Downloaded 15 times
![2: Make each
novel
character
identifiable in
a police line-up
“My father is a tall, middle-aged man of average build. He
has green eyes and brown hair and usually wears khakis
and oxford shirts.”
This description is so mundane […] Can you imagine the
police searching for this suspect? No identifying marks, no
scars or tattoos, nothing to distinguish him. He appears as
a cardboard cutout rather than as a living, breathing
character.Yes, the details are accurate, but they don’t call
forth vivid images. We can barely make out this
character’s form; how can we be expected to remember
him?’](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/15tipsforcreatingcharacters-180118211006/85/15-Tips-for-Creating-Characters-4-320.jpg)
![15: Don’t be
afraid to
change your
viewpoint
character if
necessary
Here is CreativeWriting Now’s advice:
‘Is there a character who’s stealing the show from
your main character? A character who intrigues
you more?Whenever this character comes on
stage, the writing flows, and the scene comes to
life.
Maybe it’s your character’s funny best friend …
[or]her boyfriend. Maybe it’s even your
character’s enemy.
Consider LETTING this character steal the show.
Change your story around so that this character
becomes the focus.’](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/15tipsforcreatingcharacters-180118211006/85/15-Tips-for-Creating-Characters-38-320.jpg)
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15 Tips for Creating Characters
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- 2. 1:Give your novel characters clear motivations that driveyour story ‘Characters want things.They need things. They are motivated by these desires and requirements and they spend an entire story trying to fulfill them.That’s one of the base level components of a story: a character acts in service to his motivations but obstacles (frequently other characters) stand in his way.’ ChuckWendig (Terrible Minds)
- 3. InTheOutsiders Ponyboy had a needto figure out where he fit in the world. Did he want to be a Greaser?Would he always be a Greaser?
- 4. 2: Make each novel character identifiablein a police line-up “My father is a tall, middle-aged man of average build. He has green eyes and brown hair and usually wears khakis and oxford shirts.” This description is so mundane […] Can you imagine the police searching for this suspect? No identifying marks, no scars or tattoos, nothing to distinguish him. He appears as a cardboard cutout rather than as a living, breathing character.Yes, the details are accurate, but they don’t call forth vivid images. We can barely make out this character’s form; how can we be expected to remember him?’
- 5. Make characters real usingdetails of dress, gait (the way they walk), voice, personality and more. Johnny Cade was last and least. If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny. He was the youngest, next to me, smaller than the rest, with a slight build. He had big black eyes in a dark tanned face; his hair was jet-black and heavily greased and combed to the side, but it was so long that it fell in shaggy bangs across his forehead. He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn't help matters (p -11) Johnny's face was cut up and bruised and swollen, and there was a wide gash from his temple to his cheekbone. He would carry that scar all his life. (p. 29)
- 6. 3: Make characters lovable, loathsome, and everything between EricPatterson gives this simple and vital advice on animation that applies equally to writing: ‘The viewer should care for or be challenged by the characters.’
- 7. Likable features:These could be positive traitsthat attract us to people (kindness, compassion, humility, generosity or other)
- 8. Character flaws: What mistakes areyour characters prone to making?What do they need to learn in life most urgently?
- 9.
- 11. 4:Create interesting dynamics between characters and environment Your characterscan be at home in or at odds with their environment.
- 12. InTheLordofthe Rings, forexample, Frodoand Sam’slove fortheir nativeShire makes venturing forthona dangerousquesta muchmoredaunting decision.There are locations throughout the cycle(The Mines of Moria,TheTower of Orthanc, Mordor) where characters’ environs are treacherous.
- 13. Inthe HungerGames Katniss andPeetaare takenaway fromtheir homesin District 10 to theCapital. Even thoughthey arenow fedandliving inluxury, they are preparingto fight fortheir lives in theGames.
- 14. ‘Wheredoes your characterlive, work, andplay?Doesyour characterfit into the setting orstand out? The setting canhelp movethe storyalong anddefine the character.A character living inSaskatchewan who’s fromthe Caribbeancreates an interesting dynamic.’
- 16.
- 17. Johnny Cade andDallasWinston Johnny and Dallas are foils for each other in their similarities and their differences.Throughout the novel we can find parallels between the two, although they're almost polar opposites in some ways. Johnny can stand up to Dallas in a way that nobody else would dare. Dallas treats Johnny with the utmost kindness, and handles most others roughly at best.These two bring out the best in each other, in those respects. Johnny is timid and fearful on the outside but brave and heroic on the inside, mustering his courage when circumstances demand it. Dallas is fearless on the outside but shies away from helping others. He's willing to risk his life for crime but not to help, because he feels like all of society has let him down and deserves only the same from him. Johnny has been hurt badly by life as well, but he sees helping others as the way to save himself. In a tragic similarity, Johnny and Dally both die in this novel—Johnny in the process of helping others, Dally in a hopeless frenzy of rage and grief. Source: Shmoop
- 18. 6:Create profiles to develop your novel’s characters Yourcharacters should be more than the sum of the lines of dialogue you give them and their immediate actions in the story. The best characters are so vivid you can picture them having a life outside of the start and end of the story.
- 19. Make notes onelements such us: • Where your character was born and grew up • What your character’s political, philosophical or religious views are • Your character’s greatest fears and desires • What your character is most proud and most ashamed of • What your character values and dislikes most in others • Stock phrases or physical mannerisms that your character uses – these should be consistent with your character’s background and psychology
- 20.
- 21.
- 22. Of course, you’re alsofree to depart from historical fact, to give your characters your own flavour.
- 23.
- 24. Where novels getespecially interesting is where different characters observe different aspects of others. One character might find the loud girl at the bar obnoxious and abrasive while another might find her fun and confident. Ask yourself ‘What does this character’s impression of this other character suggest about themselves’?
- 25. 9:Give your characters interiority What dowe mean by ‘interiority’?Your characters have inner worlds that not everyone they encounter has access to.
- 26.
- 27. 10: Don’t let characters knowevery detail just because you do
- 28. You might knowevery detail about your characters’ motivations, their pasts and futures, but your characters don’t need to (and perhaps shouldn’t) share your own omniscience. Sometimes our own decisions and behaviours surprise or unsettle us. Here’s what author Justine Musk says: ‘There are things we know about ourselves, and that other people know about. There are things we know about ourselves that other people don’t know about.’
- 29.
- 30. Everyoneinourneighborhood, eventhegirls,smoked.Except forDarry,whowastooproudof hisathletichealthtoriska cigarette,wehadallstarted smokingatanearlyage. Johnnyhadbeensmokingsince hewasnine;Stevestartedat eleven.Sonoonethoughtit unusualwhenIstarted.Iwas theweed-fiendinmyfamily--- Sodasmokesonlytosteadyhis nervesorwhenhewantsto looktough.P.83 I was kindof short on wind. I've got to cut out smoking or I won't make track next year. P.95
- 31.
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- 34. Stereotypesareatbest untrueandatworst explicitlyoffensive. Inwritingnovelcharacters, doyourbesttoavoid characterssuchasthe‘wise ethnicperson’whogives yourprotagonistan important,crypticmessage. Ifyoumusthavethisscene, thinkabouthowyoucan undercuttheclichéofit. For example, the ‘wiseindigenous’ character might be fully aware that’s how your protagonist sees them and could thus play them for a fool.
- 35. Anarchetype is acharacterwho isa universal , mythic character. The warrior, forexample, orthe faithful, loyalfriend. Using characterssuch as these doesnot necessarily make assumptions about entire groupsofpeople basedonbias or ignorance, unlike stereotyping. ‘Know the difference between stereotype and ARCHETYPE.’
- 36. 14:Show characters’ motives through interactions ‘Take your charactersto parties, gas stations, baseball games, yoga classes and other planets, and make them whisper, yell, confess and interact with other characters. Show the characters’ motives through actions with other characters.’ Laura Zinn Fromm
- 37. We pushed openthe door to the back room and found four or five little kids, about eight years old or younger, huddled in a corner. One was screaming his head off, and Johnny yelled, "Shut up!We're goin' to get you out!"The kid looked surprised and quit hollering. I blinked myself--- Johnny wasn't behaving at all like his old self. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the door was blocked by flames, then pushed open the window and tossed out the nearest kid. I caught one quick look at his face; it was red marked from falling embers and sweat streaked, but he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either.That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes. He looked like he was having the time of his life. P. 79
- 38. 15: Don’t be afraidto change your viewpoint character if necessary Here is CreativeWriting Now’s advice: ‘Is there a character who’s stealing the show from your main character? A character who intrigues you more?Whenever this character comes on stage, the writing flows, and the scene comes to life. Maybe it’s your character’s funny best friend … [or]her boyfriend. Maybe it’s even your character’s enemy. Consider LETTING this character steal the show. Change your story around so that this character becomes the focus.’
- 39.