Creating Strong Characters

©Jennifer Knight

No one reads 250 pages because they want to see the world saved in the end. They read 250 pages because they want to see the hero save the world.

Readers care about outcome only when they care about character. Plot = character in action.

A compelling premise buys the interest of your reader for about 30 pages. After that, you'd better have a strong lead character because no one will give a rat's ass what happens for the rest of the book unless you do.

The stories we most love almost always have at their center a character who touches us. We feel we know her. We care about her and invest in her happiness. So, what alchemy creates such a character?

Great characters couple universal qualities, emotions, and motivations with a unique combination of attributes and impulses, some of which are contradictory.   These contradictions are at the heart of your character's originality and her struggle to grow. Without them your character will come across as one-dimensional, not quite human, a type rather than an original.

There is no such thing as a passive lead character. Your main character must take control of her own destiny – she must make the decisions and take the actions that drive the story, and these must stem from who she is. This applies no matter which genre you are working in - including genres structured in a more plot-driven format. Even these are ultimately more character-driven than they may appear.

DEVELOPING YOUR MAIN CHARACTER

1. Introduce her before page 10.

2. Show your main character in her ordinary existence first – readers must be able to get their bearings and know where your character is coming from, so that they can see why her destination will challenge her.

3. Set up a personal growth journey for her – what personal issue / flaw / inadequacy must she overcome to succeed? A flaw is the starting point for growth – it gives your character somewhere to go. The quest for wholeness is a universal one readers can relate to. Imperfections make your character human.

4. All stories begin with an event/experience that motivates the main character to set off on whatever personal journey she is destined to make. Choose this carefully so it makes sense to the reader as a motivation, and sets up 'stakes' for your character. The risk of failure should weigh heavily.

5. Give your main character an occasion to rise to early in your story. Readers must know there is more to her than first meets the eye. Reveal something intriguing.

6. In the middle of your story have your character come to a new understanding of the issue she is struggling with – see 3. above. Her new understanding should form the foundation for her actions and growth in the second half of your book.

7. Set up a wall for your character to smash into late in the story. She must stare down the barrels of failure, so that readers re-invest in her success.

8. Have your character 'earn' her happy ending by growing and taking responsibility. Do not drop it into her lap.

9. At the most critical moments of your story, do not 'rescue' your character with some external event. This kind of cop out is found in weak novels, and always reads as contrivance.

10. Don't spoon-feed characterization. Through Insight and actions, lay a series of clues and let your reader put the pieces together. The reader should get to know your character over the first 'Act' of your story and be fully invested in her by the beginning of the second Act.

BEWARE OF:

Autobiographical main characters:  Isn't writing a character based on yourself a great way to write what you know? Actually, no. An autobiographical character is often the kiss of death for a story because the writer, despite her best intentions, shrinks from revealing too much about herself. What ends up on the page is a puzzling mishmash of half-truths, evasions and cardboard characterization. The writer then looks to her secondary characters to create drama and engage the reader. There goes the story.

A main character who has already 'arrived':  An admirable, talented, fantastically sexy goddess with buckets of confidence, who knows herself well and has no issues…Sounds like the kind of ideal partner any woman would hope for, so why not put her in a lead role in your romance?   Bad idea. A character who is too wonderful has nowhere to go in your story. She starts perfect and ends perfect – why bother to read what happens in between?

Clones:  Partners who finish one another's sentences and sound like they share a mind must be made for one another.  Perhaps. But we don't want to meet them as the two central characters in a romance. If a couple starts out on this footing, there's only one way they can go in a novel: downhill. Differentiate your main characters – make them distinct and different from one another. If they sound the same, get to work on POV until they don't.

Clichés:  We've all met them – the mousy librarian, the dumb blonde, the donut-eating cop. Only use them if you intend to undermine them in some way. Clichéd characters can be tempting because they're familiar. But it's just plain lazy writing to drop one into your novel whenever you're looking for a secondary character. Every character you write needs to have her/his own integrity. Know who the character is and make sure there's a good reason for having her/him in your story.

Scene-stealers:  By all means write colorful, interesting secondary characters.  But do not allow them to dictate plot or steal scenes from your main character. If you do, your main character will come across as boring. You do not want your reader wishing the story was about that riveting character from Chapter Three instead of the vapid nonentity who's in the lead role. Worse still, you don't want to feel this way yourself, as the writer. If a secondary character is ever in danger of stealing the story, kill her off. Shakespeare did.

POINT OF VIEW

Point of view (POV) is the window into character. It is the key to making your character believable, unique within the story, and alive to the reader. Your character's point of view presents the story, and herself, to your reader. POV is embodied in all aspects of narrative: dialogue, action, interior monologue.

In telling your story, you must decide whose POV will provide the best window in any scene and throughout the story as a whole. Perhaps it is just one person; perhaps you will narrate in multiple points of view.

If you intend to use multiple POV, differentiation is critical. Unless your novel is an homage to Stepford, your characters must not all sound the same, and think and behave in the same way.

Multiple narrative with an ensemble cast is a trap for the inexperienced. It is far harder to write eight compelling and different viewpoints on a story than two. For most works of popular fiction, the narrative is better served by fewer characters with fully developed POV, than by more characters with lame POV.

In a romance, your readers are much more interested in the points of view of your two main characters than those of any others. So, if you do use multiple POV, make sure you are not too even-handed. In other words, give your main characters most of the narrative.

To build a strong character, you must establish a POV absolutely in step with who she is in every sense: her background, education, opinions, beliefs, emotions, personality, self-deceits, vanities, and prejudices.

DIALOGUE

Dialogue is a key tool. Effective dialogue:

·         is credible as spoken conversation

·         is believable for the character speaking it

·         serves a purpose for plot and/or characterization 

If dialogue fails any of these tests, cut it or revise it.

Keep in mind that good dialogue is not talk radio. Good dialogue is natural sounding conversation with most of the pointless crap omitted. It does not have to be perfectly grammatical in its phrasing unless your character is the kind of person who speaks that way.

Avoid expressing in dialogue, ideas that belong in narrative. This makes for expository passages, e.g.

Susan gave a resigned smile. "I think my history of alcoholism led to my daughter's social alienation and unrealistic need for attention. She formed many unhealthy habits through her destructive childhood and blames me for her problems. It must be difficult for you both."

"Yes," said Rose, at last understanding the kind of childhood her lover must have led.

This passage works much better expressed along these lines:

Susan gave the resigned smile of an alcoholic in denial. "My daughter has always had problems. Naturally she blames me for her instability. It must be difficult for you both."

"Yes," said Rose, at last understanding the kind of childhood her lover must have led. No wonder Carol seemed needy and insecure at times.

Dialogue moves a story forward quickly and brings characters to life – at least, it is supposed to. Don't make your reader wade through five pages dialogue that dances around a point, unless the point packs a lot of punch when it is finally revealed. Dialogue should be punctuated with Insight, or it soon becomes meaningless.

INSIGHT

Insight is a key feature of compelling story-telling and competent characterization.  Insight reveals in narrative what is not clear from action or dialogue. It builds the reader's understanding of what is motivating the character to behave or speak the way she is. Insight reveals what is going on underneath and makes the picture of a character more complete. Example:

Without Insight:

Mason sat on the sofa and flipped open her briefcase. Leafing through a file, she said, "I need a sample of your sister's handwriting."

"What the heck for?" Chuck complained.

"For comparison purposes," Mason said.

Reluctantly, Chuck stood up. "I'll see what I can find."

With Insight:

Mason sat on the sofa and flipped open her briefcase. Leafing through a file, she said, "I need a sample of your sister's handwriting."

"What the heck for?" Chuck knew it wasn't a smart way to answer the detective, but her request had flustered him.

"For comparison purposes," Mason said.

Something in her tone reminded Chuck of his mother, who always knew when he was hiding the truth. He stood up and said he would see what he could find, which of course would be nothing.