Creating Extraordinary Characters

For an interview today I was jotting some notes and talking points about characters -- a subject which can and does fill entire books. But here are the three traits which came to me as most important about characters in fiction:

HEROIC. Characters in fiction – and especially in romance – need to be heroic. I don't mean heroic in the sense of wearing a cape and tights; I'm talking about heroic in the sense the word was used in classical literature. People in fiction are in some way larger than life. They're more than real people. Their problems are bigger or more intense. Their flaws are more problematic, more likely to lead to huge trouble. Their personalities are brighter, or darker, or richer, or more twisted, than those of ordinary people. In this view, even a villain is a heroic character -- because he's not simply a guy who commits random, casual crimes. He has a plan and a purpose and a motive.

EXTRAORDINARY.  Think extraordinary, not perfect. In the work of new writers, I see a lot of characters who have it all. They’re gorgeous. They have great jobs. They love what they do. They have wonderful friends. They live in a great house or condo. They drive the car they've always dreamed of. They have designer clothes and shoes and hair. But the thing is, people in books are much more intriguing when things aren’t going right for them – when they’ve lost the job or the condo or the friend.

BALANCED. Characters work best when there's a basic balance between the protagonist and the antagonist (or, in romance, between the hero and the heroine). If you build a big blustery hero who always says what he thinks, and you pair him with a heroine who’s got low self-esteem – the hero comes off as a bully and the heroine as a weakling. If you pair a soft-spoken laid back hero with a hard-driving, bossy heroine, then he’s apt to look weak and she may come across as being bitchy. But if you put the blustery hero who always says what he thinks with the heroine who’s just as outspoken and bossy, you’ve got sparks. (It might not be a household you want to live in – but then that’s one of the ways fiction is different from real life.) 

In the same way, the hero/protagonist and the villain need to be balanced. If the villain is so super-powerful and clued in and knowledgeable that it seems the hero can't possibly win, then it's not convincing when the hero keeps stumbling into answers and being saved by coincidence. If the villain is so inept that it's hard to see how he can keep functioning at all, then the hero's victory isn't satisfying and savory. Only when the two sides each have strengths and resources and talents is the battle exciting.

What traits do you find necessary to consider when you're developing characters?

A question from a reader about creating and using secondary characters prompted me to think about the people in a book as though they were actors in a movie -- complete with pay scales.


If an actor speaks in a movie, even if it's just one line, the pay scale requires that he be paid a great deal more in terms of money and screen credit than if he just walks through as an extra. And of course, the more actors you hire for your movie, the more money you're paying out -- even if most of them don't talk.


So authors can often benefit from asking themselves this question, before they create yet another character: "If I had to pay this person to show up and say these lines, would it be worth the money? Or could I give that comment to a character who's already in the story, and save the fee?"


In writing, of course, extra characters don't actually cost money. But we "pay" for them with space, and word count. Each new person has to be established and identified, and that takes up room on the page. But if we can use a character we already have in the story, then we can save the space it would take to create that second person -- and use it to further develop the hero, the heroine, and the love story.


Though this is especially true in romance novels where we keep a tight focus on the hero and heroine, it's something for every author to think about. Sometimes (like with a cozy mystery or a romantic suspense) we need to have more characters so that the bad guy isn't obvious. But even when the cast is bigger, it's wise to ask -- "Do I need this person? Does he play a significant and unique role in the story?Or can I combine his attributes and his contribution and his dialogue with someone else, and keep things simpler for the reader?"

Characters Who Keep Secrets

Can a point of view character keep a big secret, without losing the reader's sympathy? That was the subject of a program I presented last week to the Central Iowa Fiction Writers group in Des Moines, Iowa. And the answer is YES -- if the author is careful.

Here are the rules for playing fair with the reader:

Only keep important secrets.

If it’s important enough, it should be secret.

Give the character a good reason to finally break down and tell the truth.

Don’t tease.

Ask the normal questions.

Have another character ask or answer the obvious question.

Tell the truth wherever possible.

Don’t lie, no matter what.

Divert the reader’s attention to something else.

Foreshadow, foreshadow, foreshadow.

What do you think? Let's talk!

Talking about Writing

In just six weeks this spring, I'm giving seminars for three different writers' groups, on three different topics. I'm always intrigued to see the many differences between groups -- the dynamics of how they work together, the topics they want to hear about, the questions they ask.

In mid-March, I was in Lexington, Kentucky, to speak to Kentucky Romance Authors. The topic was Writing Between The Sexes -- the differences in how men and women think, act, and talk, and how to use those differences to create believable (but not stereotypical) characters. We spent all day -- from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- discussing, studying examples, and doing exercises.

These ladies are intense. About half of them brought their laptops in order to take better notes. The writing which was done in the afternoon exercises was superb -- some of it is now appearing on the authors' websites and being crafted into works in progress. (Robyn, I'm still waiting to read your take on the Bigfoot story!)

This week, I'll be speaking to a neighborhood group of writers. Mostly poets and columnists and memoir writers, these writers are interested in hearing about publishing in general and the many changes which have come about in the last couple of years -- with many of them considering self-publishing sooner or later.

Next week, I'll speak to the Iowa Romance Novelists, about Characters Who Keep Secrets. I look forward to meeting up again with some writers I've known for years -- and celebrating many new successes!