Writing characters is one of the most important factors in writing fiction. The following tips and hints should help any writer in creating characters that are memorable enough for the reader to identify and sympathise with them: an aim that should be high on the list of anyone wanting to write stories.
Writing Speech
In most fiction, it is common for the author to let the reader know what only two or three of the characters are thinking. With these main characters, usually the protagonist and the antagonist, it is common for the author to spend whole chapters providing an in depth portrayal of their psychological state. However, this means that every other character in the book is only portrayed by two things, one of which is the way they talk.
It is common enough for readers to judge people on the way they talk. If a character is young, wears burberry a lot has swastika tattoos and refers to books as 'dem fings wiv da spines' then the reader is automatically going to assume that the character won't be running for the Nobel Peace Prize any time soon. Just as much as Sir Cornelius Merriweather, giving a learned lecture on the use of Contra Passo within Dante's Inferno won't be expected to know much about Dr Dre.
Great dialogue can give huge insights into a character, such as their intelligence, their race, their origins, their sense of humour or their insecurities. It can also provide uncertainty regarding a character's motives: if Jack Bullet is executing a police officer, we might see him as a psychopath. But what if he is murmuring 'I'm so sorry...I love you...' whilst doing it? Of course, it might mean he's an even bigger psychopath, but it will at least raise questions in the reader's mind - which is what all writers should be aiming to do.
Character's Actions
Hannibal Lecter – one of the most notorious literary characters of recent times – was an educated, charming man who 'made a girl's fur crackle' to quote Thomas Harris, the author. Yes, his charms are remembered, but his most memorable quote did not concern Lecter's education, it concerned his eating the liver of a census taker with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
What makes characters notorious and memorable is what they do. In Pride and Prejudice, we are introduced to Mr Darcy as a proud, snobbish man who condescends to everybody. In the end, we learn what a charming man he is, but without the snobbish actions at the beginning, his character journey is not the same.
It is important to make sure that the character's actions are always foremost in the viewer's mind, as these will make the reader hate, love, and fear them.
Developing Characters
This is one of the main things to remember when writing fiction. Characters must develop: they must change and grow if they are to continue to entice the reader. The whole story itself is the journey of the protagonist, so if the protagonist never changes, then what is the point of the story? A main character should experience doubt and uncertainty throughout the story, and this should inspire the same doubts in the reader, which will make them want to continue turning the pages
In the end, readers want to identify with characters, and in turn they should have characteristics that readers will recognise in people they know. The success of Harry Potter was largely down to characters that, despite being based in a fantasy world, experience prejudice, hatred, jealousy, love, lust, vengeance, temptation and every other emotion that everyone in the real world feels daily. This made them real, and developing real characters is vital in the world of fiction writing.
Shaun Edwards - Shaun Edwards graduated from the University of Essex, UK with a BA in Creative Writing. SInce then he worked for a variety of different ...
