Give your characters room to grow and
you will bring them to life; don’t, and they might as well be made out of
cardboard.
As a pantser, I don’t do a lot of
in-depth outlining of my characters before I start. I prefer to discover what
they are like as I write. I let them reveal themselves to me, although I
frequently have to pause and discover the backstory that has caused them to
behave or react the way that they do.
The story “The Queen’s Pawn” is a
good example of this. When we first meet the queen, she comes across as a bit
simple-minded. As the tale progresses, we find out who is really in charge. Her
daughter is a loud-mouthed shrew. I had to discover why before I could finish
the story. They both show sides not obvious when we first meet them. The
harried hero of the tale, the young man, also undergoes personal changes over
the course of the three volumes. (Admittedly, seemingly slowly at times.).
Even the villains have to have a
reason for why they act the way they do. A good villain should believe that he
or she is in the right. Very few memorable villains think they are simply evil.
They may be seeking justice for a real or imaginary wrong. Remember, the
ordinary folks outnumber the psychopaths. (I hope).
I often let the character’s motives
become obvious slowly rather than dump them all on the reader in the first
chapter. People can also change. Motives may not be obvious. That is part of
the fun of writing. I want to get to know the characters better. They can even
change the direction of a story once you get to know them better.
In working on a recent manuscript I
had reason to pause and consider that some of my characters were too similar.
Without using their names you couldn’t tell them apart. That gave me a reason
to dig deeper and discover what those differences were. In the process, I
learned more about them, and what made them tick.
Take a look at your characters. Are
they well-rounded or flat? The best written have emotions the readers should be
able to relate to. Do they have good reasons for what they do? You at least
should know those motives even if you only hint at them in your novel. Give
them room to breathe and they will come to life. That alone will make for a
much better story.
R.J.Hore
The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)
The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)
The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)
Alex in Wanderland,
Knight’s Bridge
We’re Not in Kansas
Toltec Dawn Trilogy (Volume 1, 2, 3)
