Fiction: Character Profile

Each character in your story has a physical appearance and background. Listed below are some questions you can ask your character (or yourself) to find out more about him or her.



Title of Novel:

Character in story:

Nickname:

Reason for nickname:

Age:

Birth date:

Sex:

Height:

Weight:

Hair color:

Eyes: Glasses?

Skin tone:

Face shape:

Predominant features:

What does character consider his/her best physical feature? Worst?

Single/Married?

Spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends name:

How long together?

Children?

Names, Ages:

Sexual Orientation:

Race: Nationality:

Economic status:

Favorite color:

Favorite music: Least favorite music:

Favorite food:

Favorite reading material:

Favorite swear word(s):

Favorite type of automobile:

How does he/she drive?

Smoker? How often & how much?

Drinker? How often & how much?

Favorite drink?

Favorite sports:

Hobbies:

Hometown:

Type of childhood:

Education:

Religion:

Mother: Relationship:

Father: Relationship:

Siblings: Relationship:

Children of siblings:

Extended family:

Most at ease when:

Something he/she’s embarrassed about:

Greatest strength:

Greatest weakness:

Biggest regret:

Minor regret:

Biggest accomplishment:

Minor accomplishment:

Darkest secret:

Does anyone know?

Mannerisms:


Favorite clothing: Least favorite:

Spending habits:

Most prized possession:

Person he/she most admires: Why?

Misc.

Fiction: A Villain to Remember

The antagonists, or villains, are the manna of a story’s power. Without them, our oh so noble heroes (protagonists) would still be stamping out their secret I.D.s as newspaper journalists, photographers and kings of Ithaca. We all know a few. In fact, I’ll wager you could name more of the scary guys than the good guys…the following is why.

Way back in the good ol’ days of the Roman Marius Event, phalanx formation and the nursing of democracy in Athens, the die of our modern conception of hero and villain was cast. Priests and poets declared tales of exploits upon Mt. Olympus, whether it be one of Zeus’ many affairs (which led to the birth of many heroes) or the gods’ defiance against human creations. The Greeks, Romans and much of the civilized Mediterranean world thus set into action the snowball effect of our modern literature. Take, for example, Heracles and his twelve tasks to purge himself of killing his own children or Perseus accepting the wager to slay the Gorgan and Aeneas while facing his hated destiny as the founder of the Roman race, tales of this caliber are what distinguish a memorable work of literature.

Now what made tales such as these, or of the ilk of “Moby Dick,” “Silence of the Lambs,” or even the “Trial of Socrates” so memorable? The answer is the villain. Antagonists, the immortal ones of our mind, are of the same consistency as your bleakest nightmare. We all still have them, and they should be recorded! Wake up sweating, grasping at your chest to ensure your heart doesn’t burst from your bosom? Write down what you saw. Villains are what our parents always warned us to avoid.

That dark corner, the stranger without a name, the vacant house at the edge of town, our secret wishes that would tear our social lives upside down! Harness this.

Villains that are memorable offer a similarity, even so slight, with their audience. There is something congenially sinister in all of us. This is why we love the carnage, the suspense and the rage of their fury. Take Hannibal Lector, we all know him, but why? Is it because he cooked people and ate them? What about because he’s a genius? No, it’s because of his lauded compassion for style and wit. The reason he ate people was because they were rude, now imagine that! How many times did you line up ways to dispose of that annoying, pitiless employee at the DMV? That is what makes Dr. Lector and all in his company so, well, loveable. They perform the atrocities of society so that we don’t have to. Admit it. We watch, read and fear them because we all think the same. Create villains to be believable, bearable and loveable, for the villain of imagination is the only mode the sane and moderate possess to commit one standing ovation of a crime.

Fiction: Creating Believable 3-D Characters

Characters are the most important part of stories – they can make or break it. They need to be realistic; if they’re not real to you, how can they be real
to your readers?

Keep these following points in mind when creating your next characters.

Sketch out what they look like in your mind’s eye.

Describe their hair, body, clothes, etc. in detail. Does this seem realistic?

Then, create families and relationships with family members. What was their childhood like?

What was their favorite color, pet, school subject, movie, book, actor and singer?
What will they be like in 5-10 years?

Also, create realistic attitudes, personalities and lifestyles.
How would they speak?

What would they say?

What is their occupation, and does their job fit with their personality?
Does their name fit them?

Does this work?


Juliet

19 years old
Hourglass figure
5’2”-5’4”
Sallow face/eyes
Smeared, mangy lips
Nicotine-stained nails
Prostitute
Short, black hair, dyed
Left home at 16
Drug addiction
Steals
Working the streets since 17
High heels
Miniskirt
Plunge style bra/vest
High school dropout (age 15)
Quiet, lanky kid (age 12-14)
Greasy hair
No father
Mother abused by string of boyfriends

Fiction: Character With a Zing

Bob has to be great; he has to snatch your readers’ attention (and keep it) almost immediately. It’s essential for good fiction, and a must for great, memorable fiction.

But getting Bob to be all you want him to be isn’t the easiest task, is it? In fact, it’s one of the most difficult you’ll have to accomplish in writing your story. You may have a terrific plot, excellent writing style and know how to write incredible descriptions...BUT, if Bob doesn’t entertain, stir the emotions, or tickle your readers’ fancies, your book or short story won’t do nearly as well.

I say this as a writer, and an avid reader: there have been many books that I really enjoyed at first—the plot line was original, and the descriptions beautiful—but I couldn’t sympathize with, enjoy, or sometimes, even understand Bob, because he was flat, boring and uninteresting. Trust me, Bob will make, or break, your story. Making Bob life-like and original is the key to attracting readers, so GET HIM RIGHT!!

And the way to do that is: to determine who Bob is as a person.

Yes, this is the most difficult, yet critical step to getting your book off the ground. I know from experience that if you can’t anticipate Bob’s next move, it will often be a hindrance, and even a severe problem, (though there are exceptions), even if you have a specific plotline to follow. I can’t over emphasize it enough: KNOW BOB!

Now, having said that, I don’t mean that you have to scrutinize every single tiny detail about him, unless it helps you. Knowing how many centimeters tall Bob is isn’t going to help you figure out what he’ll say to the bad guy (well, in most cases!) Don’t over-do it; it shouldn’t be a burden for you to write about him. I personally, have NOT over-scrutinized my character, and it allows freedom for him to flower and develop in my mind, without causing panic because he said or did something different than I expected.

a) Give him a history.

You are going to know Bob better than anyone else; readers won’t know anything about him until you tell them, so know his back-story. You’ll need to know the details of things like: a death in the family, a football accident he had, or whatever life situations you give him in order to make him alive, and to keep your readers’ interest up. Know how life has affected him, and how he dealt with it, which will also affect the next point.


b) Know his motivations and emotional status.

Ok, we have to admit it. There’s a common misconception out there that male characters are supposed to lack emotion and be big, tough and controlling. But, we in real life know this is not the case. We’re all human, and we all have emotions, whether we like it or not.

SO, even if Bob is not normally the emotional type, you as the author still need to know what he is thinking and feeling during different scenes. You may not want or need to tell your readers what he’s feeling, but you need to know his motivation, or he’ll go_________________--flat as the Sahara.


c) Know how he interacts with people around him.

This coincides with the above as well; determine whether Bob is outgoing, a wallflower, generous, quick-tempered, studious, creative, dull, hard working, cowardly, whatever you want, but figure out his general attitude towards things and people. Again, don’t overdo it; leave him some breathing room to grow and mature in your mind, but have a general idea of his personal feelings toward life. Don’t suffocate him, but have some expectations as to what he’ll do next.

So, there are a few little tips on how to make your characters more life-like and sympathetic to your readers. I hope it helps you out, and that your Bob, Mark, Kate, Liz, whoever, turns out just the way you want them!

The Writing Process: Characterisation

The process has just begun. Having gathered together the pieces that will form the backbone to the story, several things have to happen before these ideas can grow into a novel.

I have my main characters and I have established their motivations. I know the time and place in history in which I want the story to take place, and I am aware that I need conflict to drive my characters. But that is not a novel.

I will, at this stage, write a very brief outline. I wouldn’t even call it a synopsis, but rather a gathering of the elements I have established. It can be no more than a couple of sentences, something to kick start me into ‘living the novel’, of getting that mental film up and running.

At this point, almost at the very beginning of a novel, it is imperative to have patience. Let your mind dwell on the elements you have, without forcing their growth. It is not necessary at this stage to write CHAPTER 1 and to dive in. What is necessary is to think about the characters, know how old they are, what colour hair they have. Are they tall, short? Can you base them on anyone you know? And also, and this is more important than you might initially think – what are their names?

I like to write a character sketch for my main characters, at least an A4 per character. Knowing the character, finding his foibles and passions, will help fatten out the plot too. Also, and this is a pivotal point for me, each of the characters has to illustrate some particular trait, and that trait must be emphasised. Although in real life, a person may display many facets, if we were to have fictional characters incorporating too many traits, it will make the story confusing, and believe it or not, unbelievable. Readers need, to a certain extent, to rely on a character behaving consistently. More so than we see in real life.

I will state though it might sound clich鬠that it is imperative to relate to the main characters. I might want to step into the shoes of the one I have chosen to be the narrator, and this is all too easy to do, but if the novel is to be credible, then I must feel the same rapport with the others. In the case of The Cloths of Heaven, I had to feel Maud and Michael (the priest) just as strongly as I felt Sheila (my narrator with CP). And this is where the advantage of limiting the character traits per character comes in. I could find aspects of my own character, and times in life when I had been in conflict either with myself, or my environment, remember how it felt to be in that place in time. I can remember sadness, I can remember anger, and I can remember frustration. I can also remember sheer joy, contentment, feeling a sense of achievement. And they all feel different. So even if one of my characters is less likeable than the others, or is farther removed from my own set of values, I can plug into the sensation by using my own life experiences. And for me, being able to plug in to ALL characters is a must. At no stage in a novel do I want the reader to detect that I might be TAKING SIDES in any issue that might arise. I am a chronicler; it is not my intention to become a didactic.

I recently read House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. A magnificent novel displaying great literary skill. But more than that, it is a perfect example of the point I am making above. Andre Dubus III makes it even more complicated by using not one, but two narrators, alternating chapter by chapter from an unstable female to a dogmatic, disagreeable Iranian husband and father. Dubus speaks through both characters with equal conviction. But what he also does, and this to me shows his craft, he illustrates each one’s flaws and weaknesses and less palatable traits, by what each says himself! This gives the reader complete freedom to form his own opinion about each character. Not once in the entire novel do we hear a whisper of Dubus himself. Never do we feel nudged in a particular direction. We never find out what Dubus himself thought of the actions of his characters. And that, to my mind, is a feat of genius, and characterisation.

In The Cloths of Heaven, I had only one narrator and two other main characters but the impartiality (or complete partiality) that Dubus illustrates was no less important. I had to like all the characters. I to find an empathy that would endure, whatever the plot had them do. That is why I choose to establish the characters, and acquaint myself with them BEFORE I know exactly where the plot is going.

It is possible however, to have a character with a particular trait grow and develop and become more than we would have initially expected. (And this is where plotting comes in). Through the conflicts he endures he might be changed, either for the better or the worse, but he cannot JUST change in order to fit the plot – then the plot has not been properly thought out. A good example of this type of development is Scrooge, from Dickens’ Christmas Carol. He is enticed into becoming more giving and generous by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, that he has seen. His changes, though a surprise to the other characters in the book, are not unexpected to the readers.

And if the characters are the arms and legs, then the plot is the beating heart of a novel.

Creative Writing Tips: Starting Out, Ideas, Characters, Plot and Structure, Viewpoints

Starting Out

Making the decision

So you've decided you want to write. Perhaps, you've been scribbling down snippets of thoughts on scrap paper for years, or maybe you have something important to say. It might even be you've just read a story or seen a film and thought, 'I could do better than that'. You probably can.
Personally, it's the thought of entertaining someone for the time it takes them to read one of my stories, that provides the enjoyment. If the tale provokes a subsequent moment of reflection or speculation, so much the better.
If the prospect of setting pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, and sending the finished product into the wide world seems daunting, remember all published authors had to start somewhere....

• Okay, first and foremost, set aside a space for writing, preferably somewhere quiet where you can work uninterrupted.
  
  
• Invest in a word processor or computer. Some publishers still accept handwritten manuscripts but their numbers are dwindling.
  
  
• Read as much as you can about the art of writing. Local libraries are a good place to start. Consider subscribing to Writers' News, sister magazine to Writing Magazine. Both publications are excellent sources of information for new and established writers.
  
  
• Buy a current edition of the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook and/ or Writers' and Artists' Handbook. The Small Press Guide is also an extremely useful source of markets looking for short stories and poetry.
  
  
• Enrol in a writing course or workshop. There are plenty available on a variety of subjects.
  
  
• Join a writing circle. At the very least you will meet people with similar aspirations. The better groups will set homework and provide constructive criticism on your work. In time, you will be able to return the favour. Many groups also engage the occasional guest speaker.
  
  
• Network. Tell your friends what you're up to. If you can pen a press release, critique or newsletter, they'll be knocking on your door in no time.
  

See, it's simple. Now you're ready to produce the masterpiece!


The Right Mindset


When you decide to become a writer, you may encounter various obstacles. The biggest of these is often self-doubt. After all, what right do we have to think we can succeed where millions of others have failed. Every right! Believe in yourself and others will too.
This is where a supportive family and friends can make the difference between completing that first special manuscript or resigning it to the wastepaper basket.
It's important to realise that writing can be a lonely profession but this isn't necessarily a problem. If you're doing it properly, you won't have time to feel isolated with all those characters inside your head clamouring for attention.

Confidence, perseverance, discipline, a willingness to learn and a thick skin.
Yes, you'll need them all to keep plugging away at the keyboard at odd and often antisocial hours, especially if the rejection slips begin to arrive.

Make time to write each day!
This is critical, even if it's only to write fifty words or edit an existing manuscript. The more practice you get, the better. Don't worry about the housework, the telephone or the garden. Get in there and create. After a while, you will probably discover that a certain time of day works best for you. Try to keep that time free.

Ideas

Useful Sources of Ideas

Ideas are everywhere. Some of them come naturally but it's worth knowing where to look for that extra piece of inspiration.

• newspapers - especially the news-in-brief columns
  
• magazines - especially letters to the editor or agony aunts
  
• other people's conversations - eavesdrop shamelessly
  
• other stories - remember, there's no copyright on an idea, just the finished product. That said, don't go 'borrowing' characters or large wads of print from
• other people's work. You don't need to.
  
• jokes - most of them are mini stories in themselves
  

Making the Most of an Idea

Once something catches your fancy, interrogate it.
For example, if you see a young girl running for the bus in the rain, ask yourself plenty of why's.
Why is she running, why is she catching a bus, why does she look sad/ angry/ happy, why doesn't she have an umbrella, why is she carrying a suitcase, why is she alone?
Then you can go on to ask yourself; Who is she? Where is she from and where is she going? What is she planning to do once she gets there?
Approach the idea from all perspectives and let your imagination run riot with the what ifs...


Characters

Using People You Know

Yes, this is one method of developing a character. Many scripts have been written with a particular actress/ actor (or at least their screen/ stage persona) in mind.
The obvious drawback is that if your character is recognizable as a real person, you may leave yourself open to litigation. This might occur because the real person feels you have invaded their privacy or even slandered them. It is worth noting that we never know anyone as well as ourselves, so throughout the course of your story, no matter how well you think you know that person, there will be blanks to fill in. The potential to cause offence is enormous.
If you feel you must use a real person as a template, it is safer to incorporate traits from additional people so that you have a composite.
And above all, make sure real names are changed.

Creating and Developing a Character from Scratch

This is the safer and preferable option.

• Get to know your characters, everything about them. Their pasts, family, occupations, hobbies, upbringing, physical appearance and so forth. You may never use a quarter of the information you have generated but your characters will be more three dimensional and credible for it.
  
  
• Don't give minor characters names unless it is necessary to the story. This is particularly applicable to short stories, in which there is little enough time to develop the main characters let alone supporting ones.
  
  
• Short stories should have no more than three main characters. More than this and readers may become confused or fail to develop the emotional response to the characters.
  
  
• Be clear in your own mind when writing the story of the varying relationships between the main characters. For example, how does a interact with b in c's presence/ absence, b with c in a's presence/ absence and so forth.
  
  
• Try to ensure each character has a function. Don't be tempted to add one to pad out a story.
  
  
• Be clear on their roles within the story. If you're confused, it's a safe bet your readers will feel the same.
  
  
• Make them believable, give them dimension. Readers are willing to suspend their disbelief when it comes to plot, provided the characters are credible. A great plot is nothing if the people within the story are cutouts or caricatures.
  
  
• Above all, make your characters behave in a consistent fashion throughout the story, whatever happens to them. Characters tend to take on a life of their own some time into a story. You need to know when they say or do something 'out-of-character'. Of course, at certain times you may wish this to happen, in which case make it clear to the reader that they are acting 'out-of-character' for a reason, not simply because you've lost control of them.
  
  
• The more interesting characters tend to be flawed.
  
  
• The main characters should develop during the story although this personal growth is necessarily limited with short stories.
  
  
• Make sure you know which characters you want the readers to like. You must develop an empathy for these characters in the early stages of the story. Equally, ensure your villains are hateful especially if they have a nasty comeuppance in store.
  
  
• Establish the identity of the hero(ine) of your story. These characters usually undergo the most change.
  

Plot and Structure

Three Acts

All stories, regardless of their subject or word count, should have three acts or a beginning, middle and end. They don't necessarily occur in that order but they should be in there somewhere.

In short stories, it is absolutely critical to make each word count. There is no room for padding. If the sentence (be it narrative or dialogue) doesn't move the story forward, it shouldn't be there.


Act I / The Beginning:

A good opening line or paragraph is essential. This is what determines whether the reader goes on to read the story or goes in search of another.
The opening should contain a Hook. This is used to grab the reader's attention. The hook may be witty, shocking or mysterious, but it must be interesting.
Many writers also structure the length of sentences within the opening paragraph. A short sentence to open, a longer one to finish. It is one way of drawing the reader into the story.
In short stories, it is important to introduce and identify the main character and conflict at the very beginning. Additionally, there should be an inciting incident. This is a mini climax which forces the protagonist into some sort of action that basically starts the story moving.

Act II / The Middle:

This forms the bulk of the story and is no less important than the beginning. A good start will not make up for a poor middle.
In this section of the story, the writer must develop the characters, plot and conflicts. Tension or interest is maintained using a series of small crises which inevitably lead to a climax.


Act III / The End:

Not surprisingly, the finale is equally as important as the previous two acts. A poor ending will leave the reader feeling dissatisfied and unlikely to search for more of your stories.
The ending is the climax of the story. By the time it is over, all the conflicts established and developed in the other two acts must have been resolved. It doesn't have to be a happy ending but many readers prefer an upbeat or uplifting ending.


Plot

There is usually only time for one plot in a short story. This should be well defined and clear to the reader. The plot is essentially the reason for the story. A good plot is invaluable although it won't make up for shoddy characterisation or dialogue.

A plot is the story's skeleton and it must hold together. In essence, the plot provides a conflict or an obstacle which tests the main character. This conflict is developed and the resultant tension maintained through a series of crises until the climax, at which point the conflict should be resolved.

A quick word about conflict. This can be relatively ordinary and recognisable, or outrageously dramatic. Its nature depends on the genre of story. For instance, science fiction is likely to have a more bizarre conflict than a romantic story.

There are three main types of conflicts:

a) The individual against his/ her-self.

b) The individual against another individual.

c) The individual against forces of nature.

These forces may be virtually anything beyond the character's control eg. the weather, natural or manmade disasters, war, corporations, the government...


Viewpoints

Types of viewpoints


First person - I go, ie. an eyewitness account
Third person - He/she goes, ie. narrator can be absent
a) Omniscient - voice of God type narration, can flit between characters
b) Limited - story is led by one character
Second person - you go, ( Used mainly in non fiction )
Third person plural - they go
Advantages, Limitations and Mistakes

First person

Advantages:

Creates an intimacy between the reader and narrator. The reader experiences everything through the narrator's perceptions, coloured by her motives, driven by her motivations

Less likely to inadvertently switch viewpoints

Disadvantages:

Narrator/ character must be present during key scenes

Readers can only know what this character knows unless the narrator either lies or witholds information

If the story is a thriller, then the reader automatically knows that whatever happened to the narrator they survived (unless they turn out to be a ghost). This may detract from the suspense

More skill required to provide a physical description of the narrator

Mistakes:

Revealed as a fraud ie. describes what is going through other characters’ minds rather than just her own

Narrator watches herself from a distance ie. tells the reader what happens to her but not why

Third person

Advantages:

Allows the reader to see all the events occurring

Allows the author to mislead the readers without cheating

Omniscient view allows us to see into many characters’ minds

Limited view allows the narrator to tell the story straight without being influenced by the character’s assumptions, prejudices etc

Limited also allows different levels of penetration

Both allow changes of viewpoint within a story

Disadvantages:

OV doesn’t allow a strong identification with any one character

Limited view takes longer to impart the same information than the omniscient

Mistakes:

More likely to switch viewpoints by accident

Choices


Assigning a viewpoint to a character automatically gives that person importance. They will be the voice of the story. Decide who is the most important character and with whom can you most closely identify.

If you want the narrator to be a part of the story, then the first person works best. However, if the narrator isn’t one of the characters involved in events, then use the third person.

As a rule, first person narrators are distanced from the story in time and third person narrators, in space.

Humour - first / omniscient

Brevity - third person omniscient

Emotion - third person limited

Sense of truth - first

Writers lacking confidence should consider the third person limited

Rules involving viewpoints

Vary depending on whether you are writing a short story or novel.

Short stories:

Don’t change viewpoints! Not only is it confusing for the reader but it also lessens any emotional energy you may have generated towards your main character. In other words, there isn’t time within the rigid structure of a short story to enter too many minds and establish empathy between them and the reader.

However, you can use different viewpoint when a character is telling a story to someone else, ie. a tale within a tale.

Novels:

Multiple viewpoints are not only allowable but useful!

In the third person, several viewpoint’s allow the reader wider access to knowledge and events not necessarily involving each character in the story.

In addition, changing the viewpoint will often increase the pace of the story.

However, shifting viewpoints too often may irritate the reader. It is also bad practice to change viewpoint within a paragraph.

Trading viewpoints:

• requires a chapter break or line space
  
  
• line space usually marked with three asterisks
  
  
• the opening line of the new paragraph should immediately establish whose viewpoint it is
  
  
• readers adapt better if they have already met the new viewpoint character
  

"Rounding Out" Your Characters

Rounded characters are essential to every good story; make yours "pop"!

Think about one of your favorite classic stories in fiction. Something you enjoyed reading more than anything else as a child, over and over again. Was it Alice in Wonderland? Treasure Island? Black Beauty? Some Nancy Drew mystery? The Adventures of Peter Rabbit?

Now ask yourself why you enjoyed reading that story so much. The answer is nearly always the same. The main characters.

Characters are important to the reader. They are what the reader identifies and empathizes with; they are what the reader loves to love ... or hate. Many great stories with weak plots, shoddy descriptive passages, and marginal dialogue have relied for their greatness solely on characterization. If you don't believe me, go back and read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises or The Old Man and the Sea. Papa's works are notoriously weak on story line and only marginal on description and dialogue. Where Hemingway works his magic is through his characters. When he writes about Ezra Pound or Gertrude Stein, about F. Scott Fitzgerald or even the ubiquitous Brett, we develop a love/hate relationship with those characters that is strong enough to keep us coming back, looking for more pages to turn.

So, how do you get from here to there? How do you take a blank screen and fill it with lovable (or at least empathetic) characters? Let's take a look at some of the things that have always worked for me.

See Your Characters!

First and foremost, you need to take the time to visualize your characters, one by one. See them in your mind. Ask yourself what it is about their looks that makes them stand out, that makes you notice them in a crowd. Come up with some mental images of each character. How does he look dressed casually, formally, and ready for bed? How does he look not dressed at all?

How do his eyes move? Do they dart around quickly, like those of an anxious ferret, or are they slow to move, cautious, hesitant to be seen in the eyes of others? How does he stand? How does he hold his hands? What does his mouth look like? Can you equate that mouth with something non-human (a "gaping hole" is a bit trite; how about a "great sandstone cavern of epic proportions")? Often, equating a human physical trait with a non-human feature enables the reader to conjure up a whole boatload of visual images in just a few words.

Show Your Characters!

Once you've come to see your character physically in your own mind, it's time to sketch him out in a few short paragraphs of descriptive passage that match your own internal vision. Here's an example from The Death and Life of Hymie Stiehl:

I quickly surveyed his large, bulging eyes, puffed out and encircled by several rings of time, then let my gaze drift across his thick, meaty face to his nose—a great bulbous affair that shone bluish-grey in the cast of a long bank of fluorescent lights stretched out overhead. Running from one side of his nose to the other were scores of tiny blue-green lines—ribbons of highway seen from a jetliner, at first barely visible from high above the city, then growing ever larger and more prominent with each passing second until they threatened to explode into a billion shards of concrete and shattered steel.

His mouth was the only thing about him that did not seem too large for his overall carriage. Not his mouth, exactly, but his lips. Two thin lines that, later when I got to know him, I would see purse out in an effort to expand their size, as though he knew these mere slivers of pastel were the one feature out of keeping with his greatness and set about to change them.

These two short grafs say as much about the physical appearance of the man as anything; yet, in doing so, they also reveal something about his character and internal motivation. Just a touch of vanity appears to reside in this character, which we learn when he tries to expand the insignificant slivers of his lips to make himself look more the role of personified greatness.

Notice, however revealing the paragraphs are, that they are not overwhelming. The reader doesn't need to know every physical aspect of the character all at once--and, in fact, he doesn't want to. Just as we come to observe things about the real people around us over an extended continuum of time, so, too, must the writer reveal those things about his characters at a staggered pace, a little at a time. Dumping seventeen pages of physical description on the reader at once would not only place an unbearable burden on the reader's retentive powers, but also would destroy the flow of the story.

So, you'll need to work in additional descriptive passages as the opportunities present themselves. Here is something that appears elsewhere in the same book about the same character:

"You know him?" one of my students asked casually as we stood in the hall, talking of literary greatness and how best to achieve it.

"Who?" I asked foolishly, following the gaze of a pimply faced young literary radical down the corridor to a stoop-shouldered old goat with pock-marked skin and dead stogie dangling from a pale and puckered mouth. "Him?" I'd known of Hyman Stiehl, the great and famous poet laureate, for years. But who was this? I turned to my student and shrugged, then glanced again at the old man. His steel-blue eyes met mine briefly, then darted away, speeding off down the hall where they came to rest on the sylvan form of a young maiden in a tight-fitting green knit dress.

Now we know a little more about the looks of this character. As a bonus, we also know a bit about the physical appearance of the student to whom the narrator is talking, as well as about some of the habits of our main character. In particular, he smokes a cigar, has quick-moving eyes, and lusts after young girls in tight dresses.

Be Your Characters!

Once you've envisioned your character's physical traits in your mind and written them down to share with your reader, it's time for you to become your character. Step into his shoes. Learn what motivates him, how he reacts to certainly stimuli around him. After all, if a character were developed simply by describing his physical attributes, writing would be damned easy stuff.

No, we must actually get into the character's persona, give him a personality, much as an actor studying a role would do. Writers are, after all, little more than actors off-stage. So let's act!

“Yeah,” the student replied as the old man turned and took several sure steps toward us. “Hymie Stiehl. You know him? We have coffee together at Francie’s in the mornings.”

“You? You and …” My mouth fell open as I looked from one face to the other.

“Hey-yeah. Pleased to meetcha,” the two thin lips said, quivering lightly as he held out his hand. “What’s your name again?”

“This is D.J.,” the student responded. “You know, the guy I told you about. The writing instructor?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure,” he said. His eyes glowed suddenly brighter and his brows—already sprouting in every conceivable direction—seemed to rise and swell to twice their previous size. “Oh, so you’re D. J. Yeah. I’ve read your stuff. Some of it. A little. In the papers. Or the magazines. Very nice.”

He held out his hand, and I grasped it firmly, surprised at how weak it felt, how light the grip, delicate, effeminate practically.

Here, the reader learns that the character is more complex than originally revealed. And, perhaps, just a tad superficial ("What's your name again?"). He's also not above laying out a little trash, as when he claims to have read D.J.'s stuff, then quickly adds "Some of it" without being able to recall where. Notice that, even though the main elements of physical description had been laid out earlier in the book, new bits and pieces are constantly emerging, to keep adding to the overall portrait. Here's some more revelation shedding light on Hymie's personality, revealed as he and D.J. attend a college staff party:

Suddenly I felt a strange aching in my heart. Not as though I wanted her. More as though I realized I couldn't possibly have her. Not now nor ever. Not so long as she was with Alexis. I felt the need for air; I felt the need for escape; I felt the need to put myself as far from this woman and Alexis and the stink in the room that Hymie had talked about as possible. But now Alexis was talking with him, with Hymie, who seemed to know Alexis from years back. At least from their body language. And now I would have to stay and listen to the chatter, cringe over the bragging, waddle through the bullshit. I would have to watch the overt glances, ache over the subtle touches, struggle beneath the tremendous weight of all the crap Alexis loved to throw around. I'd been to parties at which he was in attendance before. I'd seen him with other goddesses.

Hymie turned his head half toward me as if to whisper a secret. I pulled closer to him so I could hear above the growing din.

"Christ, I wouldn't mind fuckin' her," he said in a voice loud enough to carry to the end of Navy Pier and back, and then he shuffled his feet right past a stunned crowd, parting Alexis and his busty young companion on the way out the door.

I suddenly felt all eyes upon me. My feet clung tenaciously to the floor as if they suddenly had some vested interest in the real estate along North Lake Shore Drive and, as tenants in good standing, were not about to vacate the premises even a second before their lease expired at the end of the month. My face grew redder and hotter by the moment as I realized just how many people, including Alexis, Denise, and the goddess herself, had heard the remark. I didn't say it, I proclaimed via a sheepish grin. Don't look at me, for Chrissake, I didn't say it!!!

But it didn't work. They did look at me, and just about the moment I thought I would die or melt away beneath their hostile stares, my feet grew tired of their inactivity and began shuffling slowly but steadily across the grey-tile floor.

"Have a nice day," I heard my lips mutter to Alexis as I slipped through the door. I found myself winding my way down the stairwell and out through the arched opening leading toward the thick summer air, and when I finally emerged, I could hardly contain my fury.

"Jesus Christ," I shouted as I slipped into the cab and slammed the door behind me. "What the hell did you do that for? It'll be a miracle if I still have a job in the morning. Alexis knows everyone in this town. What the hell did you have to say that for? What the fuck did you say that for???"

"Aww, forget it," Hymie said, fumbling for a match to re-ignite a stogie that he had originally lit in the spring of '46. "They're nothin' but a bunch of horses' asses, anyway. You wanna spend the rest of your life kissing up to them, that's up to you. Me? I got better things to do, thanks. Besides, you always got your night job."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Right. That's easy for you to say. You've got a secure future. You've got money in the bank. Me? I need this job. You know, to help provide for the little things in life. Food, clothing, shelter. My night job at the ‘Y’ doesn't pay shit."

"Thirty-fifth and Shields," Hymie barked at the cabbie, motioning off to the right as the car shifted into gear and lurched from the curb. "And step on it, will ya?"

Now we're getting some character development! Now the reader knows for sure what he has so long suspected: Hymie is a stitch! A round, full, surprising, surprisingly likable, stitch. He's also a tightwad--relighting a cigar that should have been laid to rest long ago. He's opinionated (putting it mildly). He's selfish, not particularly concerned whether or not the kid loses his job over Hymie's comment. He's animated, talking with his hands as he barks directions at the cabbie.

These grafs also speak worlds about Hymie's character through the words he chooses to use. "Wanna" instead of "want to." "Nothin'" instead of "nothing." "Ya" instead of "you." All in all, within the relatively short space of a dozen or so pages, the reader learns that Hymie is crude, boorish, educated, selfish, vulgar, opinionated, self-confident, perpetually horny, rough, gruff, and--throughout it all--somehow likable. And, remember, it's only the beginning of a portrait of a strong, well-rounded, living, breathing character that is as real as any we've ever met in life. From here on out, the reader is hooked. Hymie is reason enough for the reader to continue turning the pages, if for no other purpose than to find out what extraordinary things he's going to do--or say--next.

And that's exactly what a round character in a work of fiction is supposed to make us do.

"Flattening Out" Your Characters

Every good book-length work of fiction has them; so, can that be bad?

Characterization. The word, itself, strikes fear into the hearts of trembling young novelists. What I'd like to know is ... why?

The characters in your fiction make the whole thing work. It doesn't matter how brilliant a plot you construct or how lively the action. It doesn't mean a thing if you paint the most glowing descriptive passages ever. The whole book isn't worth a tinker's damn if your characterization is flawed. Here's why.

People care about people. Or, at least, they want to. They may love them, they may hate them. But the bottom line is they're empathetic toward them. Even books that have non-people as their characters (remember Christine?) imbed those non-humans with human-like characteristics, making them, in effect, people.

So, what are some of the things our readers want to know about the characters in a book?

1.) Physical appearance. Readers like to be able to "see" the characters in their minds. That's where descriptive writing comes in. Take this description, for example:

Studley was small in size, 5-foot-nothing, with saucer-sized eyes that never seemed to close even when he slept. His nose was larger than normal, shaped like a walnut before it's husked, and his mouth turned down at one corner, down even farther at the other. His skin showed the color of concrete before water is added--ashen, dry, powdery, mildewed, with small blue and green flecks in it, like a piece of aged Stilton pocked with mold. He bore none of the features that could normally be called "striking." Yet, he held a twinkle in those saucer-eyes, a glow that displayed a love for life unlike any anyone else had ever seen before.

Contrast that with this:

Ruggles was the kind of guy you wouldn't look at twice, plain, average-looking, with little to set him apart from the average Joe.

2.) Internal makeup. This is the stuff that powers a character, that makes him go. It's what's inside, a character's character, and it can be a strong motivating tool. Check this out:

Sean had the kind of fire burning in his stomach that you read about. On days when everything went well, he was all fired up, burning, yearning for some action. On those other days, those days when everything turned to shit no matter how hard you tried to prevent it, he was worse. He carried the thought of revenge like a carpenter carries a tool belt, from one day to the next, from hour to hour, minute to minute. He was obsessed with the stuff. He never ate, drank, or slept without feeling it gnawing inside of him, trying to escape, like a rat chewing its way to freedom from inside a barn ... one angry, determined bite after another.

And now this:

Angelica was always upset. Nothing ever seemed to calm her down.

3.) Personal history. This is what your characters have experienced before the reader ever has a chance to meet them. It is, to a great degree, what determines their internal makeup (and sometimes, even, their physical appearance). For example:

Bartell's face lit up from within, not with a pleasant, warm, loving kind of glow, but with a maniacal fanaticism that threatened to devour him. In fact, it almost had. When he was just a kid loading hay in the mow, one of his brothers thought it would be fun to scare him. Bartell had always been afraid of fire. So, three days later, still wrapped in the nebulous protection of Intensive Care, the first of the bandages came off ... and eight months after that, after four attempts at covering the damage through plastic surgery, the last. There was little difference between the two unveilings. But there was a world of difference in Bartell. Staring at his grotesque, misshapen form in the mirror, he vowed not to get even. No, that would be too easy, too predictable. He vowed, instead, to remove the plague that had haunted him for most of his life. He vowed to share his misfortunes with his brother the best way he knew how.

And this:

Margo's life had been wrapped in sorrow ever since the accident. She walked with a limp still. And the anger she felt because of it followed her constantly.

What's it all about, you ask, Well, in each instance above, the longer, more elaborate descriptive detailing of the characters creates what's called a "rounded" character. It is someone the writer intentionally fleshes out. It is someone he wants to expose to the reader simply because that character is going to be pivotal within the story. He's there to make a difference. That character needs to be known and understood--pitied or admired, shunned or respected. Upon that character (and usually other nearly equally rounded characters within the story) lies the success of the writing.

But imagine what that writing would be like if every character that passed through your pages received the same rounded development. The bellboy who shows the young couple to their room ... the gas-station attendant who makes a four-paragraph appearance ... the priest saying mass one Sunday, never to be heard from again. What a slow, boring, agonizingly distracting read that would be!

That's where "flat" characters come in. Not only do flat characters receive less development than their rounded brethren, but they deserve less. Think of them as foils, human bridges to get from one scene or set of occurrences to the next. Then you'll see how ineffective giving them too much "roundness" would be to the overall flow of the story.

Flat characters serve to connect the dots in a work of fiction; but they also tend to enliven the rounded characters by their very comparison. You, as the writer, throw together a flat character; you spend tons of time developing a rounded character (not necessarily all at once, of course, but throughout the entire work). But in so doing, you automatically and instinctively trigger in the reader a feeling of which characters are most important (and, therefore, to which they need to pay the most attention) and which are little more than window dressing.

Make sense?

So, the next time you sit down to write a work of fiction, take the time to identify those characters who are rounded versus those who are flat. You'll find that characterization becomes much easier ... when you're not trying to make too much out of too little.