Character Development in Fiction Writing
Personality of Characters is Crucial to Successful Writing
Jan 15, 2009
The main character does not start out fully developed for the reader, he or she must develop as the story moves along. In order for this to happen, the writer must know as much about him or her as possible so that development can naturally flow into the story. The writer can use techniques of observation along with listening skills to inject a sense of authenticity into the character sketch.
Go Beyond the Physical Description
Fictional characters, just like real people, are much more than their physical descriptions. Height, weight, hair color, etc. all have a place in the development of the character, but they must not be the main focus of the sketch. Coupling these basic aspects of the character with some personality quirks will give the writer an opportunity to 'show' the reader, rather than 'tell' the reader what the character looks like.
An example of 'telling' would be: He was tall with black hair. An example of 'showing' could look like this: His pride was bruised when he refused to duck coming through the narrow passageway, bashing his head and mussing his perfectly groomed black hair on the overhanging rock.
Character Strengths and Weaknesses
Fictional characters are not always likable. They can be heroes or villains, but they all have their strengths and weaknesses. The writer does not need to reveal everything about the character in descriptive narrative, but actions do speak louder than words, even in writing. Knowing the character's strengths and weaknesses will help the writer create strong action scenes in the story, showing the reader just what kind of personality the character has.
Jim Cornish has prepared a great handout on Character Sketches for his Writer's Workshop. In it he lists a series of adjectives that can be used to describe a person. These adjectives may or may not be used in the actual fiction story, but they will give the writer a good basis for creating the actions of the characters in the story.
Inner conflicts
Build inner conflicts into the character sketch. To make the story interesting and realistic to the reader, the characters should be dealing with some kinds of inner conflicts. SHY United has a great list of inner conflicts on their Website that will give the fiction writer some ideas for the characters he or she is developing.
Let the Characters Speak
Convincing characters have convincing dialogue. Again, the writer needs to go out and eavesdrop on conversations, listen to what others are saying, how they are saying it, and what kind of body language are they using as they speak. Bringing all this back to the story in the form of dialogue is how the reader will get to know and identify with the character. The dialogue must be natural, not forced, and the writer needs to describe the body language of the speaker in order to make the reader believe the character.
Give the Characters Names
Finally, the characters need names to round out the sketch. The names are important in that they fit into the story. For example, a story about a group of Irish immigrants with names like Bob, Sue, and Sarah might not be as believable as if they were named Patrick, Shamus, and Moidra.
Create Authentic Characters
In order to create authentic characters for the reader to believe in, the writer needs to inject real characteristics, personalities,and mannerisms into the characters. Authentic dialogue will also add to the illusion that the character is a real person that can be believed by the reader.
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