Are Your Characters Real?
There are many important elements to develop when writing a story. Your characters are certainly one of them. Without a well-developed character, your story can fall flat. Some of the best novels I’ve read have the most realistic characters that I can imagine myself running into in person. But in order for your readers to feel as though your characters are real, they must first feel real to you.
So how do you do it? How do you make fictitious people feel real? In truth, there is no rule book stating you must do this or that when getting to know your characters. The trick is to find a way that works for you.
When I get an inspiration for a character, I get their basic information down: what they look like, how they dress, even what their day jobs are. If you feel the need to, use a picture of someone that fits the general criteria of your character as a way to remind yourself what they look like. Their other characteristics, like personalities or names, can take a bit longer to unravel. Below are a few tricks I use to get to know my characters. If you find yourself struggling to get to know yours, try one or two of these – or all.
Questionnaire:
This is a process I use when I’m first meeting a new character. This is where you ask them general questions, things like their favorite color or favorite food, maybe toss in their favorite band or singer. I ask mine who they were closest to growing up. These questions aren’t complex, but they can yield some important information on who your character is. The more you know about them the better.
As you’re reading through the answers, it’s a good idea to have a pen and paper ready – or a second word document you can make notes in. You may get an answer you want to explore more with your characters. I once had a character answer that he was close with no one while growing up. That instantly made me curious as to why. Did he not have any friends or was he neglected by his parents? I made note of it and stored it away to use later in an interview. Think of the questionnaire as a way to scratch the surface of who your character is. It’s the best way to start and as they give you answers, you can delve deeper into who they are.
Interview:
This is one of the more common processes I’ve read other writers use. I adopted this method myself when I was a senior in college. I had to write a short story and my main character just kept falling short of the mark. So I turned to the Internet for some help. I researched different methods some of my favorite authors used to make their character pop off the page. That’s when I stumbled onto J.R. Ward’s, author of The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, website. She included interviews that she had with her characters. After learning she did this, and after considering how real her characters feel, I decided to try it. I wrote out a list of questions and then sat down at the laptop and wrote it out.
It’s an interesting experience. The interview is far more interactive than the questionnaire because it gives you the opportunity to go deeper into who your character is. Stay away from asking questions like “What’s your favorite color” or “What’s your favorite food?” Those should be left for the questionnaire.
I try to keep it complex so that my characters must think before providing their answers. The process helps introduce you to the inner workings of your characters’ minds. How they respond and answer your questions can show a lot about their personality, as well as how they’ll interact with other characters. Maybe you have a character that refuses to answer really personal questions and doesn’t make eye contact when he talks. You can then infer that he keeps himself guarded. Maybe something happened in his past that keeps him from opening up to someone. Figuring out why is then your next step.
Quick Thinking:
This is an exercise I started using about a year ago. I call it Quick Thinking because I put my characters in a challenging situation that requires them to think and act on the spot. It shows me how they handle high stress situations. For instance, I’ve had a few of my characters lock themselves out of their houses or lock their keys in their car. I know neither one sounds that stressful but that’s where you tack on the obstacles. Maybe one of your characters has a very important interview that can make or break her career. In her rush, she locks her keys in her car. Her cell phone is in her bag on the passenger seat. She can’t get into her house to get her spare key because her house keys are attached to her purse. What does she do? Is she one that waits for someone to drive by and help her, risking her missing her interview? Or does she try to solve it herself and break into her car or her house? Maybe she decides to curl into a ball and cry because she’s that peeved. Either way, how she chooses to handle the situation will speak volumes as to who she is.
Total Immersion:
About three months ago, I realized I wasn’t representing one of my main characters in a way that did her justice. I knew the others, but I couldn’t seem to figure her out. So I tried something completely different from what I’ve done before. I put myself in a one-on-one with my character, literally. Well, I mean I wrote myself onto the page interacting with her. I read about another author doing this and decided I would try it. The first time I did, I wrote my character coming over to my house to speak to me. We sat at my table and talked over a cup of coffee. Writing myself on the page like another character interacting with her was a very surreal experience. It made her feel real to me because I was breaking that barrier that separated her world from mine.
This is an exercise I recommend to any writer. It really helps you connect with your character. There’s nothing like seeing how your character interacts with you. Sometimes, when I do this exercise, I let my characters take control and do all the talking. It’ll make it easier writing how your character acts around others in the story.
You want to make sure your characters are people your readers can connect to. It helps them feel emotionally invested in the novel and keeps them coming back for more. The four exercises above are what I use in order to make my characters feel real to me. If these don’t work for you that’s okay. Sometimes you need to find your own method. Either way, the more a character feels real to you, the easier it’ll be to portray them that way to your readers. So I’ll ask again, are your characters real to you?
