Characters in writing and why they are important

Characters in writing …and why they are important to your plot…

Character is plot, plot character – F. Scott Fitzgerald • Means you can have a great plot, but if your characters don’t engage, you will struggle to have a great book.

Protagonist has to matter You don’t have to like or love your main character, but people have to care what happens to him/her, so they need to matter. To matter, you need to know them inside and out. Their family history, what they love, what scares them – to you they have to be ‘real’ people. If readers don’t care what happens to the character, your story is lost. What makes a character count?

A pen portrait of a character… You are an American living in London, travelling to Jamaica and New York. A talented artist, you lost both parents quite young, and are strapped for cash. Not above manipulating people to help you, you become a storyteller, attracting the intelligent and arty folk of London. You convey an air of spirituality. No one quite knows if you are of mixed racial origin, or about your sexuality, though you mix well with both men and women, despite your eccentricity and your loud laughter. Your eccentricity and talent attracts but you are hopeless with money, bored with failure to progress, and difficult to live and work with. People, sadly, soon grow bored with you, and you with them. You take to religion because you like symbolism and ceremony.

Physical appearance • You need an idea of the physical appearance of your character/s.

What does this tell you about him?

And this…what happened?

Characters need inciting incidents What sets your character off on their journey?

Do you need to physically describe? • You can, but make it helpful: “ His hair was wiry and gingerish and brushed backward from the temples. His skin seemed to be pulled backward from the nose. There was something very slightly odd about him, but it was difficult to say what it was. Perhaps it was that his eyes didn’t seem to blink often enough and when you talked to him for any length of time your eyes began involuntarily to water on his behalf. Perhaps it was that he smiled slightly too broadly and gave people the unnerving impression that he was about to go for their neck. ” Taken from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Action needs to be in character… • Your characters’ actions have to be believable, no matter how far they go. What would you believe these 2 capable of?

And then there’s the others…don’t forget the antagonists, those who get in the way of the main character, who thwart…

Characters we engage with… Put a character in a difficult situation, and then throw away your first three ideas for how they’re going to get out of that situation. Character litmus test – would you want them as a dinner guest?

Why are these two great characters?

Gone with the wind… Names: Rhett Butler/Scarlet O’Hara We learn about romance! https: //www. bustle. com/articles/49956 -8 -lessons-gone-with-the-winds-scarlettohara-can-teach-about-dating Protagonist is selfish and manipulative, but vulnerable Rhett Butler is the handsome hero with a twist – “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”