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Think back to the last really good novel you read. What is it that you
remember the most? A great paragraph of dialogue? A cool plot twist? Or
do you remember the characters themselves? No matter how talented a
writer you are, if you don’t have believable characters no other
element will matter and your work will fall flat. characters are the
most important element in fiction – it is through their thoughts,
speech, and actions in which your story is told. What is the secret to
building believable characters then? If you ask this question to other
writers the answer will vary from ‘unique traits’ to ‘a common
emotional plane with the reader’. In simplest terms, to build a
believable character you must know your character. He/she must become
like a real person.
There are many techniques to get to know your characters – the
main one being the character profile. Character profiles are good but
they still only give factual statistics – they don’t bring the
character alive. One technique I always use to get to know my
characters is called the, “Interview Exercise”. You do exactly as the
title suggests – you interview your characters. To do this properly you
must use rapid writing – where you write without stopping to think or
edit. You just put down whatever comes to mind without censoring. This
exercise will bring all those statistics in your character profile
together and make your characters suddenly come alive – talking and
acting in a way that is uniquely their own.
To start this exercise, take out a blank
piece of paper or start a new computer file. I personally prefer paper
and pen because you can then concentrate on the writing itself, instead
of the mechanics of the keyboard (correcting missed letters etc.) You
can always type it onto the computer later. Write this exercise in the
first person viewpoint of the interviewer. You can create a character
or just write as yourself – an author coming to interview his
characters. Start by having yourself going to the interview and then
just write. Where is the interview? Where are your characters waiting
for you? Why are you interviewing them? Don’t stop or correct, just
write whatever comes to mind.
Sometimes you will find that your interview turns into a story
of its own. I had this happen with two of my characters in a book
series I was working on “The gentleman bandits” The two characters were
Brady – a mid thirties high class English bandit and his young rouge
side-kick Rodney. I started the interview with me getting off a boat to
the fort town of Victoria (Brady’s hometown) and walking towards the
inn that they stayed at. Using rapid writing I came up with the
scenario that the two bandits were notorious throughout the country and
this was the first time that anyone ever had a chance to interview
them. Brady was the one who arranged the interview and Rodney didn’t
think it was a good idea. Throughout the interview they argued with
each other and showed their differences in personality much clearer
than I ever could of by just stating it. By doing this exercise I came
to understand the motivation behind my two characters so much better
than before.
When you do this with your own characters, don’t prepare any
questions in advance. Just write and see where it takes you. Ask
whatever questions come to your mind and let your characters answer
however they want. If they want to give you the cold shoulder and not
answer at all, then let them –or maybe they get so irate that they
storm out (a tip: if they do this, chase after them and see how they
react). Don’t take this exercise seriously; you’re not writing a great
work of literature, your just getting to know your characters. Have
fun!
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