We need to be shown the character, not told what they are like. You can then form your own image of them, and this makes them 'yours'. I base all my characters on someone I know, but then recreate them, moulding and shaping them. A bit like Frankenstein.
A writer must be honest, must see what type of character he/she has created, must be mindful and aware of all the possibilities of a certain situation and must choose which possibility that character will probably fall in line with. A writer must not force a character to do something the writer wants that character to do. A writer must not allow for plot holes or plot escapes that makes it easy on the character. And there should be no kneejerk disdain, kneejerk feminism, trendy socio-political way of thinking or kneejerk sentimentality.
I take the characters a day at a time. A good character tends to be discovered. By the third revision, one has found him/her. If a writer "knows" her character before she sets out, she is writing a stereotypical character.
It's a tricky magic, a kind of alchemy. I always need to know a bit about them but not everything. I need to know why they react in certain ways, what sort of relationships they have, what's happened to them in the past, who they trust. But I like them to have unpredictable elements as well. To me part of writing a character is discovering who they will become. I don't know that when I write.
To have some frame of reference to the the reader's existing knowledge, whether through realism or intertextuality. This is best achieved through solid character development and a strong character arc, but I like to cheat and that means cheap cultural references and/or ripping off famous characters.
In my defence, one can argue that in our postmodern condition, there is no such things as original characters or "real" characters, only the tangled intertextual references that make up our knowledge of the world and literature, so I'm not really cheating, I'm living up to the standards our society has degraded to.
That the character is believed. That question is unanswerable, especially since "credibility" is very subjective. It's not a question that interests me very much, I'm afraid. I just write them, and let the gods of perception sort them out. When I'm writing a story, I write more out of a situation than a character. How characters respond to a situation dictates who they are. They do not come full blown to me. The process is gradual.
I don't create a character because I am the main character in my writings.
In my personal reading the writer must know his character inside out and outside in. He/she must understand everyone the character relates to. He/she must have done his/her homework and delved completely into the life of the main character.
Asking this question is a bit like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I'll give you a few seconds of snorting and stamping if you want to run away now. Still here? Don't say I didn't warn you.
The best advice I can give for making a character believable is to stop thinking of your characters AS characters. They are not just another block to help you build your castle. They are people, and they have been living out their lives in the world that you created. That world has changed them, shaped them, both elevated and destroyed them, and that should be apparent, just as all of the things that we go through are apparent in our lives. Even the tiniest things in our lives make us who we are. Your characters should be the same.
Don't think they are just names on paper, or random faces in a crowd. They are your link between your readers and your story. People care about people first and foremost. It's born into each and every one of us, whether we like it or not. If your characters do not show us why their world is interesting and compelling, who will? The most fascinating characters are the ones who have desires, goals, secrets, lies, faith, fears, and misunderstandings, not just a family, a job and a handful of hobbies. Even if you're not the sort of person who pries into other people's personal lives, you need to with your characters. As a writer we all have to play God to a certain extent; use that!
If nothing else, sit your characters down in your head. Let them recline on the comfy sofa while you sit back with a clipboard in hand. Start asking them questions about who they are, what they think and why, how they feel and why. Pretend you are interviewing your favorite celebrity; you want to know everything, even the stuff that seems boring or unnecessary. Having reasons for everything is a good place to start. Darth Vader isn't just evil; he used to be a man, and became evil as a result of his pain. Bilbo Baggins isn't just a hero; he suffers under the weight of a destiny he never wanted or planned for, but he does it anyway because he knows he is the only one who can save the world. Don't let your characters be "just" anything. Make sure they have reasons.   | | |
I don't create characters. They are based on people I know.
I don't write fiction (yet). so all my characters are real. unfortunately news editors fell in love with the concept of real people. in most cases that means three or four lines about someone and you heard no more about them.
You need a lot more than that. I have managed to do that, for example, with Columbine victims/relatives. But it was really painful. And I felt obliged to protect them when they said stupid things.
They sent us out to get vox pox. They didn't want us to call people we know. That made more sense to me as long as you called both sides. I know that at least a few times I was given quotes from people who gave me a phony name.
Since my only work is autobiographical, truth is critical. Although some details of people, as I remember them, may not be totally correct, to my knowledge I have described the essence of the various people in my life in a fair way.
The first thing I do is put the character into a believable situation. The rest comes naturally.
For a protagonist to be believable they have to be hurt, to have feelings and to be able to master their feelings. For an antagonist to be believable they have to be resistant to pain, or numb. They must dehumanize themselves for an overambitious goal.
It helps if you use, as a model, someone you know. Unless it is biography, it is also good if you don't name the character after the person you know.
A bit of myself, a bit of others I know plus some of what I have imagined.
A connection with the reader. Even the most outrageous superheroes have qualities every human has. My characters are mostly based on people I've encountered in my own life. I draw great inspiration from my life experiences.
Lots of details, and frank statements about how characters feel about other characters. I create mine through many revisions. If I don't believe a character, I think of how to make the character believable, then go try and do that. |
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