Creating Real People Posted August 24, 2001 For me, no matter how good a plot is, what makes fiction work is characterization. If I find the characters intriguing and believable -- if I can connect with them emotionally -- then I like the book. In the fiction I edit, characterization is often a major weakness. Men, especially, have a tendency to describe all females in terms like "strikingly beautiful." Even when the main character is strong and well defined, the supporting players are often indistinguishable from one another. Hair and eye color are almost always noted, but what makes us stand out are our quirks and how we see the world. That's also true of our fictional folks, and even the beauties among us have flaws. Characters must also be consistent. If you have Jane swearing like a trooper, it doesn't work to mention as part of her background color that she used to be a nun. If someone dropped out of school at fourteen, they probably would say "Indians," not "indigenous people." If your character is a world-famous surgeon, it wouldn't do to show him going out to shoot pool with his friends on the weekend. This is not to say that such contradictions cannot exist within a character, but when they do, there must be an explanation -- it must be an integral part of the story. Many fledgling authors are so eager to get on with it that they neglect to lay the foundation when it comes to their characters. This is a mistake. In fact, if you have taken the time to create well-rounded characters, the writing becomes much easier because when you put these people on the page, their character takes over and they almost write themselves. There are several exercises that can help. One is to fill out a questionnaire for each character in your story. In addition to such things as name, age, and a physical description, get clear on such things as: 1. What one thing about his/her appearance would this character like to change? 2. Characteristic gestures and style of dressing. 3. If you asked your character, "Tell me about your relationship to God and religion," what would he or she say? 4. Where does your character stand politically? 5. What would his/her reaction be to the various issues of the day? 6. Where did your character grow up? Briefly describe his or her childhood and family background. 7. What does the character do for a living? What about hobbies and interests? 8. What are your character's short and long-term goals? 9. What are his or her quirks or eccentricities? 10: What was the character's greatest achievement in life so far? What was the biggest disappointment? 11. How does the character handle anger, sadness, intimacy? 12. List ten character traits, some positive, some negative. 13. What are the character's prejudices and pet peeves? 14. What are this character's fears? Habits? Passions? 15. What is this character's sexual history? 16. A few words about character's relationship with parents, spouse, children, siblings, and friends. 17. Was there some event that had a great impact? 18. Do the events of the book change the character? How? 19. If you were casting a movie, what actor or actress would you have playing this role? It is not necessary (or desirable) that all, or even most, of this information be directly included, although this exercise will give you ideas. The point is, when you know a character this well, their "on-screen presence" will reflect this knowing. They will have depth and will react to situations in ways that are consistent with who they are. Don't neglect your supporting characters. Many an actor has advanced his career because of the panache with which he played a bit part. Dialogue is an important aspect of characterization. It is very difficult to embrace a story in which the characters seem contrived. Therefore, it is recommended that you read dialogue aloud. One common problem is stilted dialogue. Often in such instances, the writer is trying to convey too much information. A person wouldn't say to a best friend, "I'm going to Sandra's lovely ranch house on Grove Street because her boyfriend, Fred, whose job takes him out of town a lot, is on a business trip in Los Angeles this weekend." The friend would know where Sandra lives, what kind of house she lives in, who her boyfriend is, and that he travels. A more likely line would be "Fred's in LA this weekend. I'm spending the night at Sandra's." On the other hand, written dialogue does not reflect precisely the way we talk in real life. For one thing, real speech is cluttered with ah's, umms, wells, and I don't know, buts. In written dialogue, that stuff just bogs a sentence down. Another common mistake is dialoguing small talk in an attempt to recreate reality. "Would you like a cup of tea?" Sally asked Jane. "Yes, that would be lovely," Jane replied. "Do you take cream and sugar?" Sally wanted to know. "No thank you. Black will be fine." "A cup or a mug? Any preference? "Oh, a mug. Nothing like a big cup of tea!" While that might well be how it would go down in real life, you have to admit, it does not make for compelling reading. Description is tricky. There is an art in knowing when to describe, what to describe, and whether to express via narrative, dialogue, or action. It is almost always better to show what is going on with your characters than to tell. Having a character lean on the horn and flip someone a bird, glare, or shout "Up yours!" is much more effective than simply declaring that the character is angry. If Jane turns on her heel and walks out the door, you don't have to tell the reader that she has nothing more to say to her mother because the action shows that. When you over-describe, the message that gets sent is that you do not trust your reader. Then there is the question of physical description. You can tell your reader that Jane is tall, but it is much more effective to say "By the age of fifteen, Jane had reached her full height and went through school known as the jolly blond giant" or "Jane had a model's height and a sumo wrestler's girth." Watch out for cliché! Jane's eyes might, in fact, be "as blue as the sky," but it's such a tired image. Work to make your physical descriptions interesting. Instead of merely fat with a ruddy complexion, make a guy moon-faced with a bar burn. Getting down these mundane details can be very challenging. I recently heard a writer say she spent two days searching for a fresh simile to express the color of a sunset. It's that sort of concern that makes for a best-seller. Have a reason for what you include. In his book On Writing, Stephen King said he focuses on character and rarely goes into a lot of detail about looks beyond what is directly relevant to the story because he wants his reader free to imagine those details. Another cool character exercise, suggested by James Frey (whose books on fiction are wonderful), is to write journal pages as if you were the character. This can be very helpful in giving your book people distinctive voices, and it's a good way to ground yourself in their point of view concerning the situation you are writing about. If you find yourself blocked, try this as an exercise to get the flow going again. Granted, all this can be time-consuming, but making the effort to really know your characters will save you a lot when it comes to the re-write and will go a long way toward moving your fiction from amateurish to professional. Once you have a firm grasp on your characters, there are loads guidelines about how to get them down on paper. These are good to know, but it is important to realize they can take you only so far. Writing is an art, not a science. There is nothing that will make you grow as a fiction writer so much as reading good fiction. If you want to write characters that your readers will respond to, take note of how established writers do it. Look at the sort of detail they reveal and how they reveal it. You might want to keep a notebook of how various writers handle physical description. Also look at what they express in dialogue and what they express in other ways. Notice how they slip in background information. Notice what they say and what they imply. I can't stress this enough: If you want to be a fiction writer, be a fiction reader. |
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