  Horror/Scary
This week: Getting to know your characters Edited by: Arakun the Twisted Raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
"Horror movies are the best date movies. There's no wondering, 'When do I put my arm around her?"
~ Eli Roth
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How well do you know your best friend, significant other, parents, siblings, or children?
Chances are, you probably know as much about some of these people as you know about yourself.
How well do you know your coworkers, your boss, classmates, teachers, doctor, or dentist?
Unless one of these people is also your best friend, probably not as well as the first group. You may know a lot about some of them and very little about others.
Now how well do you know a complete stranger on the street?
Other than a general physical description, you probably know nothing at all about this person.
Think of the main character in one of your stories. Is he or she as familiar to you as a best friend or more like a stranger on the street?
Have you ever gotten a review that said your characters were unrealistic or incompletely developed? If so, it doesn't mean you are a bad writer. It may just mean that you haven't taken the time to get to know your characters. If you don't know them well, the reader won't either, and you will keep getting comments like "Why was your character was being so mean?" or "Your character seems too smart (or too stupid) to have behaved the way he did."
 You don't have have to reveal everything you know about your character to the readers. Sometimes, such as in a horror story or murder mystery, it is necessary to keep aspects of a character's personality hidden, at least until the end of the story. The important thing is that you know as much about how your characters think, feel, behave as you know about yourself or your best friend.
 This isn't always easy. It's hard to understand how some characters think, especially those you fear or don't like, but that is part of the challenge of writing. Understanding how a character's mind works is important in any genre, but especially in horror, because much of fear is in the mind.
 Have you ever read a story where the protagonist was all sweetness and sunshine  and the villain was totally evil, with no good points at all? How many people do you know who are completely good or totally bad? When you get to know your characters, you will find the good guy's weaknesses and the bad guy's good points so your readers will see them as real people.
 This doesn't mean a character can't change during the course of a story. Fictional characters can change for the better or worse because of events in their lives just as real people do. It just means that if there is a change (for example, a timid character becomes outspoken) the reasons for the change are realistic and apparent.
Something to try:
Think of the main character in a story you have written or plan to write and answer the following questions. Remember, this does NOT mean that all this information needs to be in your story. Unless it is important to the story, it SHOULDN'T be there. This exercise is for you, to get to know your character as well as you can. For simplicity I will use the male pronoun to refer to the character with the understanding that the exercise refers to female characters as well.
Name, sex, age, race, height, weight, hair color, eye color
Where was the character born? Where does he live now? Has he always lived in the same place?
What are his parents' names? Does he still live with them? Does he get along with them? If the parents are dead, what happened to them?
Does the character have siblings? If so, what are their names and how old are they? Does he get along with them?
Who are the character's best friends? Worst enemies?
Is the character in school? If so, does he like school? What are his favorite and least favorite subjects? If he dropped out of school, why? If he went to college, where did he go and what did he study?
Does the character have a job? If so, where does he work? Does he like his job? Does he like his coworkers and his boss?
Is the character married or does he have a significant other? If so, what is that person's name? Do they get along or are there problems? If he is not involved with anyone, would he like to be? If he is divorced or has broken up with someone, what happened? Is he still friends with his ex?
Does the character have children? If so, how many, how old are they, and what are their names? Do they live with him and what are his relationships with them like? If he doesn't have children, would he like to have them?
Does he have a pet? If so, what kind of animal is it? How does he treat his pet? If he doesn't have a pet, does he like animals?
What is the character's religion, if any?
What is his political affiliation, if any?
Does the character like to read? If so, what are his favorite books/authors?
Does he like TV or movies. What are his favorite shows?
What kind of music does he like?
What is his best memory? Worst memory?
What does he do for fun?
What makes him happy? What makes him sad or angry? What does he fear the most?
How would the character react in the following situations?
-He sees a person hitting a child or a dog?
-A clerk in a store gives him too much change?
-He gets bad service in a restaurant?
-Somebody accuses him of something he didn't do?
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| Question for next time: How do you make your characters come to life? |
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Horror/Scary: November 11, 2015 Issue [#7314]
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