What are your favourite types of fictional characters? Mine include:-
1. The deserving hero/heroine. (This is one reason why I love fairytales, they’re full of these!).
2. Those who ensure justice is meted out to those meriting it but in the right way. Sam Vimes, Terry Pratchett’s wonderful creation in Discworld, is a great example of this kind of character.
3. Characters who develop over several books so you can see their progress (or lack of it). Vimes, again, is a classic example. Over a few books he goes from a drunk to a hero and there is much more to his development than that but I would happily urge you to check the Vimes novels out. (Good place to start is Men at Arms where Vimes really begins to get into his stride).
4. Characters who start off “wrong” but come to their senses and end up being useful to the world in which they’re set.
5. Wisecracking characters. I do have a very soft spot for witty creations. (My favourite cartoon character is Bugs Bunny for this specific reason. He says a lot more than “What’s up, Doc?”!).
6. The underdog who makes good through their own effort and some luck. (It is a story after all). Persistence pays here!
Why Getting Character Types Right Matters
Why does all of this matter? It all boils down to the purpose of stories. Stories should entertain but they can hold a mirror up to what we are like. They can show us human frailties. They can show us the great evil (and good) humanity is capable off. All of that will fail miserably if readers can’t get behind the characters and want to read on to find out what happens to them.
Stories are a great way of getting messages across and without preaching. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that fairytales so often consist of wrongs being righted and that it pays never to judge by appearances. There are a number of little old men/women scorned by other characters in such tales but who then turn out to be a powerful wizard/witch/fairy in disguise who punishes the character for their arrogance. (It’s the back story to The Beauty and the Beast to name just one).
Now you could just tell someone not to judge by appearances (and we do) but stories get that across so much better a lot of the time. Children particularly will work this out by what they read, yet another reason to encourage reading from a young age.
Stories are a great place to meet different characters, villainous as well as heroic, and there will be parallels with what we know in the “real” world that will make these tales relevant.
You also don’t want to come across a character that doesn’t seem real to you. You’d switch off. Confession time: I never really did get into the Frank Spencer or Basil Fawlty characters as both struck me as being “too much”. It was exactly why John Cleese was right to limit how many episodes of Fawlty Towers there would be and it is why the series is remembered with great fondness (albeit not by me!).
Realistic Portrayal
No matter what kind of character someone is or how fantastic their world is, they’ve still got to be realistically portrayed, otherwise a reader will stop reading. How is that realistic portrayal achieved?
Your character must have at least one trait a reader can identify with. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a good one. We understand Scrooge but don’t like his miserliness. I think it is easier to portray a character with attributes we have (or like to think we have).
Jane Austen famously said of her character, Emma, that “I will create a character only I will like”. Jane Austen failed here. Emma Woodhouse, along with Elizabeth Bennett, is one of Austen’s favourite creations. Why? Yes, Emma is self-willed, can’t see what is right under her nose at times, but has a kind heart. She does want her friend, Harriet, to be happy. That’s where the being able to identify with the character comes in. We all want the best for our friends, yes?
With films like Planet of the Apes, the setting may be alien but we all understand power struggles. Those apes who are sympathetic to humans clash with their own who don’t. As for Watership Down, the cast may be rabbits but the desire to find somewhere safe to live which isn’t threatened by anything or anyone is a fundamental need for us too.
The Lord of the Rings is a classic good -v- evil story and the wish to cheer on Frodo, the hobbit who nobody really expects to succeed in his mission to destroy Sauron’s ring of evil, ties in with our wish to support the underdog.
Is that a peculiarly British thing by the way? Any thoughts, do comment! I suppose it could be given the threats of invasion we’ve faced over the centuries – we see ourselves as the underdog – but wanting the underdog to succeed can’t just be something we wish for, can it?
So you’ve got your character but how to ensure they don’t come across as a cardboard cut-out or cliche of every other character of that type you’ve read before? Whatever flaws or virtues you give your characters, there must be something different about them that makes them stand out. Easier said than done? Yes, but getting the characters right is, for me, the real challenge of writing fiction.
A cardboard cut-out character will not work even if you “plonk” them in an unusual setting. The novelty wears off quickly.
There must be something about your creations that will appeal to your reader. In the case of villains, there should be a real wish on the part of your (future) readers to see them fail! It’s then a case of reading on to find how how they fail. The villain must also put your hero/heroine to the test and be a worthy opponent. Nobody likes a set-up fight! Where is the drama in that?
Character -v- Plot
You will gather from the above that in the character -v- plot debate, I come down firmly on the side of the character(s) being the most important element. To be honest, it is a false debate. Both are necessary but a properly fleshed out character will make all the difference as to whether the plot works or not. A “good” character will enhance and drive the plot. An awkward character can cause further problems for your hero/heroine to have to sort out and put more drama into the story.
A weak character in a good plot will weaken the plot and literally let the story down. A strong character in a weak plot will give the sense of the character not having enough to do. I’ve found it useful to know my characters inside out before deciding what threats I’m going to throw at them to deal with! By this point, I know how they are going to react and it isn’t always in a good way.
Weaknesses planned into the character can surface at key points in the story and scupper the character’s plans. The story is then found in whether the character can overcome those weaknesses and succeed in whatever it was they were hoping to achieve.
All stories have to feature conflict and points of change. Character A wants something (for good reasons). Obstacles or other characters or both get in their way. How does Character A overcome all that? Do they have to change something they do or are in order to win through or get the help of others who will help them then win through?
Non-fiction isn’t exempt here either. An article, including a blog like this one, has a “voice” (that of the narrator or blogger). Can readers identify with the voice and want to find out what they have to say/write? Knowing who your audience is and pitching to them accurately is a prerequisite for fiction and non-fiction writers alike.
So who are your favourite characters and why? When you’ve read a story you really enjoyed, what was it you liked best? I would be surprised if it wasn’t down to the way the author created their characters.
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Have you ever written a book in which a minor character turns out to be much more interesting than the intended hero?
Do you find it easier and more interesting to write the baddies than the goodies?
Could one write, or film, James Bond being jilted by the girl in favour of the local Bingo Hall manager?
Can a character change during the course of a book, but in a more subtle way than Scrooge?
I despair at those action heroes who are shot at but never hit, who can fight two, five or even ten opponents and win, who can be imprisoned in Alcatraz yet escape. You know the sort of man “with one bound he was free,” yet again.
Great questions, Mike. Here goes!
Yes, I have written stories where a minor character has turned out to be the real star of the show after all. Fine, I just rewrite the story with them in their rightful leading role! You can get a sense of a story not working properly at times. It nearly always is a fault with characterisation. If the tale is not working with Character A in the lead, try it with Character B and see what happens.
I try and get inside the head of my characters to know what makes them tick. I outline some basic points about my characters before I start writing them up. I have to know these things before I CAN write them up.
It is easier, I think, to have some sympathy with your creations. Where writing a villain is difficult is being able to understand their motivations, even though you totally disagree with them. You have to keep yourself, the author, right out of it. It is your characters’ story. So ensure your people have got good reasons readers will understand for acting the way they are, even if you totally hate your characters’ attitudes and outlooks on life!
Not sure anyone would believe someone dumping Bond for the local Bingo Hall manager but it’s a lovely idea (and could work as a comedy! Wouldn’t surprise me too much if someone somewhere has written that kind of spoof – and it would be seen as one.).
Yes, characters can and should change throughout the story, whether it is a novel or a piece of flash fiction. Changes can be subtle but the writer is going to need something good for those changes to be picked up on by the reader. For example, Elizabeth Bennett has to drop her prejudice against Mr Darcy and he has to drop his pride against her for there to be any chance of a happy ending in Austen’s classic novel, Pride and Prejudice.
Change of attitude in itself is not an overly dramatic thing but it is how it is done where the story is to be found and which Austen executed beautifully. The changes in both characters don’t happen all at once (that wouldn’t ring true) but you sense a change of attitude on the part of both as the story progresses. You begin to hope things will work out and read on to find out if they do.
Yes, I agree with you over the all action hero. Not believable. This is where I like the Indiana Jones stories/films. He DOES get hurt (and I should add the more recent Bond films, particularly Skyfall, showing 007 being shot are far more realistic for their genre than some of the older movies in the franchise where he barely gets a speck of dust on his tuxedo!).
One of my childhood favourite characters might fit into these categories.
3. Characters who develop over several books so you can see their progress (or lack of it).
4. Characters who start off “wrong” but …. end up being useful to the world in which they’re set.
I am thinking of Superman, the hero of comics and movies. I have written a piece about him here which awaits improvement in my literary skills, but Superman started off as a baddy and to my knowledge only became a goody after WW2.
I can’t say I’m a particular fan of Superman, David, though what I do like about him is his flaw – Kryptonite. Characters have got to have flaws to be believable. I did like Christopher Reeves’ portrayal of him though.