Novel Writer's Toolkit: Revised Edition

Tool 5: People The World: Character

Character is key. This Tool will be broken down into smaller pieces.

The Supremacy of Character

Characters are the emotional punch of the novel.

You’ve probably heard it said that there are two ways to write a book. The first is to come up with a plot and then find characters to live the story. The second is to come up with characters and write their story. I squirm out of that by saying do both. Remember one thing though—it will be people who read your book and people identify primarily with people, not plots or facts. Another thing to consider is this: many times, your characters are your plot. 

Regardless, you need people in your story. Or maybe aliens. Or an interesting rabbit such as in Watership Down. Or perhaps a wisteria vine as in Clyde Edgerton's Floatplane Notebooks. You need characters, even if they are inanimate. The antagonists in Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air are the weather and Mount Everest, although ultimately, it is the people themselves—who chooses to climb a mountain where you know one out of six will die?

I remember in the army we used to get asked which came first: the mission or the men? The approved solution was the mission (read plot). My answer was always the men (read characters), because without the men you couldn't accomplish the mission. In the same manner, you need good characters regardless of the story, and if you keep them "in character" they will dictate what is going to happen in your story because they will react appropriately and not according to your whims as the author.

One of my other non-fiction books, Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way To Conquer Fear And Succeed, focuses on the fact that what makes the Special Forces elite is the emphasis on the men, not the mission, because without the men, the mission could not even be attempted. I think the same is true of writing—what makes a story rise above the ordinary is the emphasis on the people inhabiting it.

I was slow to appreciate the importance—indeed the pre-eminence—of characters in a novel. It was a three-stage process. First, I had to accept that characters were the most important aspect of the story. For many that’s a given, but coming from a background where plot ruled, this meant I had to make a 180 degree turn in perspective. I’ve found the opposite is true also. I’ve read manuscripts that were so character oriented there was little to no plot. There are writers who need to understand the importance of having a story in which the characters exist.

The second step was to spend as much time developing my characters before starting the novel as I spent outlining my plot. Some people might be able to invent plot or characters on the fly as they write, but I find the time spent before starting, is time well invested.  The key characters have to be alive and real to me before I write the first sentence.

The third, and most difficult step, is to figure out how to show who the characters are, instead of simply telling. What actions, dialogue, decisions, etc. will show the reader the nature of the character while the character is usually unaware themselves of these aspects of their personality.

The first question is: who are my characters? Do I have a good feel for whom each person is? If you don't, you will find that your characters are two dimensional and not consistent. Your characters must be as true to you as people you know in the real world.  The number one thing you must know about every character is:  What is their primary motivator?

What do your characters look like? You may know, but you will be surprised how many times characters are never really described to the reader. I felt very stupid when I finished a 450 page manuscript and handed it to someone to read and when they finished, they gave it back and said: "Very interesting, but what did your main character look like?"