Readers need a reason to invest in your story. That investment usually comes in the form of a connection to one or more of your characters. It’s the author’s job to create and maintain the personality of their characters. If they start off crazy, unless the goal is for them to remain in that state, crazy is how they should end up.
That is just one example of showing character trait. One opportunity that many overlook is character revelation via response to others. How does he/she act in response to abrasive comments, being the brunt of a joke or a random act of kindness?
Keep this in mind; your characters should be so well defined that your reader can identify them even if you remove their names from the passages.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Take the synopsis below and create Betty, her background and something in it that would justify her actions.
Synopsis: Betty’s strong outer shell, straight-no chaser dialogue has always been attributed to her military training. In an unexpected turn of events, it will be Betty, not her equally hardened co-harts, who goes beyond the call of duty to befriend one who is unmercifully bullied.
By the time you finish you should be able to answer the following questions:
*What is it about Betty that will endear and/or give readers a mixed reaction to who she is?
*How did I grow her while building intrigue and guarding her secret?
*What situations set her off?
*How do her obvious traits make you believe you know what she’ll do next?
*How do her friends support or hamper her goals?
Have fun and let me know how you did.
Linda!
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