How Well Should Writers Know Their Characters?

If there was a book of writing commandments, surely this would be in the top ten: Know your characters. Two recent comments brought me face to face with this.

First, one of my critique partners stated that she liked the scenes in my current work in progress from Raychel's point of view much better than Tyler's POV. "You've got Raychel down," she said, implying, "Tyler, not so much." Yeah. It shows. Besides the fact that males are often harder for me to write than females, I didn't have deep grasp on him. I need to resolve that or those scenes will not grab the reader.

Secondly, daughter #2 confessed that she was a little nervous to read my new book, Secrets of the King's Daughter, because she didn't want to hear me tell the story, meaning she wanted to get lost in the voice of the characters and forget that her mom wrote it. I'm happy to say that she was pleasantly surprised.

So how do writer's get to know their characters well enough for readers to care about them and get lost in the story? There are many ways to choose from but all take some necessary effort. I had gotten lazy with my Tyler character. Pick what appeals to you. 

• Writing. Jot down lots of notes or use a spread sheet. Make a Character Bible. List descriptions, traits, flaws, motivations, etc.
• Acting. Take a day or a week to live inside your character's head. Whatever you are involved in doing, let your character also have a say. Think or pretend what he would do, how she would react. Imagine yourself/an alter ego as that person until you could be them in your sleep.
• Visual Aids. Find pictures/photos of how your characters look, where they live and work, their favorite foods, things they like to do, etc. Post them on a board or in a notebook for easy reference.
• People. Base a character on a real and familiar person or a cross between two people and give them a twist so it's not obvious to them. Draw on personal experiences from different sources. People-watch for ideas. Listen to how teens speak, if that is who you are writing. If it gets too complicated, you will have to implement a secondary way of remembering things about your character. Any of these methods can be combined.

Characters are fun to create. Just make sure to get well acquainted.

Page-Turning Heroes and Villains

 

"Not every plot is designed to be a page-turner." I appreciated hearing that statement from Jennifer A. Nielsen at the LDStorymakers conference, where I took her class about Crafting the Page-Turner. There are varying types of emotional rides for different kinds of books. We want the reader to want to read on, but not every scene has to be high on the excitement Richter scale. Phew! Glad to recognize that important detail. Every scene should be a fight scene (not a battle), in that someone struggles to get something they want.

 

Jennifer spoke about the necessary elements of a page-turner, plotting, heroes and villains, the writing part, and questions to ask about your story. All good stuff. Since I can only give you a tease about the class (it's her material for paying attendees, after all), today I'm sharing a few things about page-turning heroes and villains. These characters are more important than the plot.

 

A villain can be a non-person, like a shark, earthquake, or illness. This Antagonist should be more likely to win; it gives us that worry factor. The villain's motivation needs to be stronger than simply because he is crazy or evil for evil's sake. Give her a real motivation where she is more equipped to triumph than the hero.

The hero needs a clear and desperate goal. He wants something and how badly he wants it needs to show. Your hero needs to be smart and proactive. Give her unexpected qualities rather than stereotypical or common ones. Don't make them perfect.

Nielsen says to be cruel to the characters you love--mentally, physically, etc. Beat them up or force them to make tough choices so they can grow. Hmm. Do you think that means the villain should grow along with the hero? Who are some favorite heroes and villains you have enjoyed?