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Character In Fiction

Plausible, complex characters are crucial to successful storytelling. You can
develop them in several ways.

1. Concreteness. They have specific homes, possessions, medical histories,
tastes in furniture, political opinions. Apart from creating verisimilitude,
these concrete aspects of the characters should convey information about the
story: does the hero smoke Marlboros because he's a rugged outdoorsman, or
because that's the brand smoked by men of his social background, or just
because you do?

2. Symbolic association. You can express a character's nature metaphorically
through objects or settings (a rusty sword, an apple orchard in bloom, a
violent thunderstorm). These may not be perfectly understandable to the
reader at first (or to the writer!), but they seem subconsciously right.
Symbolic associations can be consciously "archetypal" (see Northrop Frye),
linking the character to similar characters in literature. Or you may use
symbols in some private system which the reader may or may not consciously
grasp. Characters' names can form symbolic associations, though this practice
has become less popular in modern fiction except in comic or ironic writing.

3. Speech. The character's speech (both content and manner) helps to evoke
personality: shy and reticent, aggressive and frank, coy, humorous. Both
content and manner of speech should accurately reflect the character's social
and ethnic background without stereotyping. If a character "speaks prose,"
his or her background should justify that rather artificial manner. If a
character is inarticulate, that in itself should convey something.

4. Behavior. From table manners to performance in hand-to-hand combat, each
new example of behavior should be consistent with what we already know of the
character, yet it should reveal some new aspect of personality. Behavior
under different forms of stress should be especially revealing.

5. Motivation. The characters should have good and sufficient reasons for
their actions, and should carry those actions out with plausible skills. If
we don't believe characters would do what the author tells us they do, the
story fails.

6. Change. Characters should respond to their experiences by changing--or by
working hard to *avoid* changing. As they seek to carry out their agendas,
run into conflicts, fail or succeed, and confront new problems, they will not
stay the same people. If a character seems the same at the end of a story as
at the beginning, the reader at least should be changed and be aware of
whatever factors kept the character from growing and developing.

The Character Resume
One useful way to learn more about your characters is to fill out a "resume"
for them--at least for the more important ones. Such a resume might include
the following information:

Name:
Address & Phone Number:
Date & Place of Birth:
Height/Weight/Physical Description:
Citizenship/Ethnic Origin:
Parents' Names & Occupations:
Other Family Members:
Spouse or Lover:
Friends' Names & Occupations:
Social Class:
Education:
Occupation/Employer:
Social Class:
Salary:
Community Status:
Job-Related Skills:
Political Beliefs/Affiliations:
Hobbies/Recreations:
Personal Qualities (imagination, taste, etc.):
Ambitions:
Fears/Anxieties/Hangups:
Intelligence:
Sense of Humor:
Most Painful Setback/Disappointment:
Most Instructive/Meaningful Experience:
Health/Physical Condition/Distinguishing Marks/Disabilities:
Sexual Orientation/Experience/Values:
Tastes in food, drink, art, music, literature, decor, clothing:
Attitude toward Life:
Attitude toward Death:
Philosophy of Life (in a phrase):

You may not use all this information, and you may want to add categories of
your own, but a resume certainly helps make your character come alive in your
own mind. The resume can also give you helpful ideas on everything from
explaining the character's motivation to conceiving dramatic incidents that
demonstrates the character's personal traits. The resume serves a useful
purpose in your project bible, reminding you of the countless details you
need to keep straight.