Characterization (Part One)

How do you bring a character to life on the page? By making them three-dimensional. And how do you do that? By giving the character the things that make all of us all three-dimensional. (1) A home life (aka environmental life, family life, private life) (2) A work related life (aka professional life, social life, away from the home life) and (3) A personal life (aka when there is no one around).

Why these three elements? Because we, and our characters, will act differently in each environment. Think about it. When a character is in his home environment, whether they are married with family, single, or living in a dorm room, they will act and respond differently than when they are at work. There is only one place when a character can be who they really are? When they are by themselves. If you know your characters well enough before you put them in a story you will know how they will react to each conflict they face.

Let’s start with developing a name for your character. Choose carefully. The name you pick should be suitable for the period or time you are writing about. The name not only should sound right, but should look right on the page. Try to choose names with more than one syllable, names like Michael, Steven, Annie, Emily and so on. Be careful not to choose names for your secondary characters that sound like your hero/heroine’s name. Names like Robbie and Bobbie would confuse the reader. Give the main character the stronger name. A book of baby names comes in handy for this project. And…a tip to remember…once you’ve chosen your name, don’t change it half way through the writing of the book. You’ll confuse yourself and most likely will forget to change it at one or two points in the book. You don’t have to give all your characters a name, only the important people in your story and others that your main character will be speaking to and interacting with.

Now that you’ve given your character a name let’s see what he/she looks like.

Take a sheet of paper and list all their physical (personal) appearance.

Name
Age
Height
Weight
Birthdate
Birthplace
Color of hair
Color of Eyes
Any scars
Any handicap
Sound of voice

This is a beginning list to the physical description of your character. You can add things like dress size or shoe size, perhaps even their posture and how they walk or move. Do they have any physical habits like cracking their knuckles or biting their fingernails? Think about any detail that can be classified as physical description. Keep in mind that your main character will have different physical character traits than your secondary characters so develop both this month. For this edition concentrate on physical appearance only. Next month we’ll focus on the psychology (emotional) development of your character.

The best way to study character traits is to be a people watcher. Notice every little detail about a person and then ask yourself what makes those traits so appealing. Or better yet, how did those traits develop in the first place? I love to people watch and yes, I sometimes watch the reality shows like Survivor, you can pick up more good and bad traits by watching those types of shows than you can in reality itself.

Characterization (Part Two)

Now that you’ve got your character in your mind (and perhaps on paper), you’ve given them a name, and a physical description so it’s time to start putting life into them.

You’ve determined what they look like, maybe given them an inherited trait from one or the other parent, and in your mind you know how they will sound when they talk. So let’s give them a personality with traits. This is known as the emotions (psychology, or how does your character feel about things). This is the absolute center of your character’s being and will reflect how he feels, how he acts in different environments.

If you’ve established an age, how do they feel about sex?

Moral standards?

Any driving ambitions?

Is your character an extrovert, introvert or ambivert?

Does your character have any kind of talent? Abilities?

Give them a character trait that sets them apart from others.

Is your character easy going, pessimistic?

What kind of attitude do they have toward life, aggressive, resigned, hopeful, or

Defeatist? Why do you think they have that attitude in the first place?

What about your character’s parents. How did they influence your character?

Does your character have any pet peeves?

Does your character prefer to be in the company of men or women?

Does your character like music? What kind?

Does your character like to dance? Do they have two left feet or coordinated?

Does your character have a sense of humor?

Does your character think they have any enemies? What makes them enemies?

What is your characters favorite color and why?

What makes this character different from the others you are developing?

Do they have a hobby? What is it and why?

What is their philosophy of life? Why do you think they believe the way they do?

What is the most important thing you want a reader to know about your

Character?

What kind of relationship will this character have with others?

These are just a few questions you need to ask. You can always ask in a sentence form, such as:

My favorite color is_____________.

What I wanted from my mother and never got was____________.

I think my brother is_____________.

Money to me means____________.

Marriage to me means___________.

Sometimes I like to be alone because_____________.

And of course there are many many more questions you can ask.

Get the idea? Often if you get your character to answer questions after you’ve developed your character, you’ll find some surprises. Strange concept I know, but it does work if you’ve developed a well-balanced character on paper.

Remember all characters are a figment of your imagination, but the traits and personalities you give them have to come from somewhere. Use the traits of your friends, strangers, anyone you’ve admired, hated. Your imagination is free to explore long before you put your character/s into a story. This is where they begin to come to life. This is where you develop them into what they become and how they will evidently react to situations in your story.

A trait is simply something they do that makes them noticeable. Does your character crack their knuckles, or over eat, walk with a limp or look like they are gliding on air? Perhaps one of your secondary characters is painfully shy, another the book’s bully. What makes your main character different from the other characters on the page? Why will a reader like him/her? Books sell because the reader becomes emotionally involved with the characters. So, this, the beginning development of a character is where it all starts.

One thing to remember in developing characters of the opposite sex is that they are drawn to a trait that they don’t seem to possess in themselves. In other words, a tall skinny man is usually drawn to a shorter sturdy women (good for westerns), or a woman with broad shoulders. While a woman may be drawn to that tall man because she’s short. A doer will nearly always marry a thinker. It’s just the way it is. Always try to find opposites in characters before you put them together. Put two characters together who are as opposite as you could get and you may find they fit. Think the odd couple

Characterization (Part Three)

By no means is this the actual end of characterization, but the stepping-stone you need to put the final pieces in place. Remember that characters in a work of fiction should never come across as flat and dull. Now that you’ve given your main character(s) a name, physical and personal appearance you need to give them character tags and traits. I touched briefly on this in the November lesson.

You can characterize these traits and tags through the use of their body language, speech, expression or posture. Would you think of John Wayne and call his walk a swagger? Didn’t he always stand straight? Or seated tall in the saddle? His voice affliction was one of his strong character traits. As was Jimmy Stewart’s stuttering speech. While playing a cowboy, Jimmy Stewart, unlike John Wayne, was wiry and slouched, but walked tall with slumped shoulders. Take these men out of their screen personas and they would have those same traits. A trait is something that is part of that character. Actor Peter Faulk has a glass eye, which complimented his character Colombo, but in real life he still has that glass eye and it’s part of his characterization he can’t get away from. Once you get to know your own characters their special traits will come to you.

Ask yourself what sets this character apart from the others in your story. What will your readers want to know about his/her background? What will your readers like about him/her? How does your character react to others? Why will this character be remembered?

Every character has a dominant trait and a secondary trait. For instance, maybe you’ve given them the dominant trait of confidence in everything they do. But a secondary trait is that deep down inside they are unsure of themselves. This could lead to some pretty interesting decisions when put in stressful situations.

One final pointer in getting to the heart of your character’s personality is to go into his/her bedroom, look around, go through the closet and dresser drawers. What color is their bedroom, type of furniture, books they read, what type of shoes, what style of clothes? Be a fly on the wall. Sound silly? Try it and I promise, you will be surprised.

Your final test in getting to know your character is to put them into the three situations I’ve already talked about and have them react. Also remember no one is perfect!

Start with putting the character in the home setting. If they have a family how does he relate to each member?
Put the character in an office setting, or work setting. How do they react to the other characters? What persona do they project at work?
Put them by themselves. This is where the real character comes out when they are all alone to think and do as they please.

Remember that your characters will react differently in different environments. If you put a swagger in a male gait in a western no one would think anything of it, but put it in a contemporary story and you might get a different reaction. A stutter in a hero wouldn’t even be considered in today’s novel, but could be used in a secondary character. Romance writers learned never to use a red headed hero. Although, this may have changed over the years. Readers change with the times. So should the writers.

Be observant, watch people, and notice everything. And keep on writing.

Karen