What makes a good character?
It’s not an easy question. My first thought is that characters have to
be realistic. But considering some of the fantasy characters out there
this does not seem to fit. Some of the most popular characters out there
are larger than life and in many cases do the things that people wish
they could do. Classic characters like Spiderman,
Gandalf and Dracula are, for obvious reasons, far from realistic.
So is that what it takes to be a good character, to be larger than life? Again it doesn’t hold true. Characters like Quoyle in “
The shipping news”
are obviously well written, but they’re not larger than life. In many
ways they seem to conform more to the first idea of being realistic.
What I really think is important for good character is that they have to
be believable. They have to have three dimensions. It doesn’t matter if
the character is a spell casting sorceress or a fat baker, there has to
be more to their life than just those simple points. No one on this
earth can be summed up in a simple stereotype. No one is not in the
middle of their own story. So why should it be any different in writing?
I was watching a
TV show recently called “Firefly” and the writer,
Joss Whedon,
seemed to understand this perfectly. There was not a character in the
series without their own plans, motivations and agenda. They were not
characters centred on the life of another person, but rather they were
people who were centred on themselves who happened to be colliding with
other people. The science fiction setting just seemed to be a back drop
for the human interaction.
If I was going to make my own list of rules for
character creation,
“Everyone is the hero of their own stories,” would probably be top of
the list. The second rule would be, “There are no ‘bad’ guys.”
So what does this mean? There are antagonists most books right? There are antagonists in “
Paradigms” and “Bardo” for sure. But when you think about it, is there a single person in the world that honestly thinks they are the
bad guy?
Of course not. Oh they might know they are doing some things that are
not right, but they’ll have their excuses. They’ll have their own
paradigms. I think in psychology it’s called cognitive dissonance.
People have their own ways of seeing the world, so the terrorist is
doing it for his people. In his eyes he is a hero. I think once you
start seeing this and start trying to understand your villains they
become a whole lot more interesting. The best stories I’ve read are the
ones where I’m tempted by the villain’s way of thinking.
What about the
main character?
Well in many ways the protagonist is the easy one for most people. They
are the centre of the story and it’s easier to explore the different
facets of their personality. But there is a common problem that comes up
and that is the hero issue. In short, if your character is too perfect
then they are boring and unrealistic.
For me there is no bigger pet hate than the perfect hero that can do
everything and has no flaws. I download a sci-fi story a few months back
and it was exactly that, the captain was fighter, an engineer, a
diplomat, a pilot and was the best of the best at everything he did. I
didn’t download the later parts.
Flaws in many ways are what make the character real. You need the dark
side to show up the light. If your character can do everything, knows
everything and is loved by everyone, then there’s no real point in the
story. People can relate to flaws and it’s a much more satisfying story
when a hero can with great effort overcome those flaws or learn to live
with them.
In addition, while slightly off track. Don’t be too nice to your
character in the story either. If he always succeeds in everything he
does then story is dull. The failures highlight the successes and keep
up the suspense.
So where do good characters come from? I once attended a little workshop
on character creation when I was in Japan. The teacher was saying you
should take certain things about a typical character and then change one
of them to the opposite. For example, what six things do you think
about a female truck driver? Most people would say ugly or fat in there
and the suggestion was that you could change this to the opposite to
make it more interesting. Some people seem to like this idea, for me it
creates too many characters that are all a bit quirky and it feels
forced. But other people find it helpful.
I would say that in my own writing, the best character ideas I get,
come from watching other people. I don’t do in a stalker kind of way –
at least I hope not. But I think that many of the characters I create
have some basis in reality. Often they are a merging of several people
into one. At other times they are based on a person I know but the
characteristics of the personality are turned up or down. I think the
character I have come up with that I liked most was Judas in
“Paradigms”. He was based, not on a friend, but on the image that a
friend of mine often tries to project (he’s really a nice guy deep
down).
Like coming up with a story, I don’t think there is one magic way to
deal with your characters. But one thing I would suggest is that no
matter how you come up with your characters make sure you have a fairly
good idea
about who they are before you start writing. Sit with them and ask
questions about them – some people like to do a “one hundred everyday
questions” list that asks things like “What do you usually eat for
breakfast,” that they run though. Some people use a diagram to map out
their personality. Others try out characters in
short stories first before plugging them at the main event.
Good characters are the key to writing a good novel. Get it right and much of the story will write itself.
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