I've dabbled in Character before. But it is so crucial to a narrative I have decided to visit it once more, just to have one more kick at the can. This is something I wrote for a writer's group, more years ago then I care to mention. I found it lying in my documents, and through with a little spit and polish decided I could use it here.
I'm a million different people from one day to the next, I can change.
Richard Ashcroft-Bitter Sweet Symphony
Your new story or book is coming along nicely. You
have a solid plot and pretty much know where you are going with it. You’ve been at it for some time now, and have been conjuring up the stars or characters who will guide your narrative. Look again, look carefully, because this isn’t just your creation.
Every person that reads your story is coming into it with
a different mindset or expectation. It’s not a movie, where your hero is in full
display. So much of who they are is
going to be subject to interpretation from your dear readers.
We’ve all had that experience when talking with someone
about the same book.
“I thought Hercule Poirot was such an astute and cultured
man.”
“Seriously? I think he’s a pedantic bore.”
Hey unless the words changed from one reader to
another, this is the same person we are talking about.
And that’s one of the treasures of a great character.
They can be different people to different readers.
The point is that this character that you love or despise,
or maybe have no feelings about, changes with the perceiver. They are
quicksilver and there is no definitive personae there. But that’s the beauty of
a memorable hero or heroine, they are shapeshifters. They can change each time the
book is opened, according to the mood of the person who visits their life. Most
importantly they are the main reason the fan of the written word keeps reading
rather than putting it back with all the other unread tales on the bookshelf
While story is vital, it’s the characters
that make or break a good yarn. Even if the story is full of action,
passion, romance, magic, and intrigue, if there is no investment in the main
players the reader will not likely reach the final page.
On the other hand if the story is nothing special, but
the characters are memorable, witty, passionate or whatever else makes a person
interesting, the person who picked up the book in the first place will likely
be the one who finishes the last page. They become friends or enemies. After
a while they stop being words on a page and become people you live and breathe with, who become friends
or enemies, who carry your reader away for a few hours. And isn’t that the
point of reading, to be carried away?
When you create your heroes or anti-heroes, think long
and hard about the people who have inspired or disgusted you over your life,
and breathe them into them so that they are remembered long after the last line
has been read.
