I create my characters by setting up a chart of what and who they are. Where they live, where they work, what they like to do, what they look like, who their friends are, their parents, their interests and any other characteristic I can think of to make my characters well-rounded and believable.
Consistant speech habits. I talk to my characters. if I cant get the right answers mentallyI delete a good number of the them in the beginning chapters.
For a character to be believable, he or she must be based on a real-life person. Certainly not entirely, but a really great character is a mix of a number of real life people.
To be believable a character must be real; money concerns, partner and employment problems, sexual and friendship problems that cause stress and anxiety, as well as emotions that fester and explode into bits of depression, anger, guilt, disconnectedness, and even murder. If the character is supernatural those problems can still be accentuated via imagination.
Examine Jason Bourne for instance. He was a brainwashed killer with amnesia, and he was so human with all the traits above.
My characters are pieces of people who've entered and exited my life; people I've hated and loved, acquaintances I've envied and cursed, partners I've wanted to hurt and message, lovers, teachers, children, adults and all kinds and mischievous friends that I didn't want to know, and, including figments of my imagination.
To be believable, the character has to be involved in the story as well. Not only location, but dress, speech, etc. When I write, I become the main character and the story moves as it would in my own life. Since I've never been known to be a "world traveler", my stories are based on the essence of my own life. Rather boring perhaps, at times, but then I'm just your average person leading an average life. No castles, mansions or trips to Rome. I am like 90% of the general public, so my character's lives are as well, thus realistic and believable.
I write to reach a greater audience, rather than target one specific group. My books can be read by an adult or young teen easily, with nothing their parents would object to them reading. Reading is an escape and this particular series I'm working on, I hope, leaves my readers with the feeling of optimism and hope. Not unrealistic, unobtainable goals, but true-to-life "could happen!"
My book is non-fiction. However, I did write a children's book that I haven't published yet and I thought about the main character (a young girl) and what I remember about childhood. No pretense. That's what all characters need in order to be believable. Once you start writing for an audience, you've lost believability.
Experience. All my characters are based on real people. You show me a funny writer, I'll show you a dude that's experienced some crazy shit.
I believe that for a character to be believable, the character must be simple and understandable, the character can have some complication, but not too complicated the reader will likely lose touch with the character if so. I like to just keep the character simple and common in most of my writing and lead the reader through the character's life struggles and joys.
A character becomes believable and real if descriptors are used. I take everyday people and let them speak for themselves; they have a voice and language of their own.
Details such as age, life experiences, emotions, happy, sad, angry, outgoing.
I observe characteristics and circumstances of people from my life, past and present and build upon their qualities and emotional state.
Do a character physical description first and try to analyze what that person in real life would have as expectations for the time period you are writing in. If it's an old cranky man talking about politics at the dinner table and he doesn't like the president, I have him pound his fist on the table, making the dishes rattle, calling the president a madman. While I'm at it, I describe the tension in the room as very much near to everyone taking note of the nearest exit in case the old man finally loses it.(someone thinks it) The suspicious sea captain always sounds a little paranoid in his captain's logs and even the parrot on the first mate’s shoulder should be interpreted by the captain as delivering coded messages. Not easy! (But don't use run-on sentences like me.)
Human weaknesses, and secret fears of the author can be brought to the public so that we can all identify with the character. The author must reveal this some way. Everyone has flaws and we must see the flaws. Craftiness of the author to expose human weaknesses in his own character through the story is very much a dead-ringer for bonding with an audience. I failed in my novel to do this enough, I can't say that I know exactly how but it's a good habit to empathize with each character. Become that character for the sake of the dialogue. Allow yourself to look at each character's point of view separately as though you were someone else.   | | |
In order for characters to be believable they should be down-to-earth. In my short story I created a detective who worked every angle to find the murderer. He didn't do anything extraordfinary, but through thorough examination of the clues, he solved the murder. The character was believable because he could bring together all the clues and solve the mystery. Characters who create a picture in my mind and allow me to wrestle along with them, within the storyline, peak my interest.
In writing fiction I beleive any character is believable, so long as the author writes the character well. With nonfiction I believe the author can tell someone's story in its entirety while still showing respect.
I create mine by studing them thoroughly and using empathy for their trials and well as their triumphs. Like most writers, my fiction characters are a reflection of my personality.
Inner dialogue can tell us alot about a character. Ultimately life is action and movement. The essence of a character is developed in the choices he or she makes within the world of his or her story. With each situation there are many choices that can be made for many reasons. I life for my characters to make a variety of choices that reflect both self awareness and self blindness. The arc of the story evolves as the self awareness of a character(s) increase over the life of the story. If, as an author, you can make this happen in a compelling way, you will have a successful story. Redemption is one of the most powerful themes I have discovered in storywritng and the kind of think I like most to write about and tell. |
99698 interviews created
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS