When faced with the task of peopling a story with believable and complex characters, writers are often unsuccessful. Stores are flooded with books that have flashy covers, but are as shallow as “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead…” (NIV, Matthew 23:27). The characters within are frequently underdeveloped and unchanging. Hidden among these, however, are books of lasting value, those that contain characters who are unforgettable, whose conflicts can move an audience to tears, and whose achievements provoke smiles. Their names are met with immediate recognition, whether they are loved or despised. While anyone can describe what makes their favorite character so special, few know how to create them. To do so, they cannot simply imitate successful examples – success is dependent on innovation. For fiction writers to shape memorable and realistic characters, they must establish the character’s uniqueness, add depth to the character’s personality, and present the character as relatable.
The first step of character development is establishing uniqueness. This can be achieved “through appearance, actions, dialogue, and monologue, as well as what others reveal about them” (Giorgis et al. 518). Readers will rarely invest time into understanding a character that is not unique, and may stop reading after a few pages if the protagonist does not intrigue them. On the other hand, an exceptional protagonist will draw the reader in and assures him or her that their time will be rewarded.
To create an impactful first impression, writers often rely on character appearance—especially clothing, haircuts, and other stylistic choices. A protagonist with her hair dyed pink, a t-shirt attesting to her sci-fi obsession, and an assortment of charm bracelets, will make an entirely different impression than a protagonist who wears a turtleneck sweater, braids her hair neatly, and has a scar on her cheek and a missing finger on her right hand. In both of these examples, a character’s appearance suggests a multifaceted personality. Readers may wonder about the charm bracelets, since each charm tends to have a hidden meaning or value, but they will catch on to the spunky personality. Or they may wonder how the second protagonist lost her finger, especially since the rest of her appearance would be unlikely to set her apart from the crowd. Both examples suggest that there is more to the characters than what can be seen on the surface. However, writers using appearance to suggest personality often fall into the trap of using clichés in which a certain physical trait is overrepresented in association with a specific personality type – for example, a redhead with a fiery personality. Thus, writers need to be innovative, making use of their knowledge of readers’ expectations to surprise and delight them.
Writers also use actions to emphasize individuality. When writers use this technique, the reader shifts to the role of spectator. Through a character’s actions, the reader comes to an understanding of the character and what motivates him or her to action. Dialogue is frequently paired with action, since it projects the character’s own voice, and can be individualized with dialect or even well-timed periods of silence. Monologue is commonly used during a break in the action. It is similar to dialogue, but reveals the more private thoughts and opinions that the character would be more reluctant to voice in public. Conversely, the ways in which other characters behave around the main character reveal how he or she is perceived. When a writer is creating a new character, he or she should consider which tools to use at every step in the process.
Characters that fall into standard categories are enemies to originality. For example, fantasy stories often have a “chosen” hero who is woefully inadequate, but with the help of a wise old mentor, develops the exact skillset needed to defeat a power-hungry villain bent on world domination (or destruction). If a story begins with characters who neatly fit into these tropes, then it fails to establish a sense of uniqueness, and invites readers to make comparisons—rather than distinctions—between the new character and characters they are already familiar with. Beginning fiction writers should read widely to discover recurrent themes, actively looking for gaps in the market.
Avoiding tropes can also help writers create depth in their characters. The two distinguishing factors of a character with depth are that they are dynamic and round. Dynamic characters are those that change over the course of the story; they learn from error, adapt to new circumstances, and shift perspectives. Round characters are complex and mimic humans with their varied emotions, thoughts, and desires. It is imperative that protagonists and antagonists exhibit both of these qualities, and the most effective writers will also create secondary characters that are remarkably dynamic and round. The most effective way to check if one’s character fits this criteria is to ask questions such as: How did the character change throughout the story? What did the character learn from his or her experiences? What internal struggles is the character dealing with, and how is this reflected in his or her reactions to external conflict? After asking these questions, the writer must affirm that what is in his or her mind is conveyed on paper. A writer can do this by asking a reader unfamiliar with the story to scan the pages and give a brief description of the character’s motives, values, and desires. If the reader’s response matches what the writer intended, that is a strong indicator of a well-written character.
To write realistic characters, writers must also recognize what makes characters flat (overly simplified) and static (unchanging). For example, lack of depth is most commonly caused by an excessive representation of one trait or emotion in a character. This is seen in a villain that commits evil merely for the sake of being wicked. He or she is defined by one trait – maliciousness – and there is no balancing factor. Similarly, the pure and virtuous hero that remains faultless from beginning to end is equally unmoving. The result is predictablility and subsequent boredom for the reader, caused by the writer’s misrepresentation of the concepts of good and evil. People are not simply good or evil, and characters should not be either. The only exception is in allegory, when characters serve a secondary role as a symbol – like Aslan, a Christ-like figure from The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis).
Another example of a flat and static character is one that reacts to all situations with varying degrees of the same emotion. For example, a character defined by cycles of sadness, which heightens into abject misery before slipping back to glumness. Eeyore, from the children’s series Winnie the Pooh is a well-known example (Milne). Characters such as Eeyore are often found in picture books and comics, and in that context their lack of depth is humorous. However, readers are less receptive to these characters in other forms of prose, and may find their predictability tedious. At best, characters defined by a single aspect are laughable. At worst, they are aggravating or add nothing to the plot of the story. The issue is not that these characters do not change at all, but that their change is one-dimensional; it is an increase in magnitude without actual transformation. In general, main characters should not be one-dimensional; but secondary characters with minimal roles, and those left underdeveloped for a purpose (such as comic relief) may be flat or static.
The reason that main characters are expected to be dynamic and round is because writers must encourage readers to empathize with their characters. This will not occur if a writer does not infuse his or her characters with the complexity of human nature. A writer’s skillful character development should “enhance our powers of understanding” by allowing comparison of characters to “people we are acquainted with in real life,” and “one’s own self” (Cochrane 307). In other words, characters must be relateable. On some level, readers must be able to see themselves depicted on the page. This can be through shared experience, but it does not have to be. For example, even if a reader has not experienced the terror of falling from a skyscraper, the writer can use descriptive language so that the reader feels immersed in the text, “sharing” the experience of the character. Characters often have traits that remind readers of people they know—perhaps a loyal and forgiving friend, or an impatient boss with unreasonable demands. Another aspect of relateability is an understanding of what defines and shapes humanity—what all people have in common. Relateability is effective because people empathize with what they understand; but merely sympathize with what they cannot. Empathy causes readers to genuinely care for characters. For this reason, writers of fiction should incorporate familiarity alongside creativity, using resources such as character charts to improve relateability.
Since character development is such an integral part of fiction, writers should seek to utilize whatever resources are available to improve their characters’ uniqueness, depth, and relateability. The result should be a sense of “verisimilitude, believability,” and “pleasure in the character for its own sake” (Hughes 789). A writer can be assured that these goals have been achieved if the reader reacts emotionally to the character’s failures and triumphs. Developed characters enrich stories, drawing the reader in and leaving him or her with a sense of pleasure, satisfaction, and awe. These characters will be remembered and treasured, and their influence will reach far beyond the final pages of a book.
Sources
Cochraine, Tom. “Narrative and Character Formation.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 72, no. 3, 2014, pp. 205-315.
Giorgis, Cyndi, et al. “Children’s Books: Characters.” The Reading Teacher, vol. 53, no. 6, Mar. 2000, pp. 518-527.
Hughes, D. J. “Character in Contemporary Fiction.” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 3, no.4, 1962, pp. 788-795.
The Bible. New International Version, Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1973.
