CHARACTER

Bringing a character to life for your reader is a complicated

business. Its also one of the most important aspects of storytelling some
would say its the most important aspect. Of course different types of fiction
require different techniques. Over a long novel, you could build a complicated
and detailed personality for your main character; in a flash fiction, you have to
create an impressionistic snapshot with
just a few well-chosen words.
Some characters are rounded which
means the writer has put a lot of effort
into developing them as people. Rounded
characters are complicated people. Often
their complex personalities are what
drive the plot.
Some characters are flat these
characters might be interesting and
dramatic, but they have mainly exterior
characteristics; we know about their
behaviour, and maybe their appearance,
rather than their interior life. Often, their
simple personalities are used to serve
the plot.
Both types of character are important in fiction. Often, the protagonist will be
the most rounded character, and there will be a supporting cast of flat (or less
rounded) people. If writers had to round out every
Charles Dickens created many flat, but
memorable characters. Readers often
see these characters more vividly
than they do his rounded, complex
individuals.

single character, nothing would happen in the

story!

Flat characters can be useful for moving the plot forward, for creating comedy,
and for developing the relationships between other, more rounded characters.

As with everything in creative writing, its not just either/or. In most fictions,
you will find some characters are very rounded, some characters are very flat
To understand the relationship between flatness and roundedness, we
will examine an exchange between Walter White, Skyler White and
Saul Goodman from S3, episode (11) of Breaking Bad.
Background to the scene:

After many years as a respected High School chemistry teacher, Walter

White (50) was diagnosed with lung cancer. Desperate to provide a legacy
for his family, and to pay for his own medical treatment, Walter has become a
drug manufacturer, which he has tried to keep secret from his middle-class
family. Within a few weeks, he found himself fully embroiled in the life of a
drug dealer and, although he struggles with aspects of the work, he has
murdered several potential enemies including (semi-accidentally) his
partners interfering girlfriend. He is now making a great deal of money
manufacturing Meth Amphetamine.
Skyler White (39) is a middle-class housewife, trained as a bookkeeper,
with aspirations to be a writer. When she initially discovered part of Walters
secret (she is still unaware of the murders he has committed), Skyler was
horrified. She threw Walter out and began divorce proceedings. She has
recently ended a brief fling with her boss, which she began mainly to punish
Walter for what he had done. Now, to pay her brother-in-laws medical bills
(after he was seriously injured the line of duty as a Federal Agent), Skyler has
finally agreed to take the money Walter has made from his drugs business.
She is concerned to make sure that the drug money cannot be traced by the
police or the Inland Revenue Service, and has therefore arranged to meet
with Walter and his lawyer, Saul Goodman.
Saul Goodman (46) is a corrupt lawyer who makes much of his living from
bogus compensation claims and getting criminals out of jail on technicalities.
He is also skilled at money laundering a service he currently provides for
Walter

The summary above is almost completely plot-based and external. It tells us

little about these three characters from the inside. Based on the information
provided, what personal qualities would you expect each character to have?
When we watch the sequence, think about how these three characters work
in terms of flatness and roundedness. What are the benefits of having the
different character types in this scene?

CREATING CHARACTERS FOR STORIES

In Robert McKees book Story, he says:

CHARACTERIZATION is the sum of all observable qualities of a
human being, everything knowable through careful scrutiny: age
and IQ; sex and sexuality; style of speech and gesture; choices of
home, car, and dress; education and occupation; personality and
nervosity; values and attitudes - all aspects of humanity we could
know by taking notes on someone day in and day out.
This is CHARACTERIZATION... but it is not CHARACTER.
True CHARACTER is revealed in the choices a human being
makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the
deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the
character's essential nature.
Beneath the surface of characterization, regardless of appearances,
who is this person? At the heart of his humanity, what will we find?
Is he loving or cruel? Generous or selfish? Strong or weak? Truthful
or a liar? Courageous or cowardly? Theonlyway to know the truth
is to witness him make choices under pressure to take one action or
another in the pursuit of his desire. As he chooses, he is.

What we are looking at in the next few exercises is what Robert McKee
would describe as characterization. But first, think about what he says.
He claims you can separate characterization from something he calls
character. Do you agree?

When creating a character, you are trying to make up a person your reader can
believe in. Characterization is an important element of that.
Usually, you will be looking to invent a character who is:
Believable readers need to be convinced that such a person could exist.
Involving some aspect of the character needs to draw in the readers
interest.
Visual the reader needs to be able to see the character.
Original even if the character is based on an archetype, s/he should not be a
stereotype.
Consistent this doesnt mean characters need to be predictable, or that they
always behave in the same way, but their behaviour needs to fit who they are.
If they act out of character, there has to be a proper reason for that.

Think of example characters from stories and dramas youve enjoyed.

Are there any who dont fit these five criteria?
Do you think these five criteria apply to flat characters as well as to

rounded ones?

SETTING UP A CHARACTER
Flat or rounded, your character always starts with some basic details.
Often, the process of creating an interesting character will lead you to an
interesting story.
OCCUPATION
How can you make jobs more exciting when inventing your characters? Dont
choose the obvious. Play about with historical period, gender or the nature of
their role.
For example, lets take the job of CHEF:
Arthur is Head Chef at a London Hotel. He treats the other
chefs badly.
There might be a story in that, but the situation is clichd
and you could struggle to develop the character into an
interesting person. How about this instead?
In France, at the start of the nineteenth century, all the
greatest chefs were expected to be male. Madeleine, who
knew she was a greater chef than any man, wished only
that her creations could pass the lips of the great and
powerful. At sixteen she began dressing and acting as a
man. By the time she was twenty-two, she had become
chef to Napoleon Bonaparte, and nobody knew she was a
woman.

Photo NAIT/flickr

The second idea may not be totally original, but it has a lot more story
potential than the first one.

Try thinking imaginatively about the following list of jobs. Give each
one an interesting twist.
Film-maker

Farmer

Bureaucrat

Carpenter

Soldier

Beautician

Teacher

Vicar

Solicitor

Secretary

Cleaner

Housewife

Relief worker

Servant

INTRODUCTIONS
Choose one of your characters from the Occupations exercise

Introduce your character using the following format:

This is [insert name]
S/he is a [insert occupation]
S/he

likes................................................

and

.................................................................................
S/he
dislikes............................................and................................................................
......................

Describe three suggestive details about her/his appearance

Give us three of her/his words for red, cold etc.

Explain how s/he tends to speak.

What is s/he afraid of?

Now imagine your character has arrived home without any keys. S/he is
locked out, and needs urgently to get into the house for some reason.
This is the first scene of a story.
Write the scene. Decide how much of the character your reader needs to
see through descriptions and background details.
This event places your imaginary person under pressure and according
to Robert McKee, it should bring out the character inside the
characterization.