Readers
need both an emotional and intellectual connection to fiction or they won’t
continue reading. If this connection isn’t created, readers will simply say: So
what? Then they’ll toss what they’re reading aside and look for something else.
Since we writers put their blood, sweat and emotional existence into giving
birth to our babies, it’s natural to want our work read. So how do writers
create fiction that readers will care about? It’s not a secret. The answer lies
with the characters.
Writers
must first know their characters.
It
is not enough to have a general idea of a character in your head when you start
writing. You have to live and breathe the character, know him/her the way you
know yourself. In essence, realistic characters are extensions or facets of
yourself. My suggestion: Create a detailed written character study of each main
character before you begin to write your story or novel.
Here are a few items to consider:
Names
Shakespeare asks: What’s in a name?
Clearly, a whole lot. A sweet young thing might have a soft-sounding name while
a villain might have a hard-sounding one. What about ethnic names? Are they
appropriate or inappropriate for your work?
Another thing you need to keep in mind is
not to give characters names that might confuse readers. Names that are too
similar in nature--for instance, Jane and Jana--should belong in different
stories.
The name of your character will likely cause an assumption of gender, unless
you are trying to keep it ambiguous. When I introduced African-American
detective “Bert St. Croix” early in the novel THE DROWNING POOL, it comes as
something as a surprise that she is a woman. She is tall, strong and fierce. A
more masculine name fits her character. Readers don’t learn her back story right
away, only the contrast that she has great sympathy and compassion for those
who are in need of help but is tough with criminals. Nicknames are also
something to consider. Does your character have a nickname like “Bert" short
for “Roberta”? What might that suggest about the character?
Age
Age at the time of the story is significant.
Is your story about an adult, a teenager, a child? Point of view and voice differ with each. Also
consider how the time period the character lives in effects personality and
beliefs. This is especially important in historical fiction.
In
THE THIRD EYE: A PINE BARRENS MYSTERY, the novel is told from two distinct
viewpoints--that of a teenage boy and his troubled mother. Point of view is
very important. The chapters alternate between Jim and his mother. Jim tells
his story in the first person present tense while his mother’s chapters are in
third person past tense. Vocabulary and use of language are unique to each
character.
Also, the reader understands things the
characters do not comprehend particularly when the main character is telling
the story from a first person viewpoint. The unreliable first person narrator
is very common to mystery fiction. Sometimes the reader knows just what the
narrator knows while other times the reader knows more. Dramatic irony can
build tension and suspense.
Back Story/Personal History
Although you know your character’s back story or personal history, the
reader should learn it slowly, piece-meal, bit by bit. This makes your
character interesting and adds an intriguing aura of mystery which causes
readers to turn the pages to find out more details about the character.
Making
Your Character Sympathetic
Characters need to be relatable as well as
real. This means they need to have good qualities that readers like but also
character flaws just like an ordinary person. They also need to have goals and
ambitions that they’re striving toward. I prefer to make my main characters
sympathetic but complex.
Danna the main character in THE DEVIL AND
DANNA WEBSTER wants to leave her life of poverty behind. Her ambition is to be
an artist. But Danna is confused in her values and family perceptions. Jennifer
Stoddard in THE INHERITANCE is a widow raising a small child and in financial
distress.
Appearance
It’s important to know how your characters
look. Not only should you have a picture in your mind but you need to describe
in words how the characters appear: short, tall, handsome, beautiful, ugly,
fat, thin, eye color, hair color.
Mannerisms are important as well. Does
your heroine bite her nails, twist locks of her long hair? Does your hero flex
his muscles? Does your villain speak in a soft, menacing voice?
Relationships
Start first with the family members,
especially if they are an important part of the story. Who are the parents,
siblings and extended family of your character? It’s not enough to just come up
with names for them when developing your main subject. What are they like?
Provide descriptions, personalities, etc. Are there any problems your character
has with them? Kim Reynolds, the academic librarian sleuth first introduced in
THE INFERNO COLLECTION, has a complex family dynamic that includes dark
secrets.
What about friends? If they play a part in
the story, we need to know your main character’s interactions with and feelings
about them. In the Kim Reynolds mystery series, Kim comes to love police
detective Mike Gardner. Their relationship is complicated in THE TRUTH SLEUTH
by the return of Mike’s wife, Evelyn, who becomes THE BAD WIFE in the 4th
novel in this series.
Kim and Bert St. Croix also become close
friends, and in THE BAD WIFE, they work together and quite literally save
Mike’s life.
Personality
Get to know your character’s strengths
and weaknesses, attitudes, fears, obsessions, special talents and hobbies. How
does your character think, speak, act? What do other characters say about
him/her?
Weave body language in with dialogue. This
often creates subtle emotional signals. What is said may be in contrast to what
the character actually thinks and feels. Val Williams, the central character in
my new YA novel WITCH WISH, has a sharp sense of humor, but she is also jealous
of her older sister and hurt by her mother’s antipathy.
When you write a scene where there is
interaction between characters, try to visualize it as you would see it in a
film. There’s nothing wrong with having the image in your mind of real people.
It’s also okay to eavesdrop on conversations and be an objective observer which
will provide you with material for your writing.
In DEATH LEGACY, Michelle Hallam is a
mysterious English woman who has been trained in intelligence work. She is wary
and guarded while Daniel Reiner appears to be open and more balanced in his
approach to life. They are very different people who come together as lovers
and detectives to solve a murder espionage mystery as their lives are placed in
jeopardy putting them increasingly in danger. In DEATH PROMISE, the two return
to solve yet another murder mystery; their complex relationship remains a key
factor in the novel. The dialogue between them shows their differences while
being entertaining and advancing the plot.
Okay, I’ll reiterate a few points:
1. Be selective in choosing the names that
convey what you want readers to visualize about your character.
2. Appearance is important. What does your
character look like? Description can convey much about character. But don’t
overdo it. As the old saying goes: show don’t tell.
3. What is special about your character’s
speech? Are there unique phrases used? Dickens was a master of this. Also,
dialogue should seem natural, the way real people talk.
4. Get into the mind set of your
character. How does your character think? James Joyce is a good writer to read for
internal monologue technique.
5. How does your character act, react and
interact with others?
6. What do other characters say about
him/her?
7. Does the entire presentation have verisimilitude?
Do your characters seem real and believable?
8. What values and goals are unique to
your character?
Your comments, observations and input
are very welcome here!
