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
My wife recently quit her job to become a full-time mom. As well, she has decided to pursue her love for writing. She has been working on a children’s book. I’ve never seen her so focused and determined. I’ll have her take a look at these links. I’m sure they’ll be a huge help to her. Thanks, Lillie!
Steve,
Congratulations to your entire family that your wife is now a full-time mom. Best wishes to her in her writing endeavors.
This is great. In my first novel I took the easy rout and modeled my characters on real-life people without much creativity (which ended up being the hard way in my personal life.
) So I definitely need posts like this!
I think your advice in this section is first-rate: as a reader, I can’t get into books where I don’t care about the characters.
Also want to add a brief plug for a new online resource for writers and lit lovers:
http://www.pinegrovelitreview.wordpress.com
is a writing blog which features the bite-sized poetry, flash fiction, poetic prose, etc, of a different up-and-coming author each week.
Please check us out!!
Tai,
I can imagine that basing your characters on real people had some repercussions among your friends and family. Most people I know would love for authors to immortalize them as a character in a book—as look as they left out their flaws and make their best features even better.
Normally, I don’t allow promotional links in comments. However, since some of my readers may want to submit to your site, I’ve left it.
A nice name is so good, I even get some name of a characters from a movie to name my newly born child.
Jerry,
Hope it was a movie that your child will still recognize when he/she grows up.
Yes, the movie was entitled “The Tale of a Knight”. It’s a movie of courage and determination.
Jerry,
Sounds like a good role model.
[...] people, and I want to showcase that. I’ve been working with a lot of the information from this site, which has a lot of really great resources, and a step by step approach to the [...]
Thank you for this very useful information. This particular line struck a chord with me…
“Readers must care about the characters”.
I fully endorse that comment. As a reader I can usually finish a book where the main character does not gel with me, but I won’t bother with the sequel.
What’s worse is when the main character is just annoying!
Marie,
You know you’re reading about a great character when you find yourself talking to character–berating her when she does something stupid, encouraging her when she’s depressed, giving her advice …
Lillie,
This is very good information – thanks for sharing it. Writing about characters in a way that helps create interest from the reader is very important. Without effective main characters, your story is in trouble from the start.
ella,
Not everyone realize show important characters are to the success of a story. Glad to found the article helpful.