One of the hardest parts of writing for a good many authors are making characters, especially ones that stick out and are not cliche. Without the right characters to motivate the writer or come up with the plot, a story can easily crash before it has started. I want to share just a couple of tips I currently use to make the process easier and ultimately more fun for yourself (the writer).
Don’t Be Afraid to Borrow Character Analysis: Now that I’ve written that I’ve got to give what I’ve just told you a huge preface. I am not talking about copying your character outright. That’s just reprehensible and lazy. What I am saying is don’t be afraid to read/watch/play your favorite characters and sit down, contemplating what it is you like about them. Is it the way they act? The way they dress? Is it the quips they come up with? The ability to break down a character is an important skill that all writers should know. Lets go through an example.
Darth Maul is a character that I think was beloved by most Star Wars fans. So lets break down just a couple reasons why he is seen as so cool or intriguing.
- his face resembles that of a skull like war paint
- he has a two sided lightsaber (something unseen in the story till now)
- he’s much more nimble and fierce than Vader or the Emperor
- because his face is visible we get a good look at how angry he is when he fights
- barely speaking at all gives us (the viewers) the thought that he’s a raging tempest about to blow
Okay so that was just a few. Now when coming up with your characters don’t be afraid to pick something from this that you find interesting and add it to your own character. Another example, it would be a wise choice not to make another clown super villain as the Joker form Batman has already got the corner marked and your chances of creating a more memorable character (who has already been worked on by several great writers) is pretty slim. That doesn’t mean your character can’t make jokes while he or she fights. Perhaps that don’t take fighting seriously at all. Everybody else is fighting to survive but perhaps this character fights because they think its fun. Cool trait, totally new character.
The Questionnaire: When I was doing theater in highschool and college the directors would often give us character questions, in an attempt to build our character. I never felt they helped my acting and always did them in a great hurry. However I think character questions are a great way to learn more about your character. If you can visualize your character (assuming you’ve come up with some details about them) or even pretend to be them and fill out a sheet of character questions, by the end you will be surprised at how much more in depth you know your character.
You can make your own character questions if you choose. They are all over the internet. Here’s one by Beth Kinderman and Nikki Walker. It’s 100 questions long but gives a great look at your character.
http://www.geocities.com/poetess47/100questions.html
Instead of just answering the questions, try writing as the character. Write answers the way the character would answer. Now I know some of the questions are repetitive and some have nothing to do with your character. Instead of this being a bad thing, make it a good thing. One character I wrote for was a relaxed bad guy who didn’t care for people much. Instead of answering some of the questions outright he would mock the “interviewer” and sometimes even threaten them. While another character I wrote was a good guy but liked being mysterious and kept to himself. Sometimes he wouldn’t answer the question at all. Other times he would ask if he could skip that one. The whole point of this is exercise is so you know your character more. As you go through the questions you’ll continue to build upon them, making them deeper and deeper. Hopefully by the end you have a major better grasp on the character. I’ve even come up with storylines, backstory, and what not from this exercise.
Make Thespis Proud: Another tool for the writer, which I have found almost essential, is acting. I’ve done theater my entire life and still keep my hand in it when I can. It’s not my passion but it is a love of mine. My favorite part by far (because I don’t really care so much for doing the performance, especially a bunch of times) is coming up with the character. All the little nuances and ticks they have. The way they speak. With acting you learn to make choices for your character, defining how the character acts but even more importantly doing theater allows you to live the part. Think of who your character is and what makes them the way they are. If you can act try thinking or even physically becoming that character. How do they walk? How do they talk? How do they act to people they know? People they don’t? If you can become the character, the writing of said character is made all the more easier. You don’t need to make stuff up. Simply delve into that character with your imagination and see what they do. It’s much easier than you think. As writers we tend to imprint a little bit of ourselves with the characters we make. So somewhere inside that magical toad the size of a barn, who is terrorizing the kingdom because he has not been given his sacrifice…is a little part of you, the writer. It sounds weird but it’s totally true. Not only will acting make character creation sharper but it will also help with improvisation (coming up with ideas…good ones…on the fly). This skill is good for any walk of life, so get out there and try your hand at it.
Sit and Watch the Show: Okay this is going to sound crazy unless you’re a writer who has experienced this. But a well thought out characters dictate the story to you. Sure you have to watch that the story is not sporadic and adheres to the rules of literature and storytelling, but for the most part you are just a casual observer that documents what the characters are going through. You see, if you know your characters and have a decent imagination, you can visualize what the characters are doing. Lets look at an example.
I have done extensive work on my characters and flushed them out, and with the help of a questionnaire (what we worked on above) I have made Mr. A and Mrs. B. Now all I need is to think of some context for them. How about they are downtown. Because of my time with the characters I know Mr. A is mute (as in he can’t make sounds with his voice). He has been watching this woman across from his work (you guessed it, Mrs. B) who works at the fruit stand. All day long she cuts exotic fruit on the hot summer days for people passing by willing to pay. At the end of work Mr. A has reservations about telling her he likes her, mostly because he can’t say it. While trying to work up the nerve to talk to her Mr. A sees her cross the street. Afraid of blowing his chance he begins to pursue but she does not see the car barreling down the street. He yells out to her but she cannot hear. She is hit and he runs over her.
Know what happens next? I do because I know how Mr. A would react to such a situation. Storytelling isn’t always this collosal guessing game, trying to move puzzle pieces into places that don’t always fit. Instead of the frusturating puzzle approach spend more time working on your characters. I can almost promise you that the writing of your story will be much smoother.
PS. Mrs. B ends up okay and they eventually get married.
Draw it Out!: Another tool I find essential to almost every character I have ever made (and there’s a lot) is drawing them out on one of my notebooks. My notebooks serve as a sort of epicenter for ideas and drawings. They are what I carry with me in my backpack so when I have a few free minutes I can open it and write ideas as they come to me. Each notebook has several story ideas within them. And never be afraid to rehash (change) your idea. Most my story ideas change multiple times before coming to fruition.
Now some authors will be abject to drawing out their characters. “But I’m writing a novel, I don’t need to draw them”. True in a novel you don’t need pictures and your readers will probably never see these drawings, but you have to describe the character don’t you? The more you know the character (including the way the look, which greatly dictates the way they are and act) the easier the writing process is. I’m not a horrible drawer but I’m certainly not great. It takes me 45 minutes to make an okay drawing and my friend 2 minutes to make something ten times better. Does that matter? For writing, no! This exercise is just for you the writer. There’s no need to show others your drawings if you don’t want to (I don’t usually unless I’m working with an artist on a graphic novel).
Well that’s about it for now. Hope you can use these tool and exercises to help your writing. If you have any other helpful tools and what not don’t be afraid to leave a comment. The more helpful advice the better. Better writers = better stories = happy consumers = you get to keep writing and not go back to bagging groceries, or in my case being Big Bird from Sesame St. at Sea World.
