Post by FangedSmile on Dec 13, 2012 17:40:22 GMT -6
You might have heard someone say about an author, "His characters jump off the page," or better yet, an editor might have praised you for making a certain character jump off the page. This is because characters make the story. They are the driving force, and when they "jump off the page," they grip the editors and readers and do not let go.
Looking back at fiction already in existence, who can forget the characters F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens or Anne Rice created, or the movie screen's Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind, Hannibal Lecter of Silence of the Lambs, Rick Blaine of Casablanca, or Don Vito Corleone of Godfather? All these characters and many others like them are not just characters; they are titans to stay in memory forever.
Surely, many ways exist to create characters. A character chart is one way of doing it. Another way could be basing your characters on people you know. Methods like these may or may not create unforgettable characters. Physical attributes or description of what the character looks like and what his backstory has been is not enough either. Instead, a character's attitude, emotion, goals, actions, and reactions are what make him important to the story. Even then, more is needed. Readers should be able to identify or even empathize with the character in question and look up to him as if he were a Roman god.
Characters that jump off the page have these attributes in common:
This is what makes a character lovable and what makes him evoke empathy in the readers. It means the character has to touch the reader emotionally deep down inside, and the reader has to be able to see something of himself, something human, in the character.
Captivating characters look at the world in a way uniquely their own. They also have a very specific voice and point of view that no other character in the same story can imitate, such as Megan McCafferty's Jessica Darling in the series Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings, and Perfect Fifths.
Call it nobility if you will, for this is when a character acts to high ideals or very specific personal beliefs whether he is conscious of what he is doing or not, or whether his ideals are acceptable by others or not. Remember Hannibal Lecter? Remember how he rose above his monstrosity to help Clarice Sterling?
To seem real, a character has to have flaws, major or minor, to rub against other characters to enhance the conflict in the story. Flaws make your character human even if your actual character is Apollo or Zeus.
Readers respect and bond with characters who act consciously with free will toward the result of the story. Strength of will may not be present or it may be hidden in the beginning of the story, but usually somewhere in the midpoint, it may start showing itself, gradually becoming more and more powerful toward the end.
At least sometime in the story when faced with challenges and threats, a spectacular character needs to show courage. He has to be gutsy and willing to fight to death if necessary. Case in point, at the end of The Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, Sydney Carton knowingly goes to the guillotine instead of his look-alike Charles Darnay, so the woman he loves can be happy with Darnay.
Unpredictable behavior often comes to surface under stress, inner conflict, or excitement. Even in real life, people may act out of character at the most unexpected moment. Anne Rice's vampire Lestat is impulsive and shocking at times, then philosophical and righteous at other times. This unpredictability is what makes him a unique and fascinating character. A character, however, need not be a Lestat. He might choose to act surprisingly at a crucial point once or twice when under stress.
Note: If you are going to make your character act unpredictably, first establish his regular mode of behavior.That is, don't make him act unpredictably right at the beginning of the story, so the readers don't mix his true personality with his unpredictability.
May the characters you create turn out to be distinct, colorful, and fascinating so they "jump off the page" for agents and editors.
Source:
www.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/5054-How-to-Make-Characters-Jump-off-the-Page.html
Looking back at fiction already in existence, who can forget the characters F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens or Anne Rice created, or the movie screen's Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind, Hannibal Lecter of Silence of the Lambs, Rick Blaine of Casablanca, or Don Vito Corleone of Godfather? All these characters and many others like them are not just characters; they are titans to stay in memory forever.
Surely, many ways exist to create characters. A character chart is one way of doing it. Another way could be basing your characters on people you know. Methods like these may or may not create unforgettable characters. Physical attributes or description of what the character looks like and what his backstory has been is not enough either. Instead, a character's attitude, emotion, goals, actions, and reactions are what make him important to the story. Even then, more is needed. Readers should be able to identify or even empathize with the character in question and look up to him as if he were a Roman god.
Characters that jump off the page have these attributes in common:
- Charisma or magnetism:
This is what makes a character lovable and what makes him evoke empathy in the readers. It means the character has to touch the reader emotionally deep down inside, and the reader has to be able to see something of himself, something human, in the character.
- Attitude:
Captivating characters look at the world in a way uniquely their own. They also have a very specific voice and point of view that no other character in the same story can imitate, such as Megan McCafferty's Jessica Darling in the series Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings, and Perfect Fifths.
- Integrity:
Call it nobility if you will, for this is when a character acts to high ideals or very specific personal beliefs whether he is conscious of what he is doing or not, or whether his ideals are acceptable by others or not. Remember Hannibal Lecter? Remember how he rose above his monstrosity to help Clarice Sterling?
- Character Flaws:
To seem real, a character has to have flaws, major or minor, to rub against other characters to enhance the conflict in the story. Flaws make your character human even if your actual character is Apollo or Zeus.
- Strength of Will:
Readers respect and bond with characters who act consciously with free will toward the result of the story. Strength of will may not be present or it may be hidden in the beginning of the story, but usually somewhere in the midpoint, it may start showing itself, gradually becoming more and more powerful toward the end.
- Courage:
At least sometime in the story when faced with challenges and threats, a spectacular character needs to show courage. He has to be gutsy and willing to fight to death if necessary. Case in point, at the end of The Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, Sydney Carton knowingly goes to the guillotine instead of his look-alike Charles Darnay, so the woman he loves can be happy with Darnay.
- Unpredictability:
Unpredictable behavior often comes to surface under stress, inner conflict, or excitement. Even in real life, people may act out of character at the most unexpected moment. Anne Rice's vampire Lestat is impulsive and shocking at times, then philosophical and righteous at other times. This unpredictability is what makes him a unique and fascinating character. A character, however, need not be a Lestat. He might choose to act surprisingly at a crucial point once or twice when under stress.
Note: If you are going to make your character act unpredictably, first establish his regular mode of behavior.That is, don't make him act unpredictably right at the beginning of the story, so the readers don't mix his true personality with his unpredictability.
May the characters you create turn out to be distinct, colorful, and fascinating so they "jump off the page" for agents and editors.
Source:
www.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/5054-How-to-Make-Characters-Jump-off-the-Page.html