How To Create Strong and Memorable Characters

Did you know your stories could be getting rejected based on your characters? Frightening thought, isn’t it?

If you’ve ever wondered how you can create multi-layered characters that will become so real they live on in the minds of your reader, pop over to From The Write Angle where I’m sharing five surefire, easy tips on how to create strong, memorable characters.

See you over there.

True That!: Characters and Keepin’ it Real

Okay, so I’ve been talking about characters a lot lately. Or so it feels. (Maybe it’s all just actually swirling in my head and isn’t coming out all over the place like I think it might be.) Anyway, today I was getting blood work done and was chatting with the lab lady while she was prepping and drawing blood. As I was leaving she wished me and the kids a good day and I wished her the same. I added, “I hope nobody passes out in your chair and falls out!” (Thinking of how someone I know happened to do that once.) Because really, when you’ve been talking about how you and the kids are going swimming and going to have a lovely day and she’s saying she’s stuck at work all day… what do you say to wish her a good one?

Funny enough… she was actually kind of appreciative of my comment and said, “Thanks. It’s actually been a really bad month for that. All the lab techs have been noticing that, even in the next town over.” Huh.

I was so surprised I didn’t quite know what to say. And, of course, I was burning with curiosity. (As usual.) Why are people passing out? Is it the weather? Fasting? Rushed lab techs who give too sharp a jab with the ol’ needle? (Mine was amazing actually, hardly felt the needle go in.) Are they looking at the vials fill with blood and getting woozy? (Really, you shouldn’t do that! Watching vital life fluid drain from your body is never a good idea.)

And being a writer, I, of course, turned this juicy tidbit back to my writing. Hmmm. My characters… what would constitute a good day or bad day at work? What would be strange for them? What leads to a good day, a bad day, a busy day, an interesting day, boring day, etc.? And how do I find that out? Research! Imagination! And chatting with people in the profession. Speaking of which, I think I’d better go make one of my characters into a lab tech….
Have a good one and may your keyboard’s keys resist the urge to pop off!

Building a Character

One of the funnest (and hardest) parts of writing a story is building a character. Not just anyone will do when you need someone to sweep into your story and save the day. Or just any old Jane to take the layers of crap (we like to call it conflict) on her, either. So, who do you choose? You can’t just grab your next door neighbour and throw them into a murder scenario. (As much fun as that might be.) So, you have to get creative.

I’m one of those who has a general idea of their main character before they start writing. Usually. Sometimes I have nothing. However, I have found that in the cases where I go in blind, I often end up having a main character who lacks in proper motivations to carry the story forward in a strong and convincing way. That means, editing. A lot of editing. And that takes time. A few years ago I read Linda Seger’s book “Creating Unforgettable Characters” and built a worksheet for myself using her ideas and tips. It’s been great. Even when I don’t use the worksheet, just making it has helped keep those elements in mind when I start a new story or introduce a new character. (If you want to pop through some online character questionnaires, check out this link.)

What does your chararacter want? What stands in their way? (I have to know those two things before I start or I don’t even have a story. Generally speaking… I have broken my own rules a time or two. Oops!) But to get more depth, questions like: How do you handle conflict?; What is your level of education?; and What does your home look like? tend to help me delve deeper and get a greater understanding of who the heck I am working with.

Back in June, Writer’s Digest posted an article called, “9 Questions to Ask Your Main Character.” While I don’t think I have asked any of my characters these specific questions, they are good ones that will help get into the psyche of that wily old character of yours.

Being the curious sort that I am, I asked my writing buddies over at AgentQueryConnect if they ask their characters questions before they start writing. As you may have guessed, the answers to that poll were all over the board. If you have time and are curious what you can ask your main character, read the whole thread–there are lots of great questions that other writers ask their characters.

Writer’s tip: If your story is falling apart, lacks a little something, or your characters don’t feel quite right, try taking a break and having a coffee and chat with your characters. You might be surprised what they tell you.

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Tell The Truth

…and nothing but the truth when it comes to your characters.

I’m working my way through Ray Bradbury’s Zen and the Art of Writing and every few pages I come across something that goes *ping* in my writer’s brain. Last night, he described how a character he never intended to write about came to him and said, “Tell the truth about me.” (Page 113) And because he is a writer who listens, he had to. The result? An honest and acclaimed piece.

Every day when a writer sits down at their paper or keyboard, their characters ask us to do this. In our best work we not only listen, but we comply. We relax our minds and shut the doors to thinking and we bring forth something honest and true. (And sometimes discover something so shocking it jolts us, such as our beloved character is having an extramarital affair.)

When we don’t listen, when we don’t comply, when we push and shove our ideas of story onto our characters, that is when we fall apart, get writers block, and create stilted stories that don’t work, that don’t speak.

I’ve been procrastinating on my work in progress because I am at a point where I have to sit back and think. Or so I thought. Maybe all I need to do is sit back, relax, and channel my characters’ inner truths and those character arcs will place themselves on the page, weaving and tying themselves to the other characters in a way that wouldn’t happen if I pushed it.

How about you? Do your characters force you to tell the truth?

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When Characters Do Bad Things

I was peacefully writing away yesterday afternoon.

La, la, la.

That was me. I began a new chapter with a new character. He carefully slipped out of the house in the morning, being extra careful not to wake his wife who didn’t need to get up for a few more hours. Off he went to work, the ever-so safety conscious employee. All day he works alongside his longtime buddy. Then he shocks me. As he is driving away from the plant, he drives downtown and meets his buddy’s wife for a long-standing affair! They even have a hotel room booked for every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:30. I was shocked. So shocked I almost stopped writing. Seriously. My fingers paused. My brain leapt scrambled against the brick wall it had been flung against and my jaw dropped.

I stuttered. I blinked. I couldn’t believe it. Sure, in the past my characters have done some pretty zany stuff. But they have never, NEVER done anything that I would disapprove of. And this guy did. I created a cheater and I didn’t know. I’m really quite choked at him. Why would he do this? He’s a good guy with good relationships. Or, at least, so I thought.

I had to stop writing. I left him at the hotel room door. It was hard writing about this as it came so out of left field. The character will stay. The affair will stay. And I will get over it.

What surprised me the most was maybe not his affair, but how shocked I was. I started jumping on what was flowing from my fingers onto the screen. I was getting in the way when I was in the groove and the right, honest words were hitting the page.

I honour the groove, and yet, my brain was stuttering at my fingers, so I had to quit. I was afraid I was going to spoil it. That I was going to get in the way of the story.

Has that ever happened to you? Have your characters shocked you so thoroughly you had to put down the story and compose yourself?