Creating Fictional Characters—Part 1: Characters Are Story People
June 8, 2009 by Lillie
Table of contents for Creating Fictional Characters
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 1: Characters Are Story People
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 2: Finding and Creating Characters
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 3: Revealing Characters and Point of View
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 4: Fleshing Out Characters with Tags, Traits, and Relationships
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 5: Developing Background And Traits Using A Character Chart, Bio, Diary, or Interview
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 6: Putting The Right Words In Their Mouths
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 7: Giving Characters Goals and Motivation
- Creating Fictional Characters—Part 8: Developing Characters throughout Your Story
Several years ago, I taught classes in fiction-writing at a continuing education program for senior citizens. I’ve decided to turn my outlines and notes on these classes into several series about writing fiction.
Fiction writers usually describe themselves as being either character-driven or plot-driven. This is somewhat related to genre—romance novels tend to be more character-driven while action-adventure stories and thrillers are usually more plot-driven. However, characters and plot are both important in all fiction. Plot evolves from character—characters’ responses to situation and events creates the plot, and the actions in the plot must be consistent with the characters. Character-driven stories also have plots; plot-driven stories also have characters. Durant Imboden’s article Character vs. Plot explains more about the relationship between character and plot.
I’m a character-driven writer—I start with characters first then come up with what happens to them. What happens to them—the plot—evolves from the characters. So I’m going to start my fiction series with Creating Fictional Characters.
My friend Billie Houston, aka Barri Bryan, teaches a class on character development. She says:
In real life characters are revealed; in fiction characters are created.
In this series, we are going to talk about how to create characters. As the author, you theoretically have complete control over the characters you create. I say theoretically because many writers have had the experience I’ve had of characters taking over the story and leading the writer rather than vice-versa. However, characters can’t take over until they exist. And they don’t exist until the writer creates them.
So what is a character anyway? In Creating Characters: How to Build Story People
Phonetically, character begins with care. Main characters must care about something that is important to them, whether it is significant or trivial.
Readers must care about the characters before they care what happens to them. Readers can love the characters, hate them, or be intrigued by them, but they can’t be bored by them.
The author must care about the characters in order to make the readers care.
A character is an artificial construction given individual and personal qualities by the author—a created personality with actions, attitudes, thoughts, and expressions.
Your fiction will have a main character (or characters) and secondary characters. Main characters must be three-dimensional and dynamic—they change through the story. Secondary characters, depending on their importance in the story and the length of the work, can be dynamic or static and one-dimensional.
Main characters are essential to your story:
- Protagonist—the person the story is about; the one who changes the most; the one who has the most to lose
- Antagonist—villain or opposition to the protagonist
- Other main characters—protagonist’s love interest, partner (Watson to Sherlock Holmes), family
Secondary characters are part of the story but not essential like the main characters:
- Sidekicks, friends, relatives, mentors, work associates
- Minor or background characters—unnamed props like a waitress in the diner
Readers don’t necessarily have to care about the waitress in the diner; they do have to care about the hero and heroine who are facing a crisis in their relationship over dinner.
Other valuable resources for character development:
- Building Fictional Characters: Charlotte Dillon
- Clare Dunkle’s ideas about creating characters
- Creating Unforgettable Characters
- Elements of Writing Fiction – Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)
- Fiction Factor: Character Creation
- Kaye Dacus Writing Series (links to series on writing, including several topics related to character development)
- The Writer’s Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters
In the next installment, we’ll discuss how to find and create characters. Ask questions or share your thoughts about character development in comments.
photo credit: combustionchamber
I’ve always want to be a writer. During my free time I write stories, although I admit that I am still a novice in this craft.
I’ve been looking for information like this. Thanks for being so specific,being so detailed and making the information simple and understandable.
I am hoping that through this, I’ll be able to write a good story soon.
Thanks a bunch
Dominic,
I hope you find help here. The two most important things you can do to improve your craft are read, read, read and write, write, write.
The more you write and the more you learn about writing (from reading good writing as well as information about writing), the better you will become.
I think, if my memory proves me right, I have already posted a comment in this post. But I still want to post another comment because I really want to extend my gratitude to Lillie who posted this. I know most writers are not recognized. I am a frustrated writer and I don’t aim to be famous. I just want to be a better writer and make people happy through my work. Thanks for this very informative post.
Dominic,
First-time comments are moderated here, so the first comment was awaiting moderation. Now that you have had comments approved, your future comments will appear right away.
Way back in high school I have loved reading fictional pocketbook stories. They just give me that thrill of reading fictional stories that I can finish a book in a matter of one to two days.
Cornelia,
I’ve loved reading fiction from my childhood and still do today. Sometimes I like short fiction; other times I enjoy long novels.
I’m the opposite to you actually Lillie – I’m not great at writing characters but I always have some good plots in my head! I guess it’s about finding a balance and as you say, reading lots and writing lots is the only way to help yourself! I try and read as wide a range of books so I can pick up on lots of different writing techniques…Catch-22, Sense and Sensibility, Dracula and just three books I’ve read recently of VERY different styles!
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Sal,
You have been doing some far-ranging reading, which is excellent.
While we all have to write both character and plot, as writers we should each focus on our strengths. It sounds like yours is plot. That means you are probably better at action-oriented fiction (thrillers, action-adventure, suspense) than at relationship fiction (such as romance).
I love fiction writing. When I was in high school, I used to write fictional stories in my spare time. My characters names are just fictional. yet the plot is somehow related in real life with a mix of fiction.
Val,
You shouldn’t stop writing just because you’re out of school. If you enjoy writing and have talent, you should be using your talent, even if it’s only for your own enjoyment.
Thanks, this gets me thinking. I’m such a newbie when it comes to writing fiction…I have a lot of learning to do!
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Ronnica,
We all continue to have a lot of learning to do. But the more you read and the more you write, the better you will become.
Lillie, talking about the fiction story writing, it reminds me of my unfinished Magic in fiction book, “The Chronicle of Fehlin’s Song”…
I started up the story 8 years ago, where I only managed to finish six chapters out of twelve chapters!
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wilson,
Get to work on it! You’ve read here that I started Dream or Destiny 10 years before I got it published it. I’ve heard of writers taking even longer. Keep plugging away at it until you finish.
As a ready, I prefer thrillers as well as character-driven stories
I used to read Sidney Sheldon’s works. Even he didn’t write romances, but he describe the characters very detailed in his novels.
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st_hart,
Yes, romances aren’t the only novels that are character-driven, and even plot-driven novels need good character development. Character-driven novels also need a good plot.
When I describe myself as a character-driven writer, I really mean that I start with character and then develop the plot around the character rather than coming up with a plot then creating characters to fit the plot.
Lillie, just in the nick of time! As I blow the dust off my manuscript to begin seriously editing it, I need this information! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom! I started with a plot idea for my novel but the characters really did take over and tell me the story. I can’t wait to learn more and put it into practice.
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Karen,
I will be thrilled if I can do a little something to motivate you and encourage you in revising your manuscript. I’m eager to read your story.
Enjoyed reading the post here. I’ve always considered myself a good writer but never spent enough time with it. This piece you wrote is very inspiring. thanks!
jerry,
The more time you spend writing and the more words you write, the better you will become. You can go from good to great.
I tried to write a story once. I had the plot, I had the setting, time and everything. But I could not get my character to be the way I wanted him to be.
I love Lord of the Rings and love the way Tolken created his character and explains them in so much detail. I tried to imitate that style of character description. But it did not work that well for a beginner writer.
Thank you for this info. You have inspired me to try and write again.
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Robert,
I’m sure Tolkien didn’t start out writing characters the way he did later. Every beginning writer is bad at something—most of us are bad at everything until we get some experience.
Try again and keep trying; writing takes practice.
I’m not a good writer, but I’m a really good reader. I do love to read mystery or detective novels. Every time I read, it likes I was one character in the novels. That may be why you said “The author must care about the characters in order to make the readers care.”
Look forward to reading Part 2.
PS. You might see I didn’t organized sentences well as I stated I am not a good writer.
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Manop,
Writers love good readers! You are the people we write for.
I hope you will read my books and feel that you are one of the characters in my stories. A not-so-subtle sales pitch.
This are really interesting and valuable comments about character building. Which TV show’s characters would you say are best built? Considering rules you pointed out here House MD comes on my mind.
Andrej,
Oh, dear … I must confess I don’t watch television so I can’t answer your question.
For some reason, I’ve always much preferred reading to watching TV or movies so I’m really ignorant about characters in entertainment media.
I remember in high school we were taught that a protagonist is the hero; an antagonist is the villain, nothing in between. This now seems to me to be very limiting in how we view characters. I think that for me, it raised the expectation that a protagonist must save the day, be an ubermensch. Now, after having read so many wonderful books (thank God) a protagonist character is also a character that grows and changes emotionally. It is a character that the reader can relate to whether the protagonist nobly fights external battles, or conquers internal battles.
An antagonist can be a character in a story that never advocated for the protagonist, not necessarily some scary guy lurking in the shadows, at night. Thanks for laying out the main character so well and for explaining the creation of characters.
Alina,
You’re right. Heroes should have some flaws and idiosyncrasies for readers to identify with them. Perfect protagonists don’t seem like real people and consequently aren’t believable characters.
Great article. As a frustrated writer, i just loved it. Keep up the good work.
Thanks.
Dianna,
I hope my posts can help you get over being a frustrated writer. How about being an aspiring writer instead?
I am not a writer but I love reading and is after with the author when buying books.
Yeah, I agree “fictional characters are created”. So go go writers! make the most exciting and interesting characters in your story.
Ann,
Writers love readers!
This month I’m giving away a free e-book of a contemporary romance when you buy my romantic mystery. You can see how good a job I do creating characters.
Interesting, I never thought about stories being character driven or plot driven. Now that I look back at all of my stories they seem to be character driven.
greatest (If you wrote YourName@Keywords, I could address you as a real person, and you would still get your keyword link),
With a name like greatest action movies, I would expect you to be plot-driven.
Great tips!
When I create a character I like to fill out a page of personality facts about them — the character’s favorite music, pet peeves, what kind of car he/she drives, etc. Even if those facts never enter the story it helps the character feel more alive in my mind. And that helps me care more (which goes to your point).
Thanks again.
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Wil,
That’s an excellent practice.
Character charts, interviews, etc. will come in, I think, the fifth installment of this series, which won’t appear for about three weeks as I’m posting one or two installments a week.
I think that being a character driven writer, especially in the romance genre, makes sense because you really need to get a feel for who you are creating a story about. A lot of times, it is just more fun to create specific characters and see where the story takes them.
C,
Yes, since romances are so much about character growth and emotions, they tend to be character-driven.
Lillie, thanks for your post about fictional characters. This is quite useful information for newbies like me.
Simon,
I’m glad you found this post helpful and hope you enjoy the entire 8-part series.
Nice post.
I totally agree with the part: ‘Readers must care about the characters before they care what happens to them.’
If we do not care about the characters then we don’t care about what happens to them. Meaning the story will not evoke any emotions, which I feel is the whole point of reading a good story.
Thanks for a great post
David
David,
You’re so right that experiencing emotions is the whole point of reading a good story. If the story doesn’t appeal to our emotions, it’s not worth our time.
when i was a child I loved reading fiction but today i don’t have time for read it.
Ana,
We all have to set our own priorities. I can’t imagine not reading, but I don’t have time for TV or movie or sports or dozens of things other people who don’t have time to read consider important.
This makes alot of sense. Now I understand how writers set the future plots for a story. So as you read you already know the hidden agendas of most characters? I have always wanted to write, maybe I will. Thank you so much.
veinna,
Different writers approach plotting and character development in different ways. Some just sit down and write “by the seat of their pants.” Others write extensive outlines and character charts before they start drafting the manuscript. Some use a combination. The more organized a writer starts out, though, the less rewriting they will probably have to do.
I have written some non-fiction, but have always wanted to try my hand at fiction also. I would probably be more of a plot-driven author as that is the type of fictional book I enjoy most. It seems that it would be harder to sell or market a fictional book which is why I choose non-fiction.
Scott,
My apologies for not responding to this comment promptly. Somehow I overlooked it and just discovered it when I had another comment on this post.
You are right that nonfiction is easier to market than fiction. Those of us who write fiction do it for love—except for a few bestselling authors, writers don’t get rich from fiction.
I am an avid fan of reading and I enjoy every minute of it. Now, I am learning about fictional characters through your post. How I wish I can write a good fictional story too.
Peter,
I have approved comments from you before so in theory your comments shouldn’t go into moderation. However, for some reason they do. I found two very similar comments from you—apparently you thought the first disappeared. There are a few commenters whose comments always go into moderation, and I don’t know why.
Writers love readers. Without you, our writing would be of no value!
Not sure if this entirely relevant but reading this post brought me back to that Will Farrell movie where he is the characther in a novel and someone is narrating the story. Does anyone remember that name of that movie- story time, or make a story, something like that?
Did anyone enjoy that movie, i had tremendously mixed feelings about it. Enjoyed it after the fact but not during.
Jon,
Confession time: I don’t watch movies or TV. My entertainment is reading … so I have no idea of the movie you’re talking about.
Maybe some of my readers know?
I had encounter this on my English subject and it sure is a big guide in portraying fiction charachters for your own articles or story to create.
Nice thing to remember on my collge days.
Eden,
I hope you can use something from this series in your English classes.
Of all the stories I have read, Character driven crafts has impressed me a lot and I almost become fan of such characters. Now I think I have identified and the learned the art of how to make such unforgettable characters. Thanks!
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Girish,
I, too, like character-driven stories and fall in love with great characters.
I have been toying around with a fictional character in my mind and was struggling to name him uniquely and funnily. Lillie, your post has given me some quality info on how to go forward. Thanks! I do not want to disclose anything as of now. But surely I will let you know the end product. Meanwhile let me go through your other blog posts. You seem to be a passionate and popular writer. This is my first time here and I will catch up soon.
Michael,
I look forward to hearing more. I’m glad you found my blog.
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