Friday, September 24, 2010

Writing Compelling Characters (The great blogging experiment)


Sorry I'm a little late to the party today, but it's also not too late for others to join The Great Blogging Experiment, HERE, along with the other 182 of us so far.

We're all blogging about how to write compelling characters to see how many different perspectives we can squeeze out of one topic. In an effort to maintain scientific integrity, I haven't read any other posts yet, but I look forward to doing so!

Now, for my contribution:

Method Characterization

There are many concrete things you can do to improve character development, not the least of which is to throw your protag into an amazing story and make her/him face lots of challenges. What I’d like to get at (or try to, at least) is the magic part of characterization…that elusive thing, like a wonderful writing voice, that you know when you read it but you can’t quite explain it.

Here are a few ways I try to capture the magic:

1.             1. Acting 101. Even if you never took this class in college (Everyone should, BTW. It’s a blast.), you’ve probably heard an actor say, “What is my motivation here?” You, as the author, should know what’s driving each character, even if other characters and the readers never find out what’s really up with them. Because if you know, then each character will say and do things that are true to them, and it will come across as authentic.
2.        
      2. Also Acting 101. And similar to the last point. Know each character’s backstory even if they never come out in the book. Think of each character as an iceberg where only small portions come out of the water. Only, unlike a real iceberg, sometimes the tiny portion that shows can give us glimpses or even full views of what hides under the water.
3.      
           3. Again, from Acting 101. Live in the moment with your characters. Gestures, clothes and facial expressions that personify the character can come out when visualizing the scene as you write. It can also make IM and dialogue more authentic.
4.        
      4. Fall in love with your characters. I have one character who wears hemp-style bracelets. Every time I would see someone wearing them in public I’d get the warm fuzzies, thinking about Riley. That love will come through on the page.
5.       
      5. Finally, let your characters take the lead when they want to. A guy character in my WIP (who I haven’t written yet), keeps showing up at the door (in my mind) holding a video game controller. I kept fighting it at first, saying to myself, he’s an alien from a non-violent planet. He cannot be playing shoot-em-up video games. But he kept insisting, so I followed his lead, and now I know why he plays video games. Those moments, though few and far between for me, are when the real magic happens.



30 comments:

  1. I love the acting analogies, especially living in the moment with them. great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are so right about all of the acting analogies. The actor-writers I know all write incredible dialogue--that goes along with your point #3.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Acting analogies? That was super creative! Thanks for sharing! Loved this post.

    I will say that Stephen King hated Carrie when he first wrote her, he knew if he hated her, everyone else would. His wife told him the story was good and he needed to keep working on it. It was then he realized he didn't have to necessarily like her, but feeling sorry for her was something he could do. You don't always need to love your character, just make sure the emotion you are trying to convey is there!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I totally agree about allowing your characters to take the reigns every once and while. It's a mutual trust between you and them.

    Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Acting 101 and character love :) Two excellent suggestions.

    Loved the post,
    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're right, you've got to be the character...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jen- Good point about not needing to love all your characters. It would totally depend on your book. I've written four Chick Lit Romances and only two antagonists so far, so falling in love with my characters hasn't been a problem so far.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like what you said about motivation. I'm just trying to pin point that in my books.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Loving your characters - that's spot on! Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. so many acting tips can be used to enhance writing - excellent post!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree with the motivation and the tip of the iceberg. I love characters who appear to be one thing but glimmers of the other are hinted at.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the "live in the moment" advice. When I do that while writing it's amazing. In fact I'm no longer in my house, but "there" with my characters and it's incredible. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great post, Jennifer. I love reading tips for screen writing and for actors because so much of it carries over to novel writing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You've hit on the most important points and I like the way you've compared to acting class. And I agree that it's important to fall in love with your characters even if you might not really like them in real life. They all deserve a fair chance in being portrayed in the way that will make them most realistic and captivating.

    Nice post.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the idea of letting your character lead. Sometimes they have a mind or voice of their own!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Some really creative ideas here. Thanks for the fresh viewpoint.

    ReplyDelete
  17. ......

    Seriously?

    This post rocks! We have to let our characters lead, we need to love them.... You nailed this. I'm so impressed.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great take on the blogging experiemnt. It's so true about the tips taken from acting.

    ReplyDelete
  19. hehe, yes, I fall in love with my characters all the time :o) Nicely said!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Loving your characters is certainly a must! Or at least loving to hate them. :P Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I enjoyed reading your post, as I am a poetry writer it is somewhat different from writing stories and novels. I write about my own life expereiences , I don't white wash anyone who I write about I write the truth, I have learned a lot about the other side of writing through this blog fest it has been an education.

    Enjoy your week-end.
    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love the iceberg example, for me if I can keep a character mysterious for a while its a good thing. Gotta keep them guessing. Great post!! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great examples! I love the acting comparisons!

    ReplyDelete
  24. love #3 - live in the moment with your characters. If we're living it with them, the writing comes alive.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ahh, yes, using acting techniques to create a compelling character is a great idea! The more immersed we are in the character, the more realistic and believable they'll be. Great tips!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I write entire conversations, then see if they went the direction that I thought about before I started typing. Yes, my improv training at The Players Workshop of The Second City helps a lot?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Your analogy of the iceberg is very vivid. This has been so fun to see everyone's unique ideas. Thanks for your contribution.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Yay - another person who referenced acting techniques! I am in complete agreement with you on this post - right on!

    ReplyDelete
  29. This is the first post that I've found that compares acting and writing. And since you'll never get me on a stage, very informative;0)

    ReplyDelete