I often run into the topic of characters and how they are written, as an indie author. Truly, the people in our fictional realms are the most important part of any good story. In this article, I will discuss how I build my characters, and what they mean to me as a whole. If you’d like some alternative information, I’ve found Mr. Glenn Gers to be a terrific resource. His expertise is mainly screenwriting, but make no mistake, a lot of his teachings also apply to us bookies!
The Most Important Part of Any Story
Without the characters, there wouldn’t be a story. I can say as a reader, that elongated descriptions of the environment don’t fulfill my entertainment needs. I tried to get into it too by reading some Hallgrímur Helgason. After trying his writing, I made the decision to not force myself to read (or write) anything that doesn’t suit my tastes.
We, as readers, want to be taken on an adventure. Nothing beats the sensation of being a part of some fantastical world, flinging spells and fighting evil. The protagonist’s job, if he had one outside of the story, is to allow us to experience that through him. His journey becomes ours, his struggles become our struggles. People read books because they wish to leave behind their reality for a moment, to take a small break. If we write an unrelatable hero in our piece, it is certainly doomed to some extent.
The characters are the engine of the story driving the plot into serene triumph as well as dramatic tragedies. We cheer for the ones we like and mourn when they fail or face catastrophe. When it comes to the characters, we want to be able to emphasize. To feel what they feel, and to be transferred into their respective world, the story.
The same applies to the villains. While they’re there to be hated, if I may use such a word, we also want them to be believable. If the villain does not have a motive of his own, his own story, there is no point in him being the baddie. You try telling Darth Vader that he was just born with an inclination to evil and that’s all there is to it. See if he doesn’t use the force on your insolent hide.
My Three Worlds And The Inhabitants
All of my writing is pretty much happening within the boundaries of my three realms. I divided them roughly into a Dystopian, Fantastical, and Divine Realm. I’ve ‘limited’ myself to these worlds because it gives me a sandbox to build my castles. Not to mention the fact that it’s bad enough to try to record one world, let alone three! One of the stories I’ve been working on, The Narcissus Blood Bank, takes place in the first world, Dystopia.
What I find astonishing in my own work is that everybody in my realms is worthy of my attention. The newborn people that inhabit my mind could very easily fill in a book of 60 000 words or more as individuals. And they’d always have something to do with someone else’s life too. This is how I’ve found a way to bring the whole complex system to fruition.
It has been one of my missions to make my work seem like a relatable world of fiction, one you might take a vacation in. Not having proper, live people in such a place would surely warrant its abandonment. I’d love my work to inspire feelings of comradery and friendship with the people who live on the pages. To bring you along into the realms I get to spend time in whenever I so deem fit!
I do this by allowing every character, every person, in my stories to live their lives. They all have a history, and they all will die one day. They have their likes and dislikes, some traits, and things that affected them. Put into a cliche, they are all the main protagonists of their own tales. It has been one of the most giving things in writing to answer the question of “Why on earth is he here?”.
Use Life to Bring It to Life
I can’t bring enough emphasis on the importance of giving your characters their backgrounds. No matter how short it is, by doing so you will elevate your story to another level. It will be more credible, more alive, and more realistic. And it will bring people back to your world more than anything else can.
Don’t be afraid to dwell on your characters’ ambitions, their fears, and all of their various aspects. The work may seem like an annoying deviation from your main job, telling the story, but trust me, it’ll pay itself in the end. And not only in more relatable content and events but perhaps one day you will write a spin-off for one of them! I can’t tell you how many times my characters scream at me to tell their story too. And I keep having to tell them to wait. I can only be in one place at any given time after all.
Conclusion
So, in my brave moment, I will attempt to give you my tips once more.
Don’t just write in a shadow of a person, write the whole person. Of course, not everything about the character will be revealed to those who read the final work. Don’t worry about it. The most important thing is that they’ve played their role in a credible way within the limits of their time in your story.
Allow yourself to breathe life into them, like a proper Creator. What has their journey been like so far? Did they have to go through something devastating? What do they want from life, and what is their version of hell? You might find out that this person has a bigger role to play than you initially thought!
Most of all, enjoy the process. This is your realm of competence. Bask in the glory of your own imagination, work with it, and do your best to bring it onto the paper. It can get difficult sometimes, our inner muses being on the more whimsical side of existence. When that happens, crack your whip and let it know that it is not time for tomfoolery. It’s time to breathe life into your masterpiece!