#crafting characters

(via 20 Characters You Need to Start A Novel)

If you think you have nothing to write about in your novel’s first chapter, think again: you have 20 people to introduce, and fast!  Harry Potter and The Hunger Games each introduce 19 characters in their first chapter, and Twilight introduces a whopping 24.

Why the crowd?

Introducing 20 characters is a surefire way to quickly add color and dimension to the hero’s world.  Here’s why it works:

The Hero kicks off the novel.  We learn basic facts like his age and name, but we also see on a deeper level that the hero does not fit in to his dreary homeland.

The Hero’s family demonstrates the lack of care the Hero receives, and why the Hero can only rely on himself.  The Hero’s family can also show that the hero has someone he needs to protect.

The Herald is not a part of the hero’s everyday life, and he introduces an element of magic when he brings the hero an invitation for adventure.

The Mentor appears in chapter 1, although the Hero doesn’t meet him face-to-face until later.  For now, we see the possibility that the hero will finally receive some parenting of sorts.

Authority Figures remind us that the hero has to deal with the rules of hiseveryday teenage life, even though he has a much bigger adventures on his plate.

Peers, like the Authority Figures, add conflict by forcing the hero to deal with two worlds at the same time.  For older heroes, the peers also bring an opportunity for sexual tension.

Characters representing Danger are present in chapter 1 to give the feeling that “all is not what it seems.”  We are curious to know whether thevillains really are up-to-no-good.

No-names help set the scene without bogging down the reader with unnecessary information.  No-names are great for changing up the way the reader receives information– not everything needs to come out of your hero’s mouth.

Extras help flesh-out a scene with realistic details, right down to their curious names.  These characters are likely to reappear in greater detail later in the novel, and when they do, it won’t feel too “convenient” since they have already been introduced.

(via How to Use Original Characters to the Best Effect)

The presence of original characters in a fanfiction can alarm some readers, often those who have had bad experiences with poorly written ones before. It’s understandable to be wary, but OCs shouldn’t be immediately written off. With a writer who knows what they’re doing, a well-written OC can add new dimensions to an already fantastic story.

Start with Something (or Someone) Familiar

A lot of people are put off by the unfamiliar, especially in fanfiction. So, the last thing to do is to surprise them with a new character. Start out with things that the reader is familiar with like canon characters. Explore them and their perspectives in an already established world, building the stage for the story and the OC. Don’t rush their relationship with the OC and make sure they react like they would any other character.

Ease into It

Don’t rush the rest of the story to get to the fun parts. If you have to, write the parts you’re most interested in first then set them aside. That way, you can give the set up the attention it deserves. Readers can often tell when it seems like every other part but those involving the OC are neglected.

Remember What Pulls Readers In

When people read fanfic, they are usually in it for the canon characters. Show respect to the canon characters and avoid pushing them down to prop an OC up. Let your OC stand on his or her own merit and don’t bash characters to make the OC, or anyone else for that matter, look good. Don’t let your OC pull characters away from their established friends. Don’t pointlessly vilify other characters just to make readers sympathize with yours.

APPLYING THEORY TO FICTIONCHARACTER BUILDING

Is your character shy? If so, first consider how consistent her shyness is. Is it a stable trait in her, felt regardless of situation, or does it only happen in certain situations (e.g. during family gatherings because of something embarrassing that happened to her at one previously)?

Which cognitive, affective, physiological and behavioural symptoms does your character experience and how acute are they? Is she someone who blushes when feeling shy or does she feel dizzy and start trembling? Does she try to fade into the background through minimal body movement or avoid situations that make her shy altogether?

CHARACTER ARC

Once you know the symptoms of your character’s shyness and have determined whether it’s part of her personality or because of something that happened to her in that situation in the past, you can chart out a way for her to change.

If she has lots of negative thoughts about herself and her social competency, overcoming these might be part of her development throughout the story. What might happen to her, or who might help her, to push back these negative thoughts? Who might teach her to be more confident?

(via Depicting Background Characters – Mythcreants)

Not every person that appears in a story is an actual character. These non-characters remain in the background: standing in line, cheering after a speech, or manning a stand. Like the buildings or the waterways, they exist to flesh out the setting. They are the extras of the story.

Why Stories Need Extras

A character isn’t just present, but memorable. They should go by a unique designation, have a distinctive personality, and be proactive enough to influence the plot.

Every story should have just as many characters as it needs to pull off the plot and no more. Each added character requires their own introduction, adding overhead to the story. The more characters in the story, the less screen time and development each character gets. With too many characters, the audience will forget some and mix others up. A series of novels has much more room for characters than a short story, but even a series has limits.

So when your fictional Queen holds a large diplomatic summit, it’s simply not practical to introduce every noble in attendance – not unless this is a bedtime story. Whenever the events of the story call for a crowd, it’s time to think through what characters you actually need in your scene and what is best left to extras.

Family Dynamics shape the way your characters act, even if they don’t exactly have a family.

Here are 4 Questions to Ask About Your MC’s Family Dynamics: 

1. Does your MC know their family? Every MC has a family. Whether or not they know them is another question. If your MC doesn’t know their family, it might affect the way they interact with other characters or act around another character’s family. They might be more uncomfortable in a family setting because they aren’t used to being around family. OR, if they come from a dysfunctional family, they might not know what a functional family looks like.

2. How does the family (or lack thereof) affect your MC? Family dynamics are part of your MC’s history and typically your MC’s interactions with their family from a younger stage will affect how they interact with friends, strangers, etc. for the rest of their lives. Families inform belief systems and are essentially the reason why your characters are the way they are. So when you’re creating your MC’s backstory and developing their family dynamics, it’s important to consider how those dynamics impact your MC. Is there something they do differently because of their family dynamics? Is there something they believe or no longer believe that impacts the way they interact with their family and interact with others?

3. Who is your MC closest to in their family? When you’re creating your MC, it’s always important to think about who they spent the most time with growing up. Who would they have private jokes with? Would they have a strong enough bond that they’d be able to anticipate this character’s reactions to certain events? Are they still close with this person? If not, how has that relationship changed? Has it affected other relationships?

4. Who would your MC consider family? I think it’s always important to know who your MC’s chosen family is. Who are they closest to that they aren’t related to? How does this affect their relationships with their blood relatives? Does it have any effect at all?

If you have any additional suggestions/tips, please feel free to comment below!

If your characters are flat, it doesn't matter how much tension you pile on, your story will suffer.

If you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend you set aside a week and watch Red Letter Media’s brutal dissection of the Star Wars prequels (I say a week because there are a lot of videos and they’re pretty long). One of the things they discuss is the difference in characterization between the original trilogy and the prequels. They posed this challenge to avid Star Wars fans:

Simple enough, yes?…