Creating Characters
October 9th 2010 20:35
Without a strong set of main and supporting characters, there's no point of telling a story. Your readers need someone with whom they can sympathise, at the very least, to keep them interested in your story.
So how do you create believable, sympathy-worthy characters?
One way is to take elements of people you know but mix them up. Add some fictional traits, too. Don't use someone out of your real life and turn them into a character in your story - you might get in trouble for it. All your characters should be fictional, but you can borrow from real life. Just do it in such a way that isn't obvious for the real life inspirations that they have turned into your cast.
Good characters aren't card-board cut-outs, they have layers of depth and personality. They can't be all good or all bad - that's just not realistic. They need a few flaws even if they're superheroes (think Clark Kent). Nobody wants to read about perfect people because real people aren't perfect. A good character behaves like a real person, makes mistakes and gets into trouble. There must be potential for conflict. So make your characters three-dimensional. Give them ticks, weaknesses, quirky habits and you'll create someone rather than something.
If you think that you'd like to know someone like your character, you've created a good one. If you really hate a character, that's good as well. A strong emotional reaction, that's what you want. It's what you should always aim for in your fiction. Touch the readers. Prefer having someone hate a character you created to a reader being indifferent to the character. Indifference means they don't care and won't remember your story. If they hate one of your character, it touches their emotions and might well make a lasting impact. If someone loves your writing, that's even better, of course, but hate is second to that. Indifference, though, is a bad sign.
So how do you create believable, sympathy-worthy characters?
One way is to take elements of people you know but mix them up. Add some fictional traits, too. Don't use someone out of your real life and turn them into a character in your story - you might get in trouble for it. All your characters should be fictional, but you can borrow from real life. Just do it in such a way that isn't obvious for the real life inspirations that they have turned into your cast.
Good characters aren't card-board cut-outs, they have layers of depth and personality. They can't be all good or all bad - that's just not realistic. They need a few flaws even if they're superheroes (think Clark Kent). Nobody wants to read about perfect people because real people aren't perfect. A good character behaves like a real person, makes mistakes and gets into trouble. There must be potential for conflict. So make your characters three-dimensional. Give them ticks, weaknesses, quirky habits and you'll create someone rather than something.
If you think that you'd like to know someone like your character, you've created a good one. If you really hate a character, that's good as well. A strong emotional reaction, that's what you want. It's what you should always aim for in your fiction. Touch the readers. Prefer having someone hate a character you created to a reader being indifferent to the character. Indifference means they don't care and won't remember your story. If they hate one of your character, it touches their emotions and might well make a lasting impact. If someone loves your writing, that's even better, of course, but hate is second to that. Indifference, though, is a bad sign.
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