Back to Basics: Character development, from zero-character in 3.4 seconds

[KillerMuffin]

The thing about stories is that they all have one thing in common. Characters. That's about where the resemblence pretty much ends for now.

Characters are, in some people's eye, one of the building blocks of the story. In others, they are the story. In some, they're just the things that do the stuff the story is really about.

Characters come in three varieties. One dimensional, you barely recognize them as people. Two dimensional, they're people, but they resemble cookie cutouts, rather than anything real. Three dimensional, they're fleshed not just in description, but in personality.

But...

How do you make character? How do you design a character that's different from yourself and every other character out there? How do you make a character human?

Here's some questions for those of us in the know to expound upon for those of us who are still wondering.

1) What is character development anyway?
2) What is the basic things you need to create a character?
3) How do you create a character?
4) How do you make a character more real and substantial?
5) What are the things that make an effective character that grabs a readers attention?
6) What are some ways of showing the reader what a character thinks or feels?
7) How does the point of view, first person, second person, third person, affect how different characters are developed?
8) Is there such a thing as too much development? How would I know if I did that?
9) A character's history is important to the character, right? So how much of a character's history should I plan? Put into the story? How would I show it without an "In the beginning, the character was born," kind of narrative?
10) I've heard the phrase "identify with the character" before. How important is it for a reader to identify with a character, and how is it accomplished?

Have at it authors! You are experts, share with us! Answer as many or as few as you like. Tackle what you know, learn about what you don't. Ask questions of your own.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Hoo boy, this is one I need the answers to myself! But here goes for some of them at least -

1) What is character development anyway?

1. This is one I'm still trying to get to grips with myself. To me, it is making a character in a story believable, with good points and bad points. The character has to react to situations in a way which I can accept, even if it is in a way that is alien to me, the writer/reader. Character development is the rounding out and fleshing of a two-dimensional framework.

2) What is the basic things you need to create a character?

2. Sex, background (family/school/job), attitudes, beliefs, likes/dislikes. No need to use them all, but the character should have them in your mind or your author's filing system.

3) How do you create a character?

3. I require notice of this question! Mine come to me as shadows and I try to make them take on substance. I'm not sure how I do it. Sometimes a character springs forth fully formed just when I need one. Yeah, right!

4) How do you make a character more real and substantial?

4. Give him/her actions/reactions to events and circumstances. Make them laugh / cry / rage / soothe.

5) What are the things that make an effective character that grabs a readers attention?

5. I dunno. I'm going to read the other responses to this query very carefully.

6) What are some ways of showing the reader what a character thinks or feels?

6. Tag lines help. Instead of 'he said', 'she said' use tags like 'he yelled', 'she whispered'.

7) How does the point of view, first person, second person, third person, affect how different characters are developed?

7. With first person point of view, a writer can detail (or sketch) the emotions that the character is feeling in as deep a manner as necessary. The other characters, seen by the first person character, should only be reacted to in a manner consistent to what our first person character sees / hears / feels them do. I'm not qualifed to comment on second person, as I won't use it. Third person POV can be used very creatively, particularly in the so-called 'omnipotent' manner, where the writer knows everything about everybody. For me it works better if the omnipotence is restricted to one major character and that character and the writer react to the other characters, according to the circumstances.

8) Is there such a thing as too much development? How would I know if I did that?

8. Almost definitely. When I'm reading, if I start to feel bored by the character, (s)he's probably over-developed. To me at least. Others may not agree. In reality I could probably read the same tale on another occasion and react differently.

9) A character's history is important to the character, right? So how much of a character's history should I plan? Put into the story? How would I show it without an "In the beginning, the character was born," kind of narrative?

9. Indisputably, but don't tell it, show it! Let the background appear naturally in the story as and when it is needed. A little mystery adds interest.

10) I've heard the phrase "identify with the character" before. How important is it for a reader to identify with a character, and how is it accomplished?

10. Pass!

Now you can all shoot me down in flames!

Alex

My Work

 

[Black_Bird]

1) What is character development anyway?

The character's voice. Its also her actions, or sometimes the actions she didn't take, and the reasoning behind them.

2) What is the basic things you need to create a character?

Dialogue, Action, and Conflict... and of course, other characters.

3) How do you create a character?

First of all - choose one aspect of the character's personality that would be different every other character's personality. Example: Beth is the only character in this story that is homosexual.

Then, choose a way to reveal that character's uniqueness. Example: Beth is in love with her best friend, Sarah.

Last of all, create a conflict or dialogue that center's around this small quirk. Example: Sarah is hetrosexual and a tad bit homophobic. She doesnt' know Beth's feelings for her.

4) How do you make a character more real and substantial?

Choose that character's words carefully (One character wouldn't use the word "Cunt", while another might prefer the word "Pussy", and yet another might call it "your flower".) Be consistant. Let the readers into the minds of your characters once in a while.

5) What are the things that make an effective character that grabs a readers attention?

Break stereotypes. Ex: A college english professor that hates Mark Twain. Also - give the characters motivation. WHY is he kidnapping her? Is he taking out hatred that he feels for his wife on this innocent girl?

6) What are some ways of showing the reader what a character thinks or feels?

Actions... small actions, like rolling your eyes or sulking. That's for feelings... for thoughts, its best to just come out and say it...

Ex:As he struggles with her bra-strap she bites her lip, pondering an investment in easy-access bras.

7) How does the point of view, first person, second person, third person, affect how different characters are developed?

Third person PoV will provide the most development as the reader will be able to slip into the minds of any and all the characters. First person - you will want to develop characters that are most important to the first person character. Of course, the first person character will be the most developed character - so you will want to make her interesting. Second person point of view is the least amount of character development over all. The character telling the story can only be defined through his opinion of the other character's actions - and the other character's personality might very well be altered by the opinon of the second person.

The easiest to use: Third person.
The hardest: Second person.

8) Is there such a thing as too much development? How would I know if I did that?

Yes. If you find yourself exploring personality traits of a character that isn't relivant to the plot - then you are over developing a character.

9) A character's history is important to the character, right? So how much of a character's history should I plan? Put into the story? How would I show it without an "In the beginning, the character was born," kind of narrative?

Character history is tricky... it can be used to develop a character further - but I'm not going to say that it is more important then action, dialogue, and conflict. You should only plan as much as you think you are going to use. As for your "In the Begining" narrative - only do this if the entire story is devoted to one character, and all the other characters are only there to support the one.

10) I've heard the phrase "identify with the character" before. How important is it for a reader to identify with a character, and how is it accomplished?

Make the character HURT!

Anyway - those are my answer... plenty will probably disagree with me, since these are all off the top of my head.

 

[poohlive]

Let go from the bottom up. I pride myself on trying to help others. Being schooled in the art of english myself, and being a published author (I have to keep bringing that up... although even I'll admit the publishings were for articles in newspapers/magazines, and not stories) I feel I at least have an ignorant look at the field.
This is actually very long, so if you want to just skip to a couple questions that you feel you want answered, then be my guest.



How to identify with a character?
That is very complicated, and actually can make the difference between a good and a bad story. When you identify with a character you can sympathyze with them, and understand what they're going through.
A character going through a similiar situation as you did and then doing something similiar... or at least doing something that you thought of doing, while you may not have actually done it, is identifying with a character.
For example, a car accident; nearly everyone has at least had a fender bender, or has seen an accident, or has a family member that has gone through an accident. You can identify with the characters frustrations and pains because of what you yourself have gone through.

The history of a character?
This goes hand in hand with acting itself. Last year I really accomplished a lot with my own acting skills, one of them being to get into the skin of a character. One of the exercises, is to create a history. With just the words from the script, I have to make an entire history of this character. Where they were born, how they grew up, what there parents were like. It literally took hours to create this history of a character, and that's before I even memorized the darn script. It's a lot of hard work, but for a good actor it needs to be done. Just like for a good writer it needs to be done too.
You need as much as you can possible handle, anything and everything that will be important. This is different than acting though, because all you have is a thought for a story, some idea of a plot, a concept of what people will do.
What happened in their childhood, not just important things, like watching his father die, but things like how his siblings treated him, what he ate, where he spent most of his days? Was he popular, did he spend lunch alone? Small stuff like that, even if you don't think it will be, is important.
This doesn't imply to all characters though. If you show a shop clerk who's an ass and won't return something cause there's no reciept, then you don't need much to go on to create an asshole. That goes with one and two dimensional characters though, the less they are in the story, and the less they do, the less you need to worry about them. If, however, you feel uncomfortable with someone as a character, make up a past for them, see what sticks to the wall. It wouldn't hurt.


Too much development?
There is a common saying, less is more. If you feel you have too much development, there's a problem. You can't have a character look down at a pigeon on the street and have three pages of flashback to all the pets he ever lost. It's just stupid, and you'll lose the interest of the audience. If you have the character stop, bend down, and look at the poor thing, then the audience knows, at least subconsciously, that he is sympathetic towards dead things. You have just proven your three page flashback with a few simple paragraph's, and not even going back to when poor Fluffy was hit by a car.
Character development can be done in many other ways, that is simply an example. Here's something you can do to help though, if the plot itself is dragging, because your trying to develop the character, then STOP! by all means. If you feel it's important to develop this character fully, then let the important stuff be active character development, and the unimportant stuff be passive character development.
Here's an example of each.

A character, Johnny, helping out a woman, seeing that she has
dropped all her groceries. Active.

A character, Johnny, wearing a shirt that is filled with stains, the most recent, seeming to be that of mayo... passive.

They both show incite, and development of the character, but one can be described in a single sentence, and the other needs to be written in at least a few paragraphs to do it justice.


Point of View?
Point of view doesn't matter for characters or development too much. It's basically up to you what you want to do. First person is easier to develop just one character, since you are inside the mind of him. You can write flashbacks, what he's thinking, dreams, things like that easily, and make the character rich with development. Although, it's harder to write character development for others in first person. You have to write their development through the eyes of the character. It's much more complicated, but makes for excellent reading if you can do it right.
Third person is easy if your story needs to develop many characters, or not just one is the main character. Third person is divided into two categories, omniscient and limited. Limited is just like first person, except it doesn't use "I, my, we." It uses "he, she, them." It's basically the same, except you don't feel as connected with the main character as you would with first person.
Omniscient however, is totally different. It basically "god" you can jump into any character's head, go forward or backward in time, anything and everything that helps the story. This is the one that's most popular because there are no limits, and you don't have to think too much on how to write a certain situation from just one character's POV.
Second person, that's just interesting. It's like first, but let's you actually come into the story. It's easy, but very limited since there's obviously a main character and the only one that really is three dimensional is that character. (Not stating this as fact, just in general... is all)


How to show development?
I answered this basically in too much development, but I'll restate it briefly.
Active development, stating or using a scene to show development of a character.
Passive development, mentioning, but not specifically stating details of a character. Letting the audience pick it up for themselves.

Active development: three pages describing how dirty a person's apartment is
Passive developemnt: a sentence showing the numerous stains on a person shirt.

Both of these show he's a slob, but one let's the audience do more thinking, while the other just describes it to them.


Effective character?
I thought you'd never ask. There are few things that are similiar in every single effective character. Being an english major, and reading numerous theories on the subject, one of the more influential being Aristotle's Poetics, I've picked up a thing or two.
First, is pretty easy. Make the character believable, vulnerable, with strengths and weaknesses, one that has feelings, and all around reasonable. Basically, make the character human. One thing that's important in a character, is to make them human. This doesn't sound like it should be hard, but actually it's very interesting how easy it is to simply overlook this, and go on to other things.
Common example, Superman. He is superior in every way, correct? Nope... kryptonite. Kryptonite makes him human. Everyone has a weakness, whether it is sex, food, t.v., books, chocolate, or a huge green glowing rock, everyone has a weakness, and can relate to Superman on that level.
The next thing a character needs is a flaw. Every character that has been famous, has had a flaw. Some of them have not been as noticable as others, but there is something there that has them flawed. Pride, jealousy, rage, revenge, a sense of justice (yes, this can be a flaw), love (very big), lust. This is similiar to a weakness, but is different because the flaw itself is something that can be fixed in a person. Revenge is a feeling that can go away, over time. A person can stop feeling jealous, even if they don't want to. It's something that grounds the character, and really lets you get to what's driving the character. Drive is something that's very important. Always ask why a character does something, and if you don't honestly have an answer, go back and change it. Go to the history of that character, which is very important in drive and the flaw, and see how he would honestly react in this situation. I won't go too much into all of that though. This is getting long enough as it is.


Real? Substantial?
I just covered this above. Human qualities, ground the character, let them have weakness as well as strengths, and above all a flaw of some sort.


Creation of a character?
This is interesting. It's sort of like the classic question which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which comes first, the plot/story or the characters? There is no definite answer for this, so I'll just use the old mathematical method of trial and error.
If the plot is first, then characters are the next logical step in making the story. You have an idea for horror story where this hundred year old boogey man comes back to life to terrorize wannabe witches who accidentally called for him. Now, the character of the boogeyman comes into play, what makes him so scary? Why should the kids, and the audience be scared of this person? What happened to curse him? This is the beginning of the character, asking queastions to define him. Then, you need to ask similiar questions for the kids themselves, what did they do? How did they call the boogeyman, and most importantly, what are they going to do now that it's after them?
But... what if you just have an idea of this amazing character. A female, perhaps, this spectacular woman who keeps going from one relationship to another and not finding happiness. This works, but then you need to define an actual story to confine her, and potential lovers and friends. Everything you wanted out of this character might not be brought out in the story, but you'll sure as hell know that that's the finished product of what you were originally thinking. Boom... character is born.


Basic things?
You need originality. Give the character their own voice, their own style. What I hate when I'm reading a story, is seeing two different characters do the exact same thing. Mostly, it's trivial things, like how they smoke a cigarette, or how they get out of their clothes. This just tells me, that the author hasn't devloped these characters enough to let them have their own freedoms in silly things. That's what really defines a character, the small things.
Getting out of clothes on a hot summer day to go swimming.
One shy person could walk behind some bushes. Another, very outgoing, could actually put on a show taking her stuff off, still another would jump in, and them take their stuff off once it's all wet... making the whole point useless, but still making originality and devlopment in the character.
Let them have their own voice. If you are switching from person to person, and they're all describing the same object, would they all describe it the same? Voice deals with more than just descriptions, it is a basic premise for the character itself. Three people watch an old woman fall down. One laughs on the inside, another helps her up, and a third simply walks around her. All of them have different reasons for doing this, and all of them have a different voice that shows this. You need to, when developing a character, bring out that voice. It's really fun when that voice is different than yours, and you get to make characters do things that you would never do in real life. Now, that's writing.


Development?
Character development is simply that, developing a character. It's bringing the character from the beginning of the story to the end, and watching what happens in between. It shows how the character thinks, feels, reacts to situations, and then brings on new situations that haven't been dealt with, and creates conflict. It invites intrigue in the audience, and makes for an absolutely wondeful story. Without the characters, the story is impossible, but without well developed characters, the story is just stupid.
Or it's sexual.
Sometimes sexual stories don't need much development to be good. I know I've read one or two that weren't. I'm not knocking sexual stories, I'm just saying they are the exception. Although, good erotica will have good sex and developed characters, so, lol, it's in one of those "maybe" categories.

Wow, that is long. Took me forever to write. I just want to say, I made up that active/passive character development myself. I think it's pretty ingenious. I might just have to copy and paste that, so no one else steals it. lol.
Well all right then, I hope I've given more incite. I do like to be thorough when dealing with english aspects, especially with which I know much about. Thanks for bearing with me.

 

[Whispersecret]

Wow, Poohlive. I'm impressed. Lots of very good information there.

I was most intrigued with your idea about flaw vs. weakness. So, you contend that every character must have a flaw. I agree. That's the point from which the character has to grow from and beyond. If a character doesn't grow in some way (sort of become a better person or learn something) then the story and the characters will lack depth.

I was confused about what the difference between flaw and weakness is. A weakness is something that cannot be overcome...is that what you're saying? Like, Achilles had his weakness--his heel. That couldn't be fixed or overcome. Right? Please explain.

 

[Whispersecret]

Oh, I adore your tagline.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Just thought I'd throw this out...

Why not get my nose in here...by the way, a lot of good things were said in Poohlive's post. I'll probably agree with many of them here, but I have to answer fully, so I apologize if I'm too repetitive. I'll try not to repeat too much of what he already said. And if you didn't read his post, go do it...read them all. Every idea may help.

We'll start from the top:

1) What is characer development anyway?

Poohlive hit this nail damn near on the head! The character begins a story being who he/she is, and by the end of the story, is someone else, to state it simply. Real people learn from certain situations and change because of them, not often enough in my opinion, but they do. This is what your characters have to do. If they don't the story will feel unfinished, mostly because things haven't come to a head. The key here is "natural development" and not forced development. A story has a natural flow more often than not, and that flow must be respected and not fought. Let the flow carry the character to the end, don't be too overbearing with what happens to him/her. That's the most important thing.

2) What is the basic thing you need to create a character?

Wow! Understanding. Unless the character is a one-dimensional character, who represents an idea or belief, etc. Then the idea or belief is that one thing. That aside, understanding is the key. Know what makes your character tick, what his/her motivations are. Where they've been. Be aware of what their actions mean, and why those meanings are so important.

3) How do you create a character?

Well, that's the key to the whole thing isn't it? Read and see how others do it. If someone else can tell you how, they've got one up on me. To get to the point, there's a certain amount of instinct and intuition involved, not to mention maturity of the writer, that help in this category. I think this is one of those areas where time gives you what you need and nothing else will. I'm pretty good with characters i think, and I've been told that as well, but I can't think back to how I learned or what made it click. Funny, isn't it? This tends to be one of those areas where, the more you try, the further you get from the answer. My characters exist in my head long before I realize they're there. They develop almost on thier own, and just sit there, waiting for me to put them down on paper.

4) How do you make a character more real and substantial?

The questions get harder as we go along...Okay, you give the character its own experiences. Tell the reader about what happened to the character that makes what he/she is about to face a lifechanging or personality changing event. Explain and give examples of who the character is by telling things about their past and their beliefs. It's not enough to say: "Timmy was shy." Instead, show the reader that Timmy's shy. Explain how a girl he had a crush on had spoken to him and he'd blushed and couldn't find words. Give detail. We've all had times when we've been intimidated by someone, and we've had trouble saying what we think, or even talking. Reflect on how you felt and project these thoughts onto the character. Your reader has felt them too, and can relate to the feeling.

5) What are the things that make an effective character that grabs a readers attention?

Sadly, a lot of writers here miss out on this one. Truth is, there's no such thing as a character that gets all of our attention. People are too diverse for eveyone to understand a character in full. Yes, we all have some similar experiences, but not from the same perspective, and perspective is everything. On this site, a lot of pople try to get your attention by telling you that Suzy has HUGE TITTS, and Darren is HUNG TO HIS KNEES! In real life, we'd notice these things, and not be disappointed, I'm sure. But these aren't defining to a person's personality, unless absolutely nothing ever takes place in this person's brain. They have nothing to do with characterization. Make the character REAL, give them personality, and that should be enough. We never really know how a story will affect someone else, if it does at all. That's all part of the game...

6) What are some of the ways of showing the reader what a character thinks or feels?

By reaction. If a character becomes agitated by another character's actions, we learn a few things. One of those things would be disagreeance. That's a representation of how he/she feels. Also, they can respond by saying they disagree outright. You can always have them think something, telling the reader that they feel this way and not the other characters. And, by the way, the way they respond to things is also characterization. The character may be very aggressive, and becoming angry and shouting will exemplify this. They may also withdraw, implying that they are shy. Any one situation may be used to show a multitude of things about a character.

7) How does the point of view, first person, second person, third person, affect how different characters are developed?

In first person, the "I" character is the most easily developed, since the writer is actually within the character. Other characters can't be developed as well, simply because we are seeing the character through the "I" character's eyes. As intelligent individuals, we have to accept that there are things in life we just don't know, and will never know. Many parts of others personalities exist within this scope. Not matter how well we know or spouses or family members, we'll never know everything, and the things we don't know are often just as defining to their personalities are what we do know. What I'm saying is, the "I" character exists the way we do inside. We can only get into the "I" character's head. Other character, like other people become off-limits.

Forgive me if i misrepresent these next two. I can't remember if "you" is second or third. I believe it's second though.

In third person, we can idnetify with every character in the same manner as we do the "I characer, but that leaves us with the responsibility of properly representing all of the characters that commonly appear in the story. you can have one-dimensional characters walk by or even speak, but not be there constantly throughout pages and pages of active story development. A character that has a major part in a story told in the third person, must be developed enough to help it along. One-dimensional characters tend to anchor the story in one place.

As for second person, it doesn't matter what the benefits are, they are far outweighed by the drawbacks. Some people write this way, writers DONOT. Period.
If I'm reading a story written in the thrid peson, you can tell me what Jack is like, and that's what he's like. I'm reading about someone I don't know about and am just getting to know. If I'm reading about "you" in reference to me as the reader, the character must be male or there's no sense in my reading it. That eliminates half of your audience right there. Secondly, if the writer intends to tell me I'm doing something, I damn well better enjoy doing it, and I know better than anyone else what I enjoy. Don't tell other people about themselves. They're a topic they know better than you do.

8) Is there such a thing as too much development? How would I know if I did that?

Too much development? Yes, there's such a thing as too much anything. You'll know by proofreading. If the story slows down and loses its focus, then you've overdone it. you can only go back so far and mention so much. The development should be equal or less than the plot in importance and often in story. Mostly, development is a prelude to what's going to happen. We learn what Joe's like, then we use that information to understand what Joe does in a certain situation. Seldom does development make the story. Character's often do, but development doesn't. Usually, a story must be balanced between the two. make sure the reader fully understands the character's actions, then tell us about those actions. Remember too that there are instances where the amount of development necessary, not wanted but needed, overcomes the story. There are times when the story becomes buried in development that the story cannot be without and still make sense. In times like these, the story is often lost.

9) A character's history is important to the character, right? So how much of a character's history should I plan? How would I give it to you without an "In the beginning, the character was born" kind of narrative?

Anything you can tell the reader that applies to what the story is about will help. If the main character is going through a divorce, their experiences with a traveling circus may not be relevant. If so, don't mention them. It's pointless and it gets in the way. Mention things that define the character in ways that affect the story only. Sometimes they only indirectly affect the story, sometimes directly. But they must affect it. Also, don't overdue the definitions. If the character's parents were divorced and that has affected their lives in a major way, then explain to the reader what happened and how it changed the character, giving room to add to how thier current experience will continue their overall view of divorce and marriage. Donot explain every single divorce the character has ever seen or known of, just the ones that changed the character. Things like when and where they were born may be good to give the character more detail, but only mention a few of these things, and only mention them because we all have birthdays and birthplaces and that helps us see the character as a human being. Remeber this one point if nothing else concerning this question. Drive the point home with detail, then ease up on it. If you make the point of how a character feels about divorce by using their parent's divorce, give great detail about the situation with their parents, then move on. If you choose to reinforce it with other incidents--sometimes this is helpful--use less detail, mostly outlining the situations is usually best.

10) I've heard the phrase "identify with the character" before. How iportant is it for the reader to identify with the character, and how is it accomplished?

Two points here, and the may contrast with one another.
One: Making sure the reader identifies with the characters, the main character especially, can be what makes a good story tick. Case in point: I hate to use this one, "Steel Magnolias." If you hate the main character, does it make ou cry that she dies in the end? It's never good that someone dies, but if you can't relate, you often can't get sad. In that movie, and in heartfelt stories like it, the main character has to be relative with the viewer/reader. It's a must. You do this by having the character deal with similar issues that we all deal with. "Steel Magnolias": the woman is faced with death. We all know people who have died and faced the sadness that results from it, we also all realize that we will die someday, therefore,the movie brings us more in touch with those feelings by having the main character deal with them. To abridge what I mean here, if the character deals with a problem or situatin or issue that we understand from our own experience, or that we wish to understand better, relation will automatically be achieved, as long as we see the character as having the depth that a real person might have.
Two: (and here's where it gets tricky) Anyone who reads Stephen King and Dean Koontz realized that not all successful characters have to be directly relative to the reader. As long as an understanding is achieved and the character exists by some internal logic, the character can be strong enough to exist on its own. For instance, in "The Stand" (if you haven't read it, you've definitely missed out) King gives us Randall Flagg, the evil demonic character, that has little in common with us as normal people. One could say he represents the evil that is in all of us, but that is all he truly relates to within us. He must have a set of his own rules and follow, consistancy is extremely important, but he does not have to be similar to us as an overall being. Julia Roberts in "Steel Magnolias": very like a normal person. Randall Flagg, very different. Yet, both effective. This is where it is less important to be relative to the reader and more important to uphold internal logic within the story and characters. A character must BE something and remain that, while other things change. No matter what, the character must have consistancies. Randall Flagg will always be evil. Period. The important thing with characters like these is that, instead of the reader relating, the writer must truly relate. THis is where we see just how dark the chambers of our own hearts truly are. Can we look inside ourselves and pull out this character and truly understand it enough to write about it and make it seem real to the reader. In order to do this, we must understand more than we tell the reader. Here is where WE are turly defined instead of the characters. As writers--as ARTISTS--we are introspective, looking within ourselves to understand others, and using the information we acquire to create an understanding with the reader. We dissect and analyze parts of our own psyche that others never acknowledge, and must live with and not deny the information we acquire. This introspection is the most important part of creating a character. And, along with it, honesty about what you've learned. Be honest with the reader. As an author, you can't hold back. Tell him/her everything they need to know, and don't stutter.

Wow, I think I outdid you one this one, Poohlive. Not that that's a good thing. I went on for hours. Hope someone gets a few answers from this mumbo-jumbo...and sorry for using so much space on the thread.

 

[Whispersecret]

Well, if this all isn't the biggest bunch of rhetorical questions I've ever seen!

 

[poohlive]

Hee hee.
Thanks Quiet Cool. I sometimes take forever ranting about things that are just so unimportant to other people, but important to writers and role players. I'm glad I could help a few people out.

Ok, flaw versus weakness. Whispersecret, glad you spoke up. I wasn't sure if I got the point exactly across.

You got it pretty much right though, a weakness is permanent. It's something that can't be disputed. Mental retardation is a weakness, it can't be changed in a character. It's something that is always there, and something that the characters has to work around.
The flaw in the character, however, is a weakness that the character himself has chosen to be a weakness. The whole intention of the flaw in a story is to have the character overcome it, and become a better man for it.

Ok, let me give you an example.
Familiar with Oedipus? He was the greek person who answered the riddle of the sphynx and saved a town, eventually becoming kind.
Oedipus had pride in himself, lots of pride. He vowed that he would find, and drive out the killer of the former king, in order to appease the gods. He made this vow, not realizing that it was he himself who killed the old man. (long story, if you don't know it pm me about it, I'll give you a more detailed synopsis).
In the course of events, more and more evidence is hinted that he is the killer, but he refuses to believe it. He has too much pride in finding the killer, that he couldn't see what was before him, and it was eventually his downfall.
He didn't overcome it, because it was a greek tragedy, and in greek tragedy the character usually gets overcome by his flaws.

So, don't think of them as completely seperate, just think of the flaw as the ultimate weakness, which has to be dealt with in the story. Don't let the flaw pick the character, let the situation mold the flaw.

I hope that helped you out some. Oh, and thanks for the sig. line, it is true, I did make it up myself about half a year ago. It just popped into my head, was very funny and deep so I decided to write it down. It's kept with me ever since.

 

[Dragonette]

I'll add my thoughts, just to get a reaction

I won't go into points, but different stories decide the way they are written.

This is an erotica site, so if the story is purely sexual, who cares about the characters, the writer is more interested in the sexual acts, as long as you know the genders, the the rest can be left to imagination. Sometimes this is exactly how it is!

Many readers do not want to know the characters or the scene, or at least not straight away, they want to live it themselves.
Sometimes explaining can lose the plot, it can all come later, get into the story, name the characters and start the dialogue, then describe them as needed.

I have read many great old authors, but sadly I have battled through pages of description of the scene, and have given up, I really don't care about 6 pages of description. I want to get into the story, feel it, get caught and want to read more, live it myself.

The story evolves by itself, you learn the characters as you go along, hopefully.
Proper is great, but any stories are written with meaning, whether short and to the point or longer and to evolve later.
Some of the worst written ones have a great theme, a good story, they just need help!
To tell them all the rules can scare away hesitant newbies, let them write, don't scare them away with 'proper'.

I hope you are all listed in the Volunteer authors!

 

[poohlive]

Thank you for your imput Dragonette. I wholeheartedly agree with you, I think a good sex story doesn't need character development, in fact some of the best ones I've seen were second person, and they just rocked. Kinda cool how the author just pulls you in like that.

I don't think that's what Killermuffin was going for here though. She wanted to have a discussion about "actual" stories, where sex isn't the main point. This is in now way to help sexual stories, well perhaps the long novel ones, but other than that no! Sexual stories have a point, to get the audience aroused... so if character development were to fully grow, it would actually hinder the entire point of Erotica.
Don't hinder the point of Erotica, it's a good point, one I like very much. Every night, and sometimes twice when I'm in the mood, I can't live without my flat two dimensional characters having sex with everyone else, I just can't.

 

[garyblue]

Dragonette & Poohlive--counterpoint

I wasn't planning to enter this thread. I'm more a diner than a cook. <plagiarism>Man does not live by bread alone, he must have peanut butter. </plagiarism>

Without some degree of characterization, we can have no motivation to drive the story. To return to the food analogy, if I may: I like grits. I like them best with salt and pepper and redeye gravy.

Man, I gotta go eat dinner.

g

 

[Quiet_Cool]

You've got a good point, Poohlive and Dragonette. yes, the stoires here are often just about sex, but that doesn't make them interesting by itself. Often, SPeaking personally here and not of the mass majority, I cannot get into a story that has only one-dimenional characers. Two dimensional I can hack, but not one, and not stories where sex is the only point. To me, it's like porn, I watch it, and enjoy it, but when the video's finished, I don't feel I've actually "watched" anything, but viewed. My stories on here are not the most character-driven stories I've ever read or written, but that's because most of my stories don't belong on an erotic website.
It's also true that often stories decide their own fate, and that, as experienced writer's we must allow them to flow at their own pace and leisure, in their own direction, but that's us as "experienced writers." Not as newbies. The basis of any good story will always lie in the creativity behind it, and therefore on the natural life the story takes on. However, good WRITING must always start with form, proper or not, form is the most important part. If you read through some of the stories on this site, and you can include those I've submitted here as well, you'll often find stories that would not have found publication in other, more selective places. That's because anyone can publish here. That's a good thing in my opinion, but it's also an unignorable truth. What I'm trying to say is this, like Poohlive said, we're writing to help people develop STORIES, not just erotic stories on this site, but good fiction, and form is always at the heart of that. It's the foundation of a good writer, and therefore, good writing.
In erotica, yes sex tends to be the only focus, but you ned some characterization to make the story more substantial, otherwise, your work will sink into the endless pit of other stories here that all blend together, instead of floating to the top with he better works.

 

[Dragonette]

I agree and disagree

This is Literotica!
There are many caterogies here!
This site is for all writers, good, bad or whatever...
I have some of mine posted here which were politely rejected from other sites, simply because I had not finished them!
Nothing to do with my style, grammar or spelling.
I have one which it purely basic, no style, no characters, nothing, one of my first, but I still get feedback on it.
It it JUST......
Badly written, no warmth, no characters, no lead up....absolutely zilch, but I still get feedback!

It's called Shower

Others, well, the voting has dropped, but they have been on this site for a while, they are still in the 3 or 4!

My most populaar one is in the Romantic category!
And I get lots of feedback, most that give me a name or an email are female, but I do get some from males also.......
Most of that feedback is to continue it..........

So males do browse the romantic! LOL

So, last point, if you don't want pure porn, just sex, don't look in that category!

Poohlive said, we're writing to help people develop STORIES, not just erotic stories on this site, but good fiction, and form is always at the heart of that. It's the foundation of a good writer, and therefore, good writing.

Again, I disagree, some of us want to write better and we learn, but NO, this is a site for everyone, some of us will want to stive to improve, but we all must start somewhere!

Each and everyone has a style, everyone has words within them that they want to explain, I started by trying to express, explain, an emotion that I had problems saying in a one on one situation. So I wrote. It was bad. It was very one dimesional, it was just so really basic, but it was my start!
It helped me and I have grown since, both within my writing and within myself!

I have read some stories here that have the absolutely worse spelling, and the grammar does not exist! But the theme, the story is good, they need help and encouragement!

I coaxed a friend of mine to put a story of his here, and another he had (which he wasn't going to do anything with)
Tonight I just spent a few hours reading and editing his next chapter!

He is getting very high votes, better than me! (Sighs)
He is a lot younger than, therefore his schooling in
english is much better, a lot more recent, than mine!
But I am still able to help him!
We have our little disputes, not so much the actual grammar (He wins there!) but I can pick up typos or when a rule of grammar should be broken to make it sound right!
Any rule can be broken, it's called life!
If you like BDSM where he has posted then look at his!
black_bird
http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=59190
You can also tell me what you think of his and if you read any of my humble attempts!

Yeah, I am promoting his stories, his delves further than I do, but he is male!

I actually shouldn't, because I miss out!



We used to chat, he called it cyber, I called it stories, he would create a theme, we could do hours just within the scene, the characters, without any sex!
I have it all, many of them, but to put it into a story from a chat, I didn't realise how hard that was!

Maybe at some time he will help me, but later, he is writing his own now!

Each to there own, we all start somewhere!
It all depends what you are looking for!
Good writing??, pure sex or a story with characters!
How do you start, I think depends on what it is, if it is purely sexual, jump straight in, who wants to know who is who, where or why, scene, character?
But, if you want to make and create something, the people, the scene, there is no need for two pages of description, jump in and then describe as it needs.
Oh well, that is my humble thoughts!

Now, to bed for me, maybe awaken with a bit of a brain!

 

[Ravenswing]

I've written two stories on Literotica (okay one is in 3 parts so far with a fourth to come, but it's just one story) and I've written fan fiction that has appeared elsewhere on the net. Most of the stuff I write is fantasy, a lot of it features magic of some form, and most of the stories are not exactly novels, but they aren't short.

The exception is Changing Channels. There is no character development in there at all, how could there be, the thing is a few thousand words, a couple of pages of A4 at best. Anyone who can develop a character in that space hasn't got time for anything else (IMHO).

Now the fanfics I've written have my own characters in and there should be an element of character development in them, particularly as the characters age several years through the series.

In Magic Lessons (I hope) there's an element of character development, particularly in Michael and Lucy. Their characters will develop even more in the next part, I'm not giving them any choice. They've had the benefit of tens of thousands of words to develop in.

This doesn't make them better, theoretically. (Changing Channels is showing about 4.1 while Magic Lessons is running around 4.7. Read into that what you will.) The important thing is not to develop the characters, but to have characters in the first place.

How do you develop them: I don't know. Anne McCaffrey used to say she thought up the characters and then let them get on with it. Then she would write down what they did. Iain Banks (less well known, I think, but read his stuff if you get the chance) says he'll have none of that nonsense from his characters "they do as they're damn well told." I don't usually know much about how my characters are going to develop or what they're going to do except for where they are going to start and where I want them to end up. Even then, Michael, Lucy, and Julia have added extra bits to their story because they liked the feedback they got; I had no control over that.

Enough rambling, I feel an inspiration particle coming on.

 

[JUDO]

1) What is character development anyway?

The author knowing who they are, who they were and who they might be.

2) What is the basic things you need to create a character?

Basics, I don't know. What I do know is this. Write down everything you know about the character--family, background, education, religion, pets, friends, disasters, successes...then be sure to answer these:

a. What is their belief system (How do they see their relationship to the world? Will it give stuff to me? Or do I have to earn it?)

b. Who is/was their mentor? Who did they look up to and learn from? emulate?

c. What is their attitude towards work, people, life?

d. What is their emotional arc in the story? up, down, what?

e. What is their dramatic need? What do they want? (without this, you have no conflict and no story).

f. What is their relationship to the other characters they interact closely with?

g. What was that significant event which happened to them at or around age 15 that change how they viewed their life and their future? (Yes, it happens to us all).

Mostly, the author has to know this stuff to find the voice of the characters.


3) How do you create a character?

Do #2.

4) How do you make a character more real and substantial?

Do #2 and use some of the specific items in the body of the story.

5) What are the things that make an effective character that grabs a readers attention?

I think using the stuff from #2 in the body of the story will do this. It makes them speak with their voice. There are tricks to differentiate characters: accents, walks, dressing, rich, poor, etc.

I've even heard of giving a character a pet to make them more sypathetic (works especially well with the person who has the most opposite point-of-view - commonly referred to as the bad guy).

6) What are some ways of showing the reader what a character thinks or feels?

Not with you here - action or speech.

7) How does the point of view, first person, second person, third person, affect how different characters are developed?

I think that characters can be developed and used in any of these voices. So, I don't think the voice will affect the development.

8) Is there such a thing as too much development? How would I know if I did that?

I don't think you can ever know too much. But all of my character bios are 3 to 6 pages at max.

9) A character's history is important to the character, right? So how much of a character's history should I plan?

All of it. Just in big strokes, unless it will specifically effect the story line.

Put into the story?

Put in what fits and helps where it fits and helps, that's all. If you don't know, try it-then you will know.


How would I show it without an "In the beginning, the character was born," kind of narrative?

You don't need to put any of the history in the story, but you MUST know what it is. It would go in the story from someone who knows them illuminating the reader. The "Circle of Illumination"-those around the character talk about them and we get to find out while they do.

10) I've heard the phrase "identify with the character" before. How important is it for a reader to identify with a character, and how is it accomplished?

People identify with situations because they have experienced it. This is why general themes from life - frustration, lust, hate, greed, envy, etc. all make good things for the character to feel. We have all been there.

 

[KillerMuffin]

How important is character development in a story of any sort?

Dragonette thinks not at all.

Character development is one thing, taking a character from one point to another and having that character change in some way along the story. It might be miniscule in that the character just gets the hornies taken off of him/her. It might be a major life change.

What stories affect you the most? What stories do you back click out of in boredom?

I think there is some confusion here that backstory (character history) and character development are the same thing. This is not so. Yes, you should know some history on the characters to give them motivations that the reader will believe. Having the female cast of Scream jump on a guy just out of high school whose a nobody nothing is asking too much of the reader. Bad stories are ones where the reader just can't buy into it and that is almost always because the character was doing something that made no sense to the reader.

When you write a story and present it to readers you naturally want them to like it, for it to be good in some way. Readers want to like the story they are reading. If they don't, they back out of it and read something else. They don't want to waste their time. People often judge how good a story is by the characters, if they like them or not. And yes, even at Literotica people judge what they read.

 

[P. B. Walker]

personally, I think character development depends on the story. For example, I've written one story (not yet submitted it to Lit yet since I'm waiting for some response from one of the volunteer editors) that is a dream (but you don't until the end of the story). In the dream there is just feeling, seeing, and watching. No character development at all. The reason for that is simple... when you dream, do you normally go through the history of a character in your dream? So, basically, I didn't do any character development on purpose.

But, I would say for most stories, definitely YES there should be character development.

just my two cents... yes I know.. I'm cheap.

LOL

- PBW

 

[mlyn]

mlyn

Just two things in this long list of how to's:

1- I think it would be great if someone (you know- the great unknown fairy who does those things that get done by someone else) would gather all of these posts, and put it as an article in the writers help section. There is so much here, it is hard to gather it all together. I could copy it, and I probably will, but I think this would be a great help to people looking for help.

2- Characters- I read an article a short time ago. The author of the article (who is a real writer as well) said whenever he goes to create a story, the main characters are developed in the following manner: He writes 1-100 on a piece of paper. He begins writing down everything he can think of about this person he is creating. Hair, eye color. Height, weight, body build. Likes, dislikes. Dresses like, housekeeping skills. And he uses these lists as he is writing, and he refers to the list, because he knows how this person will react now.

I can't remember where I read that tho, sorry. mlyn

 

[Dragonette]

Growls

Dragonette thinks not at all.

That's harsh KM!


I think the character development depends on the story!

Ravenswing says it better:

How do you develop them: I don't know. Anne McCaffrey used to say she thought up the characters and then let them get on with it. Then she would write down what they did. Iain Banks (less well known, I think, but read his stuff if you get the chance) says he'll have none of that nonsense from his characters "they do as they're damn well told." I don't usually know much about how my characters are going to develop or what they're going to do except for where they are going to start and where I want them to end up.

Characters come alive as you write them, they are not just words on virtual paper.

As the example, in a dream, they just are, no history, no future, just is.

Each story is different, as I said, if you want porn, look there.
If you want a story with character, then look there.
We can all browse and glimpse, if it does not take your fancy, then whatever!

I will be rewriting one of my stories as I have more depth to add to it now, but still, I get great feedback on it as it is!
That's why I want to improve it, because of the feedback.

Also, I read what interests me, therefore many stories here I don't read, simply because the category or topic is not to my liking. My choice. If it is a good story but badly written then I will send feedback, it is very good, I will vote.

I am an amateur writer, I never implied otherwise and I do think!