Kate Moss: Writer

Good morning, writers.

This is the first of five posts this week, which will all explore different aspects of character development.

First, a brief overview of where we’re going:
Mon: Originality: Creating Characters Readers Love… And Haven’t Met Before
Tues: Creating Context: Backstory & Supporting Characters
Wed: Motivation a.k.a. How To Get Away With Murder
Thur: Trauma: Why It’s Good For Your Characters
Fri: Tension: Coordinating Your Characters to Energize Your Story

And now onto today’s topic… Originality: Creating Characters Readers Love… And Haven’t Met Before

Some writers claim their characters simply saunter into their heads fully formed and complete with families, childhoods, and friends. If these are original, vibrant characters that are going to do interesting things, then congratulations to those writers. However, as I’m not in that camp myself, I’m generally distrustful of any image or character that materializes in my mind and appears to be complete and ready to head on over to the New York Times Best Seller List.

Why? For me, these images are usually patchwork reproductions of favorite or interesting things I have read recently. If I just finished an intriguing thriller featuring a nerdy computer programmer turned charming super spy, you can bet that sometime next week a nerdy spy will try to charm his way into my current children’s book about a family of radioactive bunnies.

Let your reader fill in their favorite details.

Readers know what they like. Take me, for example. I like tall, dark, handsome and damaged. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a stereotype. Now, which of those characteristics do I rely on the writer to provide? Mainly the damaged element. All the writer has to do is make a vague reference to the fact that the hero is attractive and I fill in the details with my faves – blue eyes, black hair, about 6 feet tall… you get the idea.

Writers who belabor every surface detail limit the readers imaginative participation in the story. Instead, as a writer I focus on communicating the deeper characteristics that make my hero a unique, motivated, conflicted human being worth reading about for 300 pages.

Give specific, strategic details.

A well-placed, specific details can counter stereotypes and give your characters depth. You can use specific details to erase some of those traits the reader has automatically assigned to your character. This applies to your character’s physical, intellectual, and emotional facets.

How do you do this? Give the reader details he wouldn’t expect and tie those details to the plot of your story.

For example, if you’re reading a story set in rural Colorado and the hero wears cowboy boots, this adds to the stereotypical image your working with until the writer tells you differently. However, if you’re reading a story set in New York and the hero walks in wearing cowboy boots, it brings up a question mark. Why is he wearing them? Is he from rural Colorado? Does he think they’re fashion forward? There has to be a story behind that. And you’re here to tell a story, right?

Consciously craft your character’s voice.

Each character should have a unique voice. This is especially important for your point of view character, but applies to some degree to every single person in your book. Even the stereotypical office assistant who shows up only briefly on page thirty-two and then again as a hostage on page ninety should speak, react, and act differently than other characters.

This can be subtle. Don’t give all your characters different accents. Unless, of course, your book is about a group of foreigners stuck in an elevator. Instead, think for a moment about your best friend. Pretend s/he wrote you a very brief note. Even if s/he didn’t sign it, you’d know it was from him/her, right? The word choice, sentence structure, and tone would act as a signature of sorts. Your characters, and especially your main characters, should have such ’signature’ elements the reader can associate with them.

Your point of view character(s) provide an additional opportunity for your to develop their voice. Unlike other characters in the novel, the reader can see how the point of view character observes others, the world, and himself. Does he judge others harshly or is he forgiving? Does he think highly or herself or is he self-deprecating? Does he approach life with a sense of humor or deadly seriousness? All are choices you can consciously make to create more interesting characters.

If you like writing exercises, I’ll leave you with a short one. Write down three stereotypical characters of your genre (e.g. rich playboy, female cop, cowboy). Write down the top five images/characteristics that come to mind for each. Now try mixing and matching a few of them. How does it change things?

For some additional fun (ahem, reading):

Nathan Bransford (you should know who this is!) comments on character here

David Poyer Gives Some Great (and Long) Advice Here

More on creating unique voice here