I think this comes back to connection because finding a connection with a character makes them more human and easier to identify with. My characters seem to come alive as the story is told. I have to say, there is at least a little bit of me in everything that I write. If you write about things that you know and that you have experienced, people will sense a reality in the story and the characters and connect with them.
A personality that must seem real to the author. It is important to have the dialogue match the character.
I don't have a special formula for creating characters. I get ideas from people I meet, people I've heard of, etc. and then I develop them into particular characters.
The characters actually show me their personalities, and in children's writing, especially their attitude! Soon as I start writing, it comes naturally to both of us, my characters and me.
I believe that as long as a writer makes his/her characters as real as possible they are believable. What we can't forget is that there are no perfect people, so there can't be perfect characters. Everyone of us has flaws, just as a character should.
My characters just pop into my head. Though I do find myself leaning more towards tall, muscular, long dark wavy hair with exotic colored eyes type guys.
Most of my characters are under 30, most of those characters are male, and most of them have more flaws than you can shake a stick at, just like real life.
I decribe every detail of her life, what her likes are and dislikes are. I also describe her so the reader gets a vivid picture set in their minds.
Oh dear! What is believable? Who is believable? Life is unbelievable.
I think in fiction, as well as in real life, characters do some unbelievable things. Just when you think you know someone, they do something you would never have thought they would do.
Now I have a question for you? Haven't you ever acted out of character and done something you never thought you would do?
Maybe it is doing something unbelievable that a character becomes believable.
The character must look like a commoner one and not a genious or super human.
Truth, imperfection...these are the two main ingredients. I create my characters via personal experiences, my emotional state, social issues, spiritual matters, the state of black folk...the list goes on...however all the former is influenced by truth and imperfection.
If a character lives on in my mind for decades, that character is believable.
A couple examples: Freckles from the book of the same name. And Father Ralph from the Thorn Birds.
I create my characters by living in their skin and walking in their shoes. I become every character I create until their story has been told to my satisfaction.
I think one has to be aware that a character is actually created in the reader's mind, not simply in the author's words, and so often it can take only a few words to let the reader's mind start working. On the other hand, one doesn't want to deliver up stock characters with which the reader is already familiar, so the second step is to subvert any preconceptions.
In practice, I create characters from the outside in. A character's behaviour is driven by the role they have to fulfil in the plot. Thus a character starts out as an amalgam of characteristics that I then have to blend into a character. It sounds random, but it does mean I'm surprised sometimes, and also I find that the process reflects the way we meet people in real life.
to be accepted, they have to touch something in each reader... some place that allows you to go along with what this person is doing, or to want to know what happens next to them. to care, in some way, good or bad.
how do i create them?
i have no clue. they just appear.
Characters have to have flaws as well as strengths just as real people. Many of my characters are real historical people, and I research everything I get my hands on about them to portray them accurately. I have fun creating the fictional characters in my stories, letting my imagination run wild.
Someone that the reader can relate too, maybe even envy or respect, certainly someone who the reader empathizes with.
Characters should be regular people with the same types of idiosyncrasies and flaws. Of course we love reading about a handsome man or a gorgeous woman, but I like to give my characters real human qualities. Most times they are not always right or perfect. It’s no fun to read about perfect people. I want them to grow through-out the story. By the end of the book I want my characters to emerge stronger and more confident. In turn, the reader will also grow.
Creating believable characters is all about being a good watcher of people...
I create mine by just watching people. Once a character takes shape on a page, conflict reveals the drives that pulse within a character.
Believable characters: good attention to details, honest reaction and motives... |
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