Characters #2 - Adversity, Intriguing Characters, and Introductions
CHARACTERS FACING ADVERSITY:
Let's face it. We all come across adversity in our lives, whether it's a person/people, a thing, a place, or even ourselves. So the character in your book should too.
Here are a few points about writing adversity.
1) Adversity is what makes the story interesting and realistic! Can you imagine a story where everything went perfectly fine and the character didn't encounter any complications or rude people? I would be bored to death, and laugh at its unrealistic writing.
2) Your characters will go through difficult times, but they need to learn how to deal with situations on their own. If a main character is constantly getting through rough times because of other characters’ strengths, your story won’t be very good. Readers want to be able to relate to your main character, but also feel inspired by how your character deals with rough situations. Your readers won’t look up to a character that always cowers in the corner whenever anything difficult happens.
3) With that last point in mind, also remember that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. So your main character can't be some strong powerhouse who overcomes every difficulty with ease. KEEP THIS IN MIND: They don't necessarily have to overcome the struggle easily, but the way they handle dealing with the struggle is what makes the character more realistic and likeable. They can't defeat everything. They will need help sometimes. But make sure they at least contribute, or have a surprising save at the end, or something to keep the fire going.
4) Different types of adversity include:
1-Physical Adversity ~ Death, injury, illness, threat. To them or a person close to them.
2-Miscommunication and Deception ~ Misunderstandings or deliberate lies.
3-Displacement ~ Characters enter a situation where they are uncomfortable or at odds.
4-Desire ~ Their desire leads to destruction.
5-Relationships ~ Conflict, fighting, estrangement.
These are just a sample of the many examples of adversity.
5) Adversity is a tool for character development. How they overcome the struggle, what fears they have to face along the way, and what changes their personality endures through the struggle.
Make sure you have adversity in your story that will help your character grow and make the plot interesting!
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INTRIGUING CHARACTERS:
1 ~ MOTIVATION is key.
- Your character should want something. Desire for something/someone/someplace. Desire for a successful future. Desire to be a certain way or look a certain way. They need something to drive them. It makes them interesting and realistic, and drives the plot forward. (You can take a look at the chapter "A Character's Goal" for more on this.) This gives them a passion, a goal, a will, and makes them more than some boring protagonist waiting for Prince Charming to stumble upon her.
2 ~ RELATIBILITY will help your audience connect.
- Use emotions to your advantage. Feelings that the audience can connect with, such as fear, love, hate, desire, pain, betrayal, etc. Let's face it; Most of us are emotional rollercoasters, even if we hide it well. Your character shouldn't be a brick, just stating the facts like "he said" and "she said" then "we did." Let us feel her embarrassment when she does something in front of her crush. Write about her discomfort when a stranger hits on her. Express her inner joy when she makes the passing grade.
3 - They should be able to do things on their own.
- You can actually refer to the adversity part about this. They don't have to be some crazy powerhouse, able to overcome anything. It's okay if they need people by their side. We all do. But they can't sit around and wait for other people to save them or solve their problems. They need to get up off their butt and figure out their own problems. A problem-solving protagonist will interest the readers more than a pathetic, entirely-dependent character.
4 - Traits
- Primary traits are things like smart, funny, inquisitive, etc. These aren’t necessarily anything deep, but they give the reader enough to understand what sort of category that character fits in. It lets the reader get to know them on a basic level. Adding complexity traits will be what adds more depth to your characters, and will make your characters interesting. This is necessary if you are building lead characters/main characters. With complexity traits, you plan out the primary traits with more detail. For example, if your character is smart explain what he or she is smart in. Does he or she know a lot about history? Are they good at math? Or just have great common sense? (Which actually isn't so common any more)
5 ~ Flaws.
- Finally, give that character flaws. These flaws humanize your characters and they generally stand in the way of your character’s success.
All these things together will create a well-developed character.
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CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS:
How do you introduce a new character, whether it's in the first chapter or the fifth, or whether it's the main character or a minor character?
1) Know your character beforehand.
-Be familiar with their traits, strengths, and weaknesses. Design their speaking habits and thought patterns, figure out how they interact with other people. Give them an outlook on life in general. Know them before you introduce them to the audience.
2) Now that you know all about your characters history and life, set it aside.
-Yeah, you won't need to worry about this in the introduction, unless it plays a key role in how they're being introduced. The readers don't need a bunch of back story and information right off the bat. Give them some time to form their own opinions about the character, let them grow to love or hate him/her, and then slowly integrate the information.
3) Find some way to integrate who they are into their opening scene.
-Are they good at fighting? Introduce them in a fighting scene.
Are they naturally sarcastic? Have their first line be a joke.
Are they selfless and servant-hearted? Have us meet them while they're volunteering at an animal shelter.
You can reveal little bits of information about the character through introduction scenes like this, without having to dump tons of facts onto the reader. Opening with a scene that exemplifies the characters personality will hopefully push the readers in the direction you want them to go. (Ex: If you open with a scene with the character volunteering, they'll immediately start to think kind things about this character.)
You can also use this to your advantage for disguising a person's true personality. They can just be volunteering to look good, so you'll trick your readers, when really they are evil masterminds.
3) Very basic idea of age, looks, personality.
-In the introduction, we don't need to know everything. Especially if it's the main character, because there is probably so much more to learn about the MC than there is about the secondary characters. But it doesn't hurt to give us just a general idea of what age group they fit in (You wouldn't want us thinking a character is 50 when he is actually 22) and a brief glimpse of what they look like. (For details on that, check out the "Describing characters" chapter.)
4) Some information is better put on paper right away.
-So I've been saying that you need to avoid an info-dump by setting away all the info you know about this character until later.
WELL, this is where your judgement call as a writer comes in. If there is any information you feel is vital that the reader knows right away, make sure you include it when introducing the character. Now, certain things like a characters past can wait, even if it later has an influence on your story.
What I mean is that you be sure to include things which affect how the readers view the character, so they won't get the wrong idea or be off track. (Unless that's your plan, of course)
For example, if a girl comes running up to your MC and you assume we'll figure out later that this girl is MC's biggest fan, it could get a bit confusing. So have the girl confess, "I'm your biggest fan!" so we have an idea of what MC's and girls relationship will be (Fan/Celebrity relationship). Now, while you're explaining this bit, you don't have to dive right into the girls past and why she's the biggest fan and how she came to love the MC and how she expresses her fan-ness. That can come later. Just give us the basics to help shape our ideas of the character.
5) If you're writing from first person, and you're introducing a secondary character, the MC's opinion will also shape our view.
-What the MC thinks of the character influences the way the book is written. And biased writing means biased readers. So even if a character is nice and sweet, if the MC doesn't like her, that should be reflected in the way she treats her, talks to her, and how it's written. Most of the time, we'll side with the MC, unless her dislike is completely irrational.
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The next chapter will cover:
~Secondary Characters
~Anti-Heroes
~Character Memories