Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction PDF
Preview Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction
CREATING CHARACTERS WritersDigest.com Cincinnati, Ohio TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD INTRODUCTION PART I: GETTING STARTED CHAPTER 1: 25 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHARACTER by Chuck Wendig CHAPTER 2: CHARACTER CONCEPTING by Joseph Bates CHAPTER 3: CHOOSE A NAME WISELY by Nancy Kress CHAPTER 4: NAME-DROPPING by Elizabeth Sims CHAPTER 5: INTRODUCING YOUR CHARACTER FOR THE FIRST TIME by Jeff Gerke PART II: POINT OF VIEW CHAPTER 6: WHOSE EMOTIONS ARE WE SHARING? by Nancy Kress CHAPTER 7: WHAT POV COMMUNICATES ABOUT YOUR STORY by Alicia Rasley CHAPTER 8: DEALING WITH MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW by Jordan E. Rosenfeld PART III: DIALOGUE CHAPTER 9: WRITING DIALOGUE by Hallie Ephron CHAPTER 10: DIALOGUE THAT PROPELS THE STORY FORWARD by Gloria Kempton CHAPTER 11: USING PROFANITY AND OTHER RAW TALK IN YOUR FICTION by Elizabeth Sims CHAPTER 12: THE UHS, ANDS, AND ERS OF DIALOGUE by Gloria Kempton PART IV: PROTAGONISTS CHAPTER 13: THE HERO AND THE COMMON MAN by Orson Scott Card CHAPTER 14: FROM ZERO TO HERO by Dawn Wilson CHAPTER 15: HOW TO CHALLENGE YOUR PROTAGONIST by Larry Brooks CHAPTER 16: RELATE TO READERS WITH A LEAD CHARACTER by James Scott Bell PART V: ANTAGONISTS CHAPTER 17: CREATING AN ANTI-HERO by Jessica Page Morrell CHAPTER 18: THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL VILLAIN by Donald Maass CHAPTER 19: AMP UP YOUR ANTAGONISTS by Laura DiSilverio CHAPTER 20: SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL by Jessica Page Morrell PART VI: SUPPORTING CHARACTERS CHAPTER 21: DEVELOPING YOUR SUPPORTING CAST by Joseph Bates CHAPTER 22: THE CHARACTER HIERARCHY by Orson Scott Card CHAPTER 23: CRAFTING EFFECTIVE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS by Hallie Ephron PART VII: CONFLICT CHAPTER 24: A CHARACTER’S EMOTIONAL THREAD by Jordan E. Rosenfeld CHAPTER 25: PUSH YOUR CHARACTER TO THE LIMITS by David Corbett CHAPTER 26: CHARACTER OBJECTIVE AND CONFLICT by Mary Kole CHAPTER 27: COPING WITH CONFLICT by Rachel Ballon PART VIII: MOTIVATIONS & RELATIONSHIPS CHAPTER 28: MOTIVATION AND REALISM by Cheryl St. John CHAPTER 29: SHOWING CHANGE IN YOUR CHARACTERS by Nancy Kress CHAPTER 30: ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS by Victoria Lynn Schmidt PART IX: CHARACTER ARCS CHAPTER 31: CREATING A CHARACTER ARC by Joseph Bates CHAPTER 32: THE ARC WITHIN PLOT by James Scott Bell CHAPTER 33: THE KNOT by Jeff Gerke CHAPTER 34: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH by Jeff Gerke CHAPTER 35: REVISING FOR STRONG CHARACTER by Jack Smith FOREWORD BY STEVEN JAMES I heard a saying once: “The fish is in the ocean, and the ocean is in the fish.” It sounds either very self-evident and hardly worth mentioning or very Zen. Let’s go with Zen. A nugget of wisdom that’s paradoxically both easy and hard to crack. What is the relationship of character to plot? Well, they’re inextricably connected. How can you pull them apart without unraveling a story? You can’t. Why not? Because the character is in the plot, and the plot is in the character. Stories are more than accounts of events occurring, and they’re more than character studies. Rather, in a narrative, we find characters being revealed and transformed as they face struggles that, while defining them, refine them. The plot and the character are in each other, serving each other, informing each other. At its core, a story is about an interesting character trying to accomplish something difficult. If the character isn’t captivating or the task isn’t compelling, the story suffers. So, when a story drags, you simply make your character more fascinating or the task tougher to accomplish. No big deal, right? In theory, yes. In practice, there’s a bit more to it than that. Once I was reading a novel and the main character was so whiny and immature and annoying that I kept wanting the author to just kill her off and get on with the story. Needless to say, that’s not what you want your readers thinking. They have to care about what happens. If they don’t care about the character, they won’t care about the conflict. And if they don’t care about the conflict, they won’t care about the story. Struggle. Character. Plot. Emotion. All interwoven when a story is told. And you have to be at the top of your game as a storyteller these days because you’re in a war for people’s attention, and there’s never been a time in history when the battle has been fiercer. Think of all the websites, books, video games, movies, apps, and TV shows out there that are vying for your readers’ time. (Not to mention work and family obligations, hobbies to pursue, 5Ks to run, drag races to attend, bathrooms to remodel, gluten-free cookies to eat.) It’s overwhelming to think about how many distractions and delights our world offers. So here’s our goal: fill our stories with fictional characters so enthralling that readers would rather spend time with them than do anything else, even spend time with real people. Let that sink in for a moment. Yes, that’s right: We want to tell stories so powerful and engaging that our readers will put everything else on hold—even their relationships with other people—to share their time with the characters we’ve created. Presumptuous? Maybe. Challenging? Um. Yeah. Be wary of anyone who tries to sell you a fill-in-the-blanks approach to creating characters. There’s no formula to it. You can’t just add three parts foibles and two parts quirks, toss in a few cups of backstory and motivation, mix, chill, and serve. Nope. Not going to fly. It’s tough work, this storytelling business. But this book will guide you along the path. There are great kernels of wisdom in here. Writing dialogue? Yes, you’ll learn about that. How to come up with character descriptions, habits, and hobbies? Sure. Ways to weave in desires, fears, worries, hopes, and dreams? Yes, of course. Some of the advice you may have read before, and it’ll confirm what you’ve been thinking. But be ready, because some of it will shatter your assumptions about what makes a story work. However, if you have enough courage to pick up the pieces of your preconceptions, you’ll find that you can tell a better narrative than ever before by offering the world more well-rounded, memorable, and addictive characters. Addictive? Yes. Because you don’t want your reader to set down your book for anything. In writing circles, people sometimes talk about the importance of creating three-dimensional characters. The two-dimensional type have no depth. They’re bland and shallow and unremarkable, simply taking up space on the page without ever taking up residence in your readers’ hearts. So what about the three-dimensional kind? Usually that refers to characters who are memorable, who seem real, who “jump off the page,” who are intriguing, and whom readers will empathize with or aspire to be like. But there has to be something else, something more. After all, a corpse has three dimensions, and yet it’s still just a corpse. It needs that intangible breath of life. And so do the characters you create. In the biblical story of creation, God speaks the universe into existence and then shapes Adam from the soil. Adam is three-dimensional but isn’t yet alive. It’s only when God breathes his spirit on him that he actually comes to life. As world creators, as architects of the impossible, that’s our job as well: to shape characters from the soil of our dreams and breathe life into them. This book will show you how. The character is in the plot, and the plot is in the character. And when they come together—in ways you are about to discover—a story with a life of its own is born. STEVEN JAMES is the best-selling author of nine novels that have received wide critical acclaim from Publishers Weekly, New York Journal of Books, RT Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, and many others. He has won three Christy Awards for best suspense and was a finalist for an International Thriller Award for best original paperback. His psychological thriller The Bishop (Revell, 2010) was named Suspense Magazine’s Book of the Year. Steven has a Master’s Degree in Storytelling, serves as a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest, and has taught writing and storytelling principles around the world. He is the author of Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules (Writer’s Digest Books, 2014). INTRODUCTION Characters are the lifeblood of your story—whether you’re writing a short story, a novel, or even a series. They’re intricately tied to every other element of fiction: plot, description, dialogue, and more. Simply put, a strong story is hard to come by without equally powerful characters. And, as expected, creating compelling characters can be one of the most difficult tasks for any writer. A character must be believable and true to life—not an easy task when you consider how characters develop and change as much as anyone in the real world does. But that’s also why characters are so fascinating. Memorable characters aren’t static and tired; they develop before your eyes as the story or series progresses. It is rewarding to see someone rise from nothing, and heartbreaking to watch a life tear apart. In turning to this book, you’ve dedicated yourself to creating the kind of characters that every reader yearns for. Creating Characters compiles the very best advice from top writers and editors on the different stages of character creation and development. With each chapter, you’ll find something new and unique to assist you in this process.
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