Character Development

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

All of us have favorite authors that we love to read. Romance, mystery, horror, there are common elements to each that make them special. Great story lines, far off places, a chance to travel to different worlds and times, they are all on the pages just waiting for us. But the number one attraction for myself is believable characters. If I start a story and I don't get attached to the characters in some way, chances are I won't finish reading it.

I never just sat and thought about character development. As a reader it is important to me, so as a writer it should be just as important. I usually worry more about things like the story line and making sure I run a spell check. So, what does go into making great characters?

I've broken down the basics into some simple rules that I think everyone can follow.

Be Consistent!

This is a simple rule to follow. Keep physical things about your characters the same. Don't write them as having 'deep blue eyes like the evening sky' only to turn around and have them sporting 'brown eyes that sparkled when he laughed' in the next chapter. If for some reason you do have changes like this, explain it. This goes for hair color, body shape... you get the picture?

Don't Over Do!

Some people get so wound up in describing their characters physical attributes in minute detail that they forget the important things. It's like looking at a picture. Yes, you can see the face, but there is nothing behind it. You can't care about a person in a photo unless you know who they are. Show your readers who your characters are. But in this too, don't over do. Give your readers the bones of a character and flesh them out slowly. Don't explain everything about them in the first paragraph. It takes time to know a person in real life, the same should go for characters in your stories.

Don't Be One-sided!

Human beings are a mass of contradictions. No one is all good, all the time. The same applies for evil. People, as a whole, are quirky, emotional, habit ridden contradictions.

The 40 year old matron who goes to church every Sunday, who works in the soup kitchens on Saturday isn't exactly perfect! Would it surprise you to know that she has a bad habit of stealing paper clips from work? She doesn't need the paper clips, but she takes them anyway. She keeps them in coffee cans she has lined up in her garage.

The serial killer that lives two blocks down from your house has a little quirk of his own. He may cause the blood to curdle, but on his down time he is a brilliant gardener. His roses are his pride and joy, he tends them like a mother to a child. Everyone in the neighborhood always comments on how large the blooms are, how perfect, how wonderful! Wouldn't they be surprised if they knew about the bodies buried underneath those bushes?!

Look Around!

Great characters can be pulled from people that we see everyday. I pull characters from my family members. They are an off beat bunch and make good writing material. A good exercise for using the people around us consists of this: Pen and paper in hand, write down the names of some people you know. Then, under their names make a list of all of their qualities - good and bad. Then, go back and change the names on top to something that you feel fits their personalities. You now have a good set of characters to write with! This way when you start writing you have a pretty good idea of how each characters would react to different situations. Use this information!

What is all boils down to is practice! Each time you write a story spend some time thinking about your characters and what you want the reader to feel for them. Make them memorable. Bring them to life for yourself and they will be alive for your reader.