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Character Development
Bring
Characters to Life
Giving life to a
character is one of the most
rewarding parts of being a writer. It's also one of the most difficult.
Too many times in fiction we witness the "cardboard" or one-dimensional
character. It takes more than the snap of a finger to create real
characters, those we can visualize and root for and love. Instead, they
develop over time, over many hours spent together.
As a writer, you need
to think of the development
of characters as being a process, a life cycle, instead of a moment of
genius creation. One of Inspiration for Writers most requested workshop
is "The Life Cycle of a Character,"
which breaks getting to know a character into several phases.
CONCEPTION is
the initial spark, the idea that originally causes us to want to create
this character. Sometimes the plot generates a spark—we
know a story we want to tell and we need a character to tell it by.
Sometimes we see a setting—a country porch with a dilapidated
swing—that
makes us wonder what kind of person lives there. Sometimes we run
across a photograph that sparks our imagination and we create
personality to go with the physical features. Or sometimes we see a
possession like an antique spinning wheel and wonder the type of person
who would own such a thing. Whatever the cause, writers conceive a
character from an idea.
During the conception
phase, we need to start
assigning characteristics (knowing that once our character takes on a
life of his own, he may change any of our assumptions about him). But,
to get started, we still go through the paces. You may find it helpful
to use a Character
Trait Chart to assign
physical description and background information.
BIRTH is
when we pick up the limp character that we assigned physical attributes
and psychological traits to, hold him in our arms, and breathe the
breath of life into him from our very own souls. It's also the turning
point -- his actual birth—and
we cease having absolute control over him.
The first breath of
life is when our character has
a goal or "character statement." What, more than anything else in the
world, does this character want? Consider the following character
statements:
- To become wealthy so the love of my life will
return my love.
- To have fun.
- To keep my family together.
- To break into the Rock 'n Roll charts and become
a rock star.
As you can see, a
character's goal can be as deep
or as vapid as the individual. Note that for some characters, this
statement may be a life goal, but for others, it may change as the
character matures. Regardless, this is what motivates our character,
and we must understand this motivation if we are to continue to add
depth to his personality.
Part of a character's
birth is the "layering" of
personality traits. I have found that a good book of the Zodiac that
includes both star signs and moon signs is a "cheap" way to add
dimension to a character. Also, I search psychology books for
complementary traits. Using resources can help with your writing. For
example, you may find that alcoholics often possess irrational fears
and suspicions or that a criminal skyjacker often has a religious
mother who confided in him, that bed wetters are often aggressive and
have difficulty adapting to new situations. These are the types of
traits that add dimension to our characters.
ADOLESCENCE is
when our character begins interacting with his environment. How does
the setting of the story affect him? What is going to happen to him and
how will he react to what happens to him? What conflict or fatal flaw
will prevent him from achieving his goal? How will he overcome this
conflict or flaw? How will he grow?
MATURITY is
the final fleshing-out of a character. We now add body language (be
sure to study a good body language text to understand how posture,
facial expressions and mannerisms affect the way we are received by
others) and dialogue to our character. We need to give him a
distinctive voice, not just externally, but the way he will think in
internal dialogue. Perhaps most importantly, we need to understand his
emotional makeup. To fully understand our character, we need to
mentally try him out in several emotional scenes so that we can know
how he will react.
DEATH. Great
characters never die. Never.
So—giving
life to a character is much like being a parent. We do the best we can
for our characters, give them years of our lives, our love and
understanding, but the day comes when they rebel and say, "Enough. Let
me be me," and we must allow them to live their own lives. And that is
when we as writers have truly given life.
For additional
tips, worksheets, and discussions, order your own copy of the
Inspiration for Writers Tips and Techniques Workbook.
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