RSSBuild Character (A ‘People First’ Strategy for Writing)
Feb 16
A Writer's Blog Authors, Writers, Writing Comments Off
What is most important to a well-written novel? A solid plot, vivid settings or your characters?
I would argue that fully developed, relatable characters make or break a book in a way that setting or plot will not. Reading is a process of taking a fictional world and finding the threads that relate to your own life. Historical novels from the Revolutionary War, horror novels that take place in demon houses, fantasy novels with dragons and faeries, those experiences only exist in our imagination. But as readers, we find ways to connect to the material we are reading by drawing associations with things we do know. Well-developed characters are actually the easiest way to help your readers do just that.
At its essence, there are three strategies for building characters, and it’s probably worth the time to look at all three when you are writing your book.
Building Character from Dialogue
How a person talks says a lot about who they are. Do they have an accent? Do they stutter? Speak a foreign language? It is easy enough to find ways to write those kind of characteristics into your characters’ dialogue. There are also regional differences in dialect, nuances of slang and speaking style that can help us know your character better.
Dialogue is tricky for some writers. You don’t want your characters to all sound the same, since they have different upbringings and education. But be careful of just tweaking dialogue with arbitrary speech shifts just to make your characters “sound” different. Remember, these characters should talk like real people. But here’s the trick: real dialogue is nothing like real conversation. Some things, particularly really strong dialects and heavy accents, just don’t translate to the written page and become more of a distraction than a help. Written language comes with a fairly uniform set of rules and it’s not in your best interest to break them without a really good reason.
Besides, a lot of dialect and speaking style can be transferred to the written page without a lot of effort. To prove the point, here is an exercise to try. Find a friend who speaks the way you want your character to speak. Write down what they say word for word, and then look at how just their words alone easily convey a lot of their personality and style. You don’t have to write in a lot of slang to build character. Too much can backfire in a book and sound fake.
Building Character from Action
Do your characters act in character? It sounds funny, but every time they make it a decision, it should be a decision that your characters would make. But here’s the trick: the thing about action is not what happens to the characters, but how your characters react. Decision-making and motivation are the components of action that define people and make them fully developed characters. We have to know what pushes a character to take action, and that motivation has to jive with the reader’s expectations of the character.
Trust your instinct on this one. If you think it’s out of character, it probably is. Take a step back at that point and outline your character’s motivation. Ask “why are they making this decision?” Then, whatever the answer is, make sure the reader knows why too.
Building Character from Circumstance
Sometimes, we build characters to serve a particular function (like a doorman at a hotel). Just remember that extraneous characters are just that; unnecessary. Make everyone have a clearly defined purpose. It’s not always as simple as “well there’s a hotel, so there should be a doorman.” In real life, there may be a doorman, but in your story, there should be a purpose for you to mention the doorman besides the fact that he hangs out at the entrance of the hotel.
Remember, even your main characters can serve a function. Every character has a purpose and sometimes it is within the context of a scene, sometimes within a chapter and sometimes over the course of the book. Make sure you know why a character is there, and then make that clear to the reader. But here’s the trick: as a writer, we don’t always know why a character is there when we first write about them.
It’s okay during your first draft to not really know why a particular character is there. It is something you should discover and know the answer to before too long. But sometimes, it’s okay just to leave a character in a scene for the time being. You never know when they might be a handy person to have a round.
Good characters aren’t the only way to write a good book, but they are an essential component. Some books do thrive on the plot or intense imagery where the author’s focus is not really on the characters. And the best books will probably delve deeply into all three components generously. There are any number of reasons why a reader has picked up your book, the trick is understand what is going to keep them around to the end. Building characters that they want to know better is an way to keep your readers engaged until the end.
