Creating characters: Am I missing something,?

[Marc Joan]

Oh lordy, if I ever look this well-groomed, nebbish and nerdy I give you all permission to shoot me! Having said that, the whiteness of the trainers reminds me of an unfortunate fashion choice I made in 1982, when somehow I decided that wearing all-white ensemble would make me irresistible! This outfit included a white cotton zipped blouson jacket, white silk T-shirt, white balloon trousers (that were baggy enough to home an army of ferrets!) and white leather boots. The boots had two white plastic zips on the front for access, and were lined with white towelling...making them incredibly comfortable to wear. My only defence, is that it was the New Romantic era—though I did look like a reject from pop group Spandeau Ballet.

Ah, the 80s...

 

[Emily]

Ah, the 80s...

Beautiful.

 

[georginaK]

When it comes to creating three dimensional characters, I feel as though I have quite a different approach to many writers and I'm not sure if I'm missing the mark here?

A few weeks ago in a creative writing group, we were given the below list (it's quite long) and it was suggested that we build a new character using the below titles;

Name
Age
Date of birth
Place of birth
Height
Weight
Hair colour
Eye colour
Skin tone
Shoe size
Scars/handicaps
Mannerisms/habits
Favourite food/drink
Favourite colours
Education
Attitude to life
Ambitions/fears
Skills/interests
Home
Parents
Family
Current situation
What will make the reader like/dislike your character?
What will make the reader remember your character?

I looked down this list and felt as though the most important aspect of character was missing: Motivation. This suggestion got a rather subdued response, but to me, what drives a character is surely their most important aspect, plus it immediately gives you a sense as to their role in your story. Alternatively you could create a great character that has no place in your story, because they lack the motivation to exist within it.

What drives us as individuals, what pushes us to get out of bed each morning, is the core of our being and that surely must be the key part of your character that you need to understand in order to flesh them out.

I also think this list approach is nonsensical, it doesn't seem to appreciate that traits are interlinked. For example, you can't start with your character's name! In order to know what your characters name is you need to know where they come from first. I kind of imagine my key characters growing out from a central idea or concept and one trait logically slots the next one into place.

I also have an issue with focussing too much on appearance first. Behaviour dictates appearance, not the other way around. Surely you've got to decide who your character is, in order to understand what they look like?

I also tend to find that when I'm reading, I ignore the writers specific description about the characters appearance. In my head, I form an idea of what characters look like based on their behaviour and the way they speak. I don't like it when writers try and box me in with very prescriptive features.

Besides some of these traits in these list approaches are totally arbitrary. For example in the list above; eye colour, favourite food, shoe size, favourite colour are (unless they are purposefully distinctive) pointless pieces of information as they don't inform anything about how your character behaves. My favourite food is Pizza and I'm quite confident that, that fact says nothing important about me as a person.

Maybe I'm being harsh, maybe I'm missing something, but I just feel that these list character bios miss the mark.

Any thoughts?

I think this could work more for novice writers who need things spelled out like these lists—or maybe for younger school age kids

 

[Paul V]

Wow, now that is a list! I know I'm a newbie to this writing malarky but I based most of the characters in my MS on people I have come across through work or social settings. Is that too simplistic?

 

[Eva Ulian]

Wow, now that is a list! I know I'm a newbie to this writing malarky but I based most of the characters in my MS on people I have come across through work or social settings. Is that too simplistic?

So do I, therefore, we don't have to worry about the details, nature has done it all for us.

 

[Steve C]

Wow, now that is a list! I know I'm a newbie to this writing malarky but I based most of the characters in my MS on people I have come across through work or social settings. Is that too simplistic?

Me too, new to the malarky and write using characters I knew. But some authors are prolific and need to invent characters which is where the idea of GMC would be very helpful. I would still find it hard to escape my past and invent a character that wasn't at least a mix of people I have known but then I am relatively ancient so have a large resource to draw on. Young writers are at a disadvantage in some ways. Maybe that is why many of them write fantasy which is something I would never attempt. It needs so much imagination and the ability to invent stuff, characters even.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

@Eva Ulian said re Mills & Boon .....but it wasn't for them because the male MC went off to a monastery to become a monk and left the female MC as the eternal spinster headteacher of an infant school. Tut... tut... tut...

Howllll, I can imagine, it wouldn't be. Aren't they supposed to get it together in the end? Ain't that the brand promise?

But Charlotte Bronte's 'Villette,' Eva. Just think of the ending of 'Villette'. Romantic Tragedy.

 

[Geoff]

I have always left my characters to develop by themselves. I have a basic idea of what role they will play, but if I want to be say for example, showing kindness, or being a compulsive liar, I will add it into the mix, bit like a recipe. I carry on like that throughout the first couple of drafts and then, once the story is more of less there, the refining begins. It works for me, probably wouldn't for others.
As for fashion - having cameleoned, not sure if that is even a word, through Glam Rock, Punk, New Romantic, et al, I still can't resist a clothes buying spree!

 

[Carol Rose]

@Eva Ulian said re Mills & Boon .....but it wasn't for them because the male MC went off to a monastery to become a monk and left the female MC as the eternal spinster headteacher of an infant school. Tut... tut... tut...

Howllll, I can imagine, it wouldn't be. Aren't they supposed to get it together in the end? Ain't that the brand promise?

But Charlotte Bronte's 'Villette,' Eva. Just think of the ending of 'Villette'. Romantic Tragedy.

I agree. Mills and Boon are a traditional romance publisher, and in a traditional romance novel, the couple are together at the end.

Charlotte Bronte... different story!!

 

[Eva Ulian]

@Carol Rose and @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine When I was in the novitiate the novice mistress found out I wrote romantic love stories and passed them off as spiritual exercises. She told me in no uncertain terms that was not a sign I had a vocation to the religious life. Before I entered the convent and after I left, I wrote short stories, most of which, but not all were love stories.

Of course it was to be expected that because the ending to the novel I submitted to Mills and Boon did not meet with the parameters of romance fiction, it could not be accepted. However nothing was lost, it helped me to get out of the romance genre and into something more akin to "Villette". But deep down I still have a spot for romance fiction, and I've even posted one of my short stories on my web-site in case interested to take a peek. Short Stories - Eva Ulian Fiction of Reality Writer

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Nothing is lost or wasted. I wasn't laughing at you or your writing, Eva. I was laughing at the confounding of the publisher's norms.

 

[Eva Ulian]

Nothing is lost or wasted. I wasn't laughing at you or your writing, Eva. I was laughing at the confounding of the publisher's norms.

Have I missed something? I wasn't aware that you were laughing at me at all. Beside, I like laughter, shows there's benevolence somewhere. There was quite a bit of laughing going on with my submission in pop-ups last Sunday, me in primis... that to me was confirmation something was enjoyable, and it matters not what it was- laughter is always good, adds years to your cardiac muscle life span.

BTW your comment on my typo of Bouffant hair had me in stitches. I really, really enjoyed the analysis on my submission and oh goodness me, it was soooooooooooo helpful. I am working on a revolutionized edition i.e. changing from 3rd person to 1st person pov as Jessica suggested and I'm sure Pete's "nun's story" was not just thrown in by accident... has inspired me to completely change the ending with a really nice surprise for the MC, which was not there before.

Such public acknowledgement means, of course, if that novel gets anywhere, Litopians get a cut of the proceeds- don't forget to hold me to it.