I'm headed back to Louisiana from Bandera today but PLEASE welcome Kathleen Neely back as she shares some thoughts on writing with us....
When Building Characters, Go Deeper
By
Kathleen Neely
When an author begins a novel, they will spend the
better part of a year with the characters they create. It’s important to know
them well. Let’s create one together. We’ll call him Maxwell.
****
Maxwell has dark brown hair, that likes to curl at
the tips. His eyes have a golden sparkle in a sea of copper brown. Broad
shoulders tell readers that he spends some time at the gym. His engaging smile
lights up a room and all the ladies want to get his attention.
Sorry, that’s superficial. Go deeper.
Maxwell has some quirky traits. He lives life in the
fast lane. I’m not talking about wild living, I’m talking about rapid speech, a
pacer who can’t sit down for long. Maxwell jumps right in and gets the job
done. He has one speed—overdrive.
Okay, that’s a little better. But if you want to
engage readers, you better go deeper.
Everyone has a history, and Maxwell’s no exception.
He grew up in a high achieving home. His father, a renowned criminal attorney, never
hesitated to show his disappointment in his youngest son. Maxwell’s brother was
the golden boy who could do no wrong. That is, until he died of an overdose.
Maxwell tried to step into his place, but he couldn’t fool his father. He
wasn’t as smart, as charismatic, or as ambitious. His father’s grief and
disappointment never ceased to show. Maxwell spent his life trying to earn his approval.
Now we’re getting somewhere. We’re learning what
makes Maxwell tick.
Maxwell plays out the main role in our story, but
now, actions make sense. We know why he lives on overdrive. His behaviors are a
result of his backstory. It’s made him who he is today. But wait—what happens
when Maxwell has an opportunity to make it big? He’s on the cusp of an
accomplishment that will provide recognition certain to impress his father. He
just needs to step over a few minor ethical lines. He struggles, telling
himself that the lines are slight and the reward is great. Sleepless nights and
that tight knot in his stomach help him to make his decision.
We’re now glimpsing the deepest part of our
character. We see Maxwell’s desire, his struggle, his rationale in decision
making. We see a change.
****
That’s the long explanation for characterization,
but it was fun creating Maxwell.
A brief recap for creating characters:
- Know them
well before you begin writing.
- Move beyond
appearances. Those are nice details, but they’re superficial.
- Let your
reader know about their quirks and traits, but until we dig deeper, we
won’t know why.
- Provide
backstory. For each of us, our history has molded who we are today.
- Provide a
deep look into your character by showing struggle. How does he make
decisions and handle temptations, based on his history?
- Our
character must experience some growth. How has he changed through the
course of the story?
- Remember,
in real life and in fiction, no one is totally good or totally bad. Show
that in your protagonist and your villain.
What tips do you have for creating characters? I’d
love to hear.
Kathleen Neely resides in
Greenville, SC with her husband, two cats, and one dog. She is a retired
elementary principal, and enjoys time with family, visiting her two grandsons,
traveling, and reading.
She
is the author of The Street Singer.
Two other novels, Beauty for Ashes and
The Least of These, will be released
in 2019. Kathleen won second place in a short story contest through ACFW-VA for
her short story “The Missing Piece” and an honorable mention for her story “The
Dance”. Both were published in a Christmas anthology. Her first novel, The Least of These, was awarded first
place in the 2015 Fresh Voices contest through Almost an Author. She has numerous devotions
published through Christian
Devotions. Kathleen's newest release, The Street Singer is available now from Pelican Book Group, Amazon & Barnes and Noble.
Kathleen
continues to speak to students about writing and publication processes. She is
a member of Association of Christian Fiction Writers.
Website –
www.KathleenNeely.com
Facebook –
www.facebook.com/kathy.neely.98
Twitter -
https://twitter.com/NeelyKneely3628
Check out Kathleen's earlier Tuesday Treasures and Thursday Thoughts visits with us!
Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll check back weekly to see who's sharing thoughts, treasures and the spotlight.
Until next time take care and God Bless.
PamT
8 comments:
HI, Kathleen. What a great tutorial on building strong characters. When designing a character, I like to use a song and/or Bible verse to help define who they are and how they got there.
Kathleen, I love this: "His behavior is the result of his backstory." That's what we should all be doing.
Kathy Bailey
Pelican's "other Kathleen"
Kathleen,
I completely agree with you regarding designing characters. Building a strong backstory is necessary for creating believable characters. For that reason, I always create a character bible before I write a rough plot outline.
Excellent post, and this will be helpful as I dive into edits on a Christmas novella that just came back from my editor. My hero is a bit shallow, lol!
Thank you for your excellent characterization information, Kathleen. I have a book, written for screenplay writers, that has 50 questions to ask and answer about your character. It goes into all the corners, and I've found it great for setting up book characters as well. Cheers
I've bookmarked your wisdom for future reference, Kathleen. I like how you begin with the basics and show us how to build on the details. Thank you!
Good post! Enjoyed your explanation of "going deeper."
Mary
Thanks for all of the feedback, as well as your tips on how you build characters. And thank you, Pam, for the chance to visit your blog.
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