Character Development

Developing Characters

What do readers want in book? Most will say “Characters that they will either love or hate… Characters they can relate to.”

Characters are the common denominators of fiction. Without believable, interesting characters, you do not have fiction at all, but names walking through a plot.

Characters influence all other story components.

1. Plot depends on characters. Different people react differently to the same situation — different characters, different plots.

2. Setting depends on characters. A setting shapes characters. Characters often gravitate to settings compatible with their natural personality.

3. Style is influenced by character. Different personalities require different writing styles.

Authors obtain their characters from four sources: themself, real people they know, real people they hear about, and pure imagination. Is one sense, every character an author creates is an extension of themselves. A character’s emotions draws upon the author’s emotions. A main question to consider, whether a character is real or imagined, is if the character is strong enough to sustain a story.

Not all character will matter equally to the story. The protagonist is the star of the story. In longer novels, there may be more than one protagonist. Other characters, known as featured characters, are necessary to a story and are interesting in their own right. Choosing a given character as a protagonist can result in one novel and choosing another character as a protagonist can result in a very different story.

Characters need to be selected with care. After a character is selected, the author needs to determine their core personality and that character’s impact on the story. Will the character remain consistent and firm within the entire story or will he make substantial changes? The changes within a character are called the story’s emotional arc. These changes are either brought about by external changes bringing about internal changes, or internal changes can bring about external changes in the circumstances of the character.

After an author has selected and wisely developed their characters throughout a story, those characters will be able to stir the emotions of your readers. They will be able to develop a vicarious attachment to the characters. That attachment leads to satisfied, contented readers who are eager for the next book by the author.