non-fiction should be character-driven, it surely wouldn't be an understatement. My views on this subject -- Developing Characters may be a tad bit different than what you may have heard in other literary circles, even what is being touted on this post. I agree with Ms Beed to a certain extent, but let me share with you what I opine relative to how characters should be developed. In my opinion, the main character does not necessarily have to start out fully developed for the reader. I like to add a little spice and set the readers wondering as I write how certain characters in their minds are going to turn out. I only would give them something small to start out with to conjure in their minds! With this, I feel that the protagonist, the antoganist and any other subsequent player must develop as the story moves along. In order for this to happen, the writer must already know to some degree how they will be interwoven into the story superficially, but when readers are involved in the flow of the story for intrigue to be part of there perceptive train of thought it allows them to feel that they are part of the story...or they can identify with the authors flow. The key is knowing as much about him, her or the others so that development can naturally flow into the story.

    Authors when writing exponentially should want descriptive analysis to balance what is being written and giving readers as much imaginative verve for that earlier depiction of 'flow' to justify continuity. Thus, fictional characters, just like real people, are much more than their physical descriptions. In essence, we know that authors will give their characters detailed sketches of how they are to be...i.e., height, weight, hair color, etc...they all have a place in the development of the character, but they must not be the main focus of the sketch. Coupling these basic aspects of the character with some personality quirks will give the writer an opportunity to 'show' the reader, rather than 'tell' the reader what the character looks like. And THIS is why I feel that developing characters along the way has more appeal! Now, this is MY interpretation of how characters should be introducted and developed. The next writer you broach this subject with undoubtedly will have a different approach.

    Contrast is important because strengths and weaknesses are what you'd want to showcase. This is another reason why I feel that writers doesn't need to reveal everything about the character in descriptive narrative, but actions do speak louder than words, even in most subjective writing. Knowing the character's strengths and weaknesses will help the writer create strong action scenes in the story, allowing melodrama to be better metaphors, while showing the reader just what kind of personality the characters have.

    Finally (yes, I'm closing!), the characters need viable appelations to round out the sketch and for something to be definitive to the story. The names are important in that they should fit into the story. For example, a historical piece about a group of impoverished African settlers looking for a new lease on life coming to America with names like John, Tom, and Sarah might not be as believable as if they were named D'Jimon, Madusu, and Johann. Then again one should want to adhere to the aforementioned to be authentic. Authentic dialogue and dialectic enunciation will add linguistic fortitude to the mix that the character is a real person that can be believed by the reader.

    Hey, forgive me for being long-winded, but if you know me there's no such thing as brevity when I illustrate points...I guess that's the teacher in me!

    ACR

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  7. Along with the sketch I do before I get to writing, I like to make surprise discoveries about my characters and work them in as I go along. The best characters are those readers refer to long after they've read the story.

    I like the thought that characters should be such that you know they're in scene, even if their name isn't mentioned. That's food for thought.

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  8. Great article, Linda! Indeed there are lots to consider when building characters. You have just done an excellent job at bringing this to your readers' attention.

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  9. A character chart, as part of outlining, is essential. You can always add little quirks and whatnot. Just as you carefully lay out a plot, you have to match the characters to it. You can't have a bunch of intellectuals pondering philosophical issues if your story takes place in an asylum. Just like you can't have nuns building a rocket and going to the moon-unless you have a really strange, one-of-a-kind plot.
    I penned a novella about the porn industry and even the characters who were "the good guys" had some unsavory characteristics.
    Plot and character must fit.
    Thanks for letting me have my 2 cents, and as always, the information you impart jump starts the thought process.

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  10. LOL Ms. Shelia. I totally understand your point of view. My motto is that you should know you characters as if you were considering marrying into the family.

    Thank you for stopping by - Linda!

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  11. Mr. Romer, Mr. Romer - as always your presence is opportunity to partake of wisdom from the Master.

    Thank you - Linda!

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  12. Thank you for coming by and sharing your wisdom Joy. I think I'll be adding that discovery piece to my character building strategy.

    Linda!

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  13. Thank you for your compliment and your visit Denrique.

    Linda!

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  14. Tim, I thank you for your input. Its value is far beyond 2cents.

    Linda!

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  15. Great question and discussion topic Dr. Linda. I've got a slightly different perspective to share. While character development in the fiction story can be a trying task for all of the reasons mentioned already, the nonfiction christian writer has the equally difficult task of giving life to characters that are historicly testable and already in existance in the hearts and minds of readers. The nonfiction writer must be able to glean truth from the scriptures (if they are writing a story about a biblical character- such as King David) and still be able to make that character relevant and understandable to the twenty first century reader. We must deal with issues of cultural diconnections between the time of biblical writings and modern America. Getting the modern reader to understand the thought processes which influenced the actions of biblical characters while maintaining the integrity of the scriptures, keeping the character interesting and answering -at least some of- the questions in the mind of the reader is indeed a challenging task that requires imagination, an anointing from the Holy Spirit and ....well, great character on the part of the writer. Keep up the great work Linda!

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  16. As always Rich you know how to touch the heart of matters.

    Thank you for stopping by and lending your insightfulness to the conversation.

    Linda!

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