FULL NAME. or nickname
Why was it named like that? Is there a story associated with the character's name?
Birthday. Astrological sign - if it's relevant.
Race, nationality, religion
social class
Financial situation
Where and in what family was he born? short biography parents.
External data and health
Figure, face, teeth, hands, hair
Dressing style
Gesticulation, voice volume
How is the health situation?
Hygiene issues: how often does he wash - once a day? once a week? When it's raining?
Does he smoke, drink, sniff, inject? If not, what about those who do it?
Character and social skills
Temperament: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic?
What had the biggest influence on shaping his character?
His attitude towards others: are all people brothers? Or cousins? Or does he feel like an orphan?
What does he value in people?
What does he like? What does not love?
What do friends think of him?
Who is it best friend?
Does he have enemies? If yes, who exactly?
Education and profession
Where and how did he study?
Who and where does he work?
He likes his job?
If he doesn't work, what does he fill his days with?
Is he an entrepreneur by nature or an employee?
Personal life
Attitude towards sex
Love for him is...
His ideal woman (man)?
Relations with relatives. Does he have them? Who exactly?
Is he married, divorced, widowed? If he has an ex, what does he think of them?
Does he have children? If so, how is their relationship?
Location
Country, city, district, house, apartment
Why does he live here - did he choose his place of residence or was he brought here by fate?
What does his home look like?
Who else lives with him? Wife, kids, neighbors?
Property
What does he live on?
What is he moving on?
Does he have property? A bank account, a house in Malibu, a house in Prostokvashino, land on the moon?
His relationship to property
Habits and hobbies
What are his daily habits?
Is he neat or sloppy? How important is order to him?
Is he an owl or a lark?
Food: what, how much and when does he eat? Is he a foodie or an "omnivore"?
Does he have a hobby?
Does he have pets?
Does he read books? Watching TV? Does he go to the cinema? Listening to music? Attending exhibitions?
How does he rest?
Beliefs, goals and dreams
Does he have a purpose in life?
What is he dreaming about? Is he trying to fulfill his dreams?
Where does he get his information from?
Who is his authority? Whom does he trust?
What motivates him?
Does he think that children are the flowers of life, evil monsters, unidentified walking objects?
His relationship to religion.
His attitude to politics.
What does he think about his race and nationality?
“Homeland is important” or “My home is planet Earth?”
What ideals is he willing to die for?
How does he feel about violence?
Actions in the course of the novel
What does he aspire to throughout the novel?
What is his problem at the beginning of the novel?
How does he change throughout the novel?
How should readers react to the appearance of this character?
Why should they be interested?
It is also worth including all the scars and features of the body. Each big or small scar has its own story and the character's reaction to this story, positively or negatively, with irony or nostalgia. The same with the features of the body, a large volume of lungs - runs longer, more convolutions of the brain - smarter, no finger on right hand maybe he's clumsy ;)
- We give a name
Eh, a very important point in my opinion, but at the same time, logic recedes into the background if you want to name your hero something cool name and you don't care that the name also affects a person's life.
Let's subject ourselves to common sense and define it this way: if the actions take place in our world and in our time, then you climb into the directory and choose a name in accordance with the character; if in our world, but in the past, you give names in accordance with that era and place, it is possible without character, but with meaning; if the action takes place in a fantastic or fantasy world, then here you already have complete freedom of choice.
If you have problems with coming up with a name, then good help will provide various kinds of geographical, astrological, biological and other reference books - you open them, you find alphabetical index and transform the names of places, terms and phenomena into the names of your heroes.
- Life story
And my favorite part of creating a character is combining all of the above and building a complete person out of it.
The story, well, or biography of the character, this is the “grease” that will allow you to link some character traits with others and make the hero of your story “revive”. In the biography, it is also worth mentioning the parents and how they influenced the character, their personal qualities, something our object could learn from them, refuse something, they could force him to do something, how they spoiled him, how they punished him. .d.
If your character's behavior has any unique habit or feature, it's time to describe the story of its origin here, and make it as vivid and memorable as possible for the character.
In general, having the features described in detail from the previous paragraphs, you are already ready to create a “live” and unique personality, which has no analogues yet. You can do a little test, do all the above for the character, then take one of your friends and do the same steps, and then let them compare and say that one of them was invented by you, and the other real man. So let them think who is who, and you check how much real hero you created.
- How to Prepare for Comic Drawing
- How to invent a comic book world
P.S. Guys, listen, who knows, I’m in my second decade and I heard that at that time, if you have scaleosis, you’ll straighten your posture. But found here"corrector" and there was a desire to buy. When I run, my back hurts terribly - I need to fix it. Has anyone tried these correctors? I want to take it, and I will, but I'm interested in the successful experience of my readers, who tried it? =)
That's all for today, all creative mood friends!
How to come up with a character? This question is asked by almost every Author who strives to make his work as interesting, colorful, and believable as possible. After all, if the hero does not look real, then the whole work is perceived as fantasy or utopia.
In order to make it more convenient, we will first consider the creation of the main characters, and then the secondary ones, which some Authors deprive of their attention.
So, creating a main character is a painstaking process. It is necessary to cover all aspects, all facets, because main character- not a dummy that no one would write about. This is, first of all, a person, although invented, he has thoughts, feelings, as well as habits and principles. And often the Authors present us with only a small fraction of what inner world.
First, readers should roughly imagine what a particular character looks like. After all, each Author, as an artist, draws pictures in words, and readers subconsciously imagine what is happening. Therefore, it is necessary to designate at least a silhouette - a tall hero or a short one, thin or full, or maybe stooped. It is far from necessary to describe every centimeter of the body, it is enough just to describe the main external signs: hair and eye color, again, height and build. And in order to give the hero an individuality in appearance (even if the character is blue-eyed blond athletic body, which all the girls run after) maybe a couple distinctive features. For example, a large mole on the neck, which cannot be ignored, or a tattoo in the form of a dragon, or a scar on the cheek. This hero will be remembered.
Secondly, you need to describe the character. It is incorrect in a work where the narration is conducted on behalf of this main character, to write something like: "I am smart, kind, affectionate, brave ...". Even if the character calls himself smart or cowardly, for example, then he must do it differently. Eg:
"I finally solved this complex equation with powers, immediately jumping up from my seat, and under the admiring glances of my classmates, I put the solution on the teacher's desk. He looked at me in surprise - no one in our class could find the roots of the equation. I was insanely proud because now everyone knows how smart I turn out to be!"
But in this case, one should not forget that, having told in this way about the mind of the hero, the Author also reveals other qualities: in my example, the character looks somewhat boastful, you can even imagine how he approaches the teacher's table, proudly raising his head. If the work is written in a third person or the hero is described by another character, then the same concept applies: "Action - evaluation". Such petty descriptions must be present in the entire text, not only in the thoughts of the character, but also in his behavior, actions - after all, readers evaluate the hero precisely according to these criteria, referring him to more positive or more negative characters work.
This is worth stopping - negative and positive characters. If the Author really does not write a utopian work, then it should be remembered that there are no people who are good or bad in everything. This is where individuality lies - one person is brave, but a little stupid, so he gets into various troubles; the second is smart and cunning, therefore cowardly avoids danger, caring only about himself; and the third is smart and brave, but at the same time utterly vicious. Again, for all the fantasy of the Author, but more goodies there must be at least one bad habit(bite your nails with excitement) or a nasty trait (slam the door and be rude), despite the fact that such heroes most likely strive for perfection, while more negative ones have, for example, a secret passion for kittens, when a selfish and arrogant teenager suddenly touches and starts take care of an abandoned kitten.
Biography is not the most important part of character description in works small size, but a necessary part in large works. At least a mention, but it must be, since it is in childhood that the basic principles and "life scenarios" (some plans for the development of events, patterns transmitted by inheritance) are laid, and some an important event- the death of parents or the betrayal of a friend - can explain the appearance in the character of such traits as distrust, disappointment in life.
The same applies to behavior. A gallant young man will not slam the door right in front of a girl, and a drunkard will not bow in curtsey to his acquaintance. Again, the example is a stretch, and in most cases the Author does not even think about exactly how his characters speak, but there should be no discrepancies.
Thus, it turned out several main points for creating the main character:
1. Description of appearance. Against stamps - a certain "zest" that gives individuality.
2. Description of character. Against stamps - a habit or trait that is diametrically opposed to character (worse or better).
3. Speech and behavior of the character.
Perhaps each Author will supplement this list with some other item that will make his story special - my list serves as a framework, a basis. We move from the main character to the secondary character.
The secondary characters are the people who surround the main character. Classmates, acquaintances running past, sometimes even parents. The secondary characters help to create the atmosphere of the reality of the work, despite the fact that they do not really affect the main one. storyline. Therefore, with their creation, everything is much simpler - sometimes the reader does not even think about what he is, the same Uncle Petya, who was mentioned in the fifth chapter, in the third paragraph.
Firstly, if a minor character still appears throughout the story (for example, the same parents), then you can also describe their silhouette, create a vague image so that the reader does not forget who this person is, and more fully imagined what the Author himself wanted to convey to him. This can be done with such an unobtrusive phrase:
"I walked past a very fat grandmother, sitting on a bench near the entrance, and greeted her - she frowned at me, but said nothing, only muttering something under her breath".
And the reader clings to this "very fat grandmother', remembering her.
Secondly, one can single out main feature character, which will help you remember the character after ten chapters, even if you forgot the name. For example, the brave Uncle Vanya, who defeated a bear in his youth; capricious aunt Vika, always dissatisfied with those around her.
Thirdly, speech and behavior plays big role even the secondary characters. For the same reasons as the main characters, because if social qualities and manners differ, the hero becomes fake.
The easiest way is to draw secondary characters from acquaintances. At least, you can associate them with them so that the Author himself does not forget who is who. Secondary characters are described by the main characters or from the outside, and this is like thinking about someone you know. You can not resort to this method, but still.
Therefore, there are a couple of points for creating secondary heroes:
1. Creating an image of the external and internal phrase.
2. The speech and behavior of the character.
I repeat, this is much easier to do than to create a main character who will reveal more and more facets of his inner world in the course of the story.
Even the most ordinary hero or a cliché hero can acquire a personality with the help of the Author. Creating a hero is not difficult, but it needs to be taken as seriously as possible. Hope my article helps you.
1. What are the values for the character? Money, friendship, power, faith, something else? How important are they to him?
2. What is outwardly beautiful for a character, and what is ugly? "Outwardly" implies all five senses, some music may be beautiful to him, and some smell - disgusting. A certain style in general can also be beautiful - for example, some people are crazy about gothic.
A) Does the character have an ideal of beauty, someone or something that seems perfect to him, absolutely beautiful?
b) Is there anything that disgusts him?
Q) How important is beauty to a character?
3. Does the character have strong moral principles?
a) How strict are they?
b) Can he give them up? If yes, under what circumstances?
Q) Is there a concept of taboo, Sin, for the character, that is, it is impossible simply because it is impossible?
TEST 1: How would the character respond to the question "What would you not do for anything?"
TEST 2: How does the character feel about the expression "If you can't, but really want to, then you can"?
4. Is the character honest?
A) Under what circumstances is a character able to lie? Is it easy for him, or will he be honest to the last?
b) How does the character feel about lying?
5. Does the character profess any religion/philosophy?
A) Why does he profess this particular religion/philosophy?
B) Has he previously professed any other religion/philosophy? If so, why did he change it?
Q) How seriously does he take his religion/philosophy?
6. What does the character want from life - fame, prosperity, love? How does he want to live - quietly and well, wandering in search of adventure, luxuriously and richly, alone in the wilderness?
7. Is there something the character lives for?
A) Does he think that he has some goal in life that he must achieve or a mission that he must fulfill?
B) What is the meaning of his life, something without which he cannot imagine himself? In free wanderings, communication with friends, battles?
Q) Does the character have a secret dream, the most important desire?
QUIZ: How would the character himself answer the question "What do you live for"?
8. How does the character feel about death?
a) What does the character think death is? Does the "official" opinion of the religion/philosophy he professes agree with his own idea?
b) Is he afraid of dying?
C) What feelings does the sight of a dead body evoke in him?
9. Is it easy to scare a character? What is he afraid of? Does he have irrational fears, phobias, nightmares?
10. Under what circumstances will the character run for his life?
11. Is the character romantic or more cynical?
A) Does the character tend to embellish the situation, "to look at the world through rose-colored glasses"?
B) If not, is the character inclined to "tear rose-colored glasses" from others, to deromanticize the situation?
12. Is the character optimistic, realistic or pessimistic?
A) Does he tend to whine?
b) Does he tend to cheer others up?
TEST 1: Fast! Is the character's glass half full or half empty? Does cognac smell like bed bugs, or does bed bugs smell like cognac? Does he have a lower salary, or does his neighbor have more?
TEST 2: The party is in a cave filled with rocks. The blockage is serious on their own hardly realistic. They do not know if anyone knows where they are or what is happening to them. They are equally likely to be rescued in an hour or never. How will the character behave in such a situation?
RELATIONSHIP OF THE CHARACTER TO THE ENVIRONMENT
1. Does the opinion of others about him matter to the character? A) Is the character prone to showing off, "playing for the public"?
b) Does the character strive to be liked by others?
c) What would he like to be thought of? Who does he want to look like in the eyes of others?
2. Is the character outgoing?
A) Is it easy for him to meet new acquaintances?
B) Does he like to be in the company, or prefer solitude?
TEST 1: Does your character like parties?
TEST 2: How would the character feel about spending two days at home all alone?
3. Is the character tolerant of others?
A) Can he tolerate when others behave, in his opinion, wrong?
b) Is he moralistic?
4. Does the character divide people into "us" and "them"?
A) How strict is the line drawn between "us" and "them" for the character?
B) How does his behavior differ from "us" and "strangers"?
Q) Under what circumstances will an "alien" become "ours" for a character? Is it easy?
D) How does the character feel about outsiders and strangers?
E) Is there such a thing as "enemies" for the character?
5. Is the character prone to any kind of chauvinism?
A) How does it affect the attitude of a character to another character:
a. Floor?
b. Age?
c. Race?
d. Appearance?
e. Cloth?
f. Social status?
B) Does the character have any special relationship with members of their own race?
Q) How does the character feel about non-humanoid (Greenskins, Martians, centaurs, etc.) races?
D) How does the character relate to manifestations of foreign chauvinism?
TEST: Tavern. A drunken company sits at the table next to the character and poisons jokes about his race ("Do you know how many hobbits it takes to change a light bulb?..."). His reaction?
6. Is the character prone to forgiveness, or is he more of a vindictive one? Are there things he doesn't forgive?
7. Is the character vengeful?
A) What is the character likely to retaliate for?
B) How important is revenge to him?
Q) If the character will take revenge, then according to the principle "an eye for an eye" or according to the principle "rewarded a hundredfold"?
D) How far can the character go in his revenge?
e) How far is he willing to go to get revenge?
F) If it turns out that revenge requires too much time, effort and money, will the character give up or go to the end?
8. Is the character prone to self-sacrifice?
A) Under what circumstances can he risk his health or life?
B) Under what circumstances will he go to INEVITABLE death?
C) Under what circumstances is the character willing to sacrifice...
1) Soul?
2) Mind?
3) Freedom?
4) Welfare?
5) main force(For a magician, this is an opportunity to conjure, for a priest - God's blessing, for a cyberpunk hacker - a neuroshunt)?
6) Close ones?
D) Is there anything the character will not sacrifice under any circumstances?
TEST: Compare two situations.
First: Fight. The character sees a crossbow being aimed at his comrade. He may have time to cover it with his body, but there is no time for anything else.
Second: The character's comrade is about to be hanged. There is no chance to release, but there is an opportunity to change places with him. There is time to think things through.
Will the character's behavior be different in these situations?
9. How freedom-loving is the character?
A) Does he tend to obey, or, on the contrary, does the fact that he is ordered make him want to do the opposite? If the latter is more likely, then is there someone to whom he is still ready to obey ("Besides the Lord, I did not know kings ...")?
B) How does he treat senior officials and authorities?
C) How does he feel about the power of the law over him?
D) Is he inclined to punctually follow the instructions given to him, or is he more likely to do it first, and then he will figure it out?
E) Can the character come to terms with slavery?
E) Can a character endure slavery for a while?
G) Would the character be able to wait (for example, at the table)?
H) Would the character easily submit to the force, or would he stand to the last?
i) Is there anything that would cause the character to humiliate himself?
K) Does he have the concepts of "Debt of Service", "Debt of Honor", etc.?
L) Is there a difference for a character between submitting to someone who has legal authority over them and submitting to someone who is simply stronger?
10. How powerful is the character?
A) Does the character enjoy giving orders to others?
b) How does he feel about juniors in rank?
Q) How does the character behave with subordinates?
D) Could the character become a slave owner?
E) Could the character be the boss?
E) How does the character relate to people with slave psychology ready to obey?
G) How does he treat the recalcitrant, who do not recognize authority over themselves?
11. Is the character cruel?
A) How does he feel about other people's death and suffering? Are they terrible for him, does he look at them coolly, or rejoices in them?
b) Can he kill? If yes, under what circumstances? What will he feel about it? Will it be a shock, a pleasure for him, or will he treat it with indifference?
c) Has he killed before? If yes, under what circumstances? How did this affect him?
D) Is the character capable of torture? How cruel? If so, how will he feel about it?
E) In combat, does the character only try to defend, disarm, immobilize, maim, or kill opponents?
TEST 1: An unfamiliar person armed with a sword runs towards the character. In the hands of the character is a loaded pistol. He is guaranteed to hit anywhere on the body of the runner, shoot into the air or run away. His actions? And in a situation where there is no way to escape?
TEST 2: Before the eyes of the character, a person familiar to the character (for example, a member of his team) is going to finish off a defeated enemy who is not able to resist. His reaction?
TEST 3: An acquaintance of the character is about to torture a prisoner. Character reaction? Will he try to stop him, turn away, participate, observe, or remain indifferent?
TEST 4: An acquaintance of the character did use torture. Will it change your character's attitude towards him? How?
CHARACTER'S ATTITUDE TO HIMSELF
1. How does the character feel about himself? A) Does he treat himself pathetically or with a share of self-irony?
b) How much does he love himself?
Q) Does it happen that the character hates or despises himself?
D) How does the character feel about being insulted?
e) How does the character feel about laughing at himself?
E) Does the character tend to feel sorry for himself?
TEST: In a conversation with friends, the character accidentally makes a funny and stupid slip of the tongue. Friends laugh happily. His reaction? Will he be offended, angry, laugh with them? How will his reaction change if those with whom he speaks are not friends, but unfamiliar people?
2. How satisfied is the character with himself? Is there anything in his character that he would like to change?
3. How confident is the character? Does he believe that he will succeed?
TEST: The character stands on the edge of a wide and wide gorge, across which a ghostly bridge is thrown. He knows that "The bridge will only bear the one who believes in himself." His actions?
4. Is it easy to influence him, to convince him of anything? How does he react to attempts to influence him?
TEST: A preacher on the street stops the character and begins to expound his faith to him, urging him to join it. His reaction?
5. How controlled is the character?
A) Is it easy to provoke a character to do something?
B) Is it easy to bring him into a state of passion?
Q) Is it easy for the character, being in a state of passion, to pull himself together?
D) Does the character have a pet peeve, anything that makes them lose their temper easily?
E) Does it happen that in a state of passion he performs actions that he later regrets?
E) Is there anything that the character finds difficult to resist?
6. How does the character have fun and relieve stress?
a) Does the character have any hobbies or hobbies?
b) What does he like to do?
c) What does he not like to do?
D) Does he have bad (or harmless) habits? How much does he depend on them?
E) What is more important for the character - "I have to" or "I want"?
E) Can he satisfy his desires to the detriment of duties?
G) Can he suppress desires for the sake of duties?
When I started writing my first work, the question of how to create a character for the book did not arise for me. I did not look for tips and advice on the Internet, did not read books on the craft of writing, but naively relied only on my own strength.
In this article, I will share with you what not worth it to do to save yourself time and nerves, as well as tips that have worked for me personally.
How many characters should be in a book?
The answer is obvious: exactly as much as you are able to reveal.
If you are sure that each of the heroes will play important role in the general plot, does not get lost in the crowd of characters, then there can be at least a hundred of them. However, do not rush to take the reader with the number of heroes.
3 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Introduce Many Characters
When you start writing a book - especially in the fantasy or science fiction genre - there is burning desire populate your story with many charismatic and unique characters. Moreover, there is a positive example: there are whole series of books where the author managed to cope with a large number of heroes. But here are 3 reasons why I don't recommend it:
- Huge waste of energy
You are spraying. Instead of creating 3-4 interesting and well-developed characters in the same amount of time, you come up with 20 and rush between them.
Here you need to ask yourself a question:
Are you ready to spend a huge amount of energy on revealing n-number of characters, instead of writing another book or working out the plot in more detail?
- Huge waste of time
Character creation is hard work. And the time that you devoted to revealing the heroes could be spent on solving other equally important tasks.
Are you ready for the fact that in the end you may be dissatisfied with the result, and the time spent cannot be returned?
- The reader did not remember / got confused / forgot
From my own experience, I can say that about 80% of readers who unsubscribed under the first chapters of my book said that it was difficult for them to remember a large number of heroes.
Are you ready for the fact that some of the readers do not want to understand a lot of heroes and drop out at the very beginning?
If you answered “no” to at least one of the three questions, you should leave this idea at least until you get your hands on it.
How many characters do you need?
It is believed that three main characters are enough. The reader will definitely not forget who is who and will not get bored. Such a number of characters is in the hands of the author himself - more opportunities, time and effort to develop the fate of the characters on the pages of the book.
Primary, secondary, episodic: what's the difference? Why are non-key characters needed?
Once you've figured out how many characters you're planning, it's time to split them into three groups:
| Main | Secondary | Episodic | |
| Who it? | The character the story is about. There can be several main characters | The character is not a key character in this story, but influences the plot or / and years. His life and relationships are described but not as detailed. | A character that flashed against the background of the main character, entered into a short interaction with him. Often such heroes do not have a name. |
| How often does it appear? | Key characters assigned most of books | Occupy approximately 20-30% of book time | Usually once or twice |
| Example. The Ringing Book by Koji Suzuki | There are two main characters: Asakawa and Ryuji - they are the ones who find the cursed videotape and investigate the murders. | A secondary character can be called Mai Takano. Not much is known about her, but she is related to both Ryuuji and Asakawa and also plays in the second part of the book. significant role in the story without being the main character | An old administrator who finds a cursed videotape in Villa B-4 and then gives it to the protagonist |
The role of secondary characters
If everything is more or less clear with the main character, I propose to consider the tasks of the supporting characters in a little more detail.
Task number 1 - Revealing the main character
Relationships between people and real life they help to learn a lot about a person, let alone books where the author specifically places emphasis in such a way as to present the main character as lively and versatile as possible. The role of secondary characters is usually assigned to friends and colleagues, a little less often to parents and acquaintances.
Task number 2 - Disclosure of the past and present
By using minor hero you can lift the veil of the past. Talk about something you didn't even know main character.
Example #1(distant past): Marge from A Nightmare on Elm Street. It is with the help of Marge and the reader, and main character learns that many years ago Krueger was pushed into the boiler room and set on fire.
Example #2(recent past): In the same book, Rod witnessed the murder that Krueger committed. This crime was blamed on Rod, who later told the main character that someone else was in the room at the time of the murder. Someone invisible who killed their mutual friend. And then the main character begins her investigation.
Also, a minor character can tell both the reader and the main character about what is happening in the present - at this particular moment.
Example: Film "Hostage" 2007. In the story, the daughter of the protagonist is kidnapped. While they are being attacked with a friend, the daughter (a minor character) is talking to her father on the phone. So both the viewer and the main character, not being nearby and not seeing what is happening with their own eyes, learn about the kidnapping of young girls, which takes place in real time.
Task number 3 - Influence on the plot
This item is somewhat similar to the previous one. But here the role of the secondary character is not to clarify the situation, but to some extent a fateful influence on the plot.
Example: Stephen King "The Shining" Hallorann, like Danny (the protagonist), has a gift called radiance in the book. It is Hallorann who warns Danny about the hotel and tells him to call him with all his might with his gift in case of emergency. This conversation eventually played a huge role at the end of the book. Danny, after his father tried to kill them, calls for help from Hallorann, who saves them and their mother.
Challenge #4 - Just being human
sometimes a role minor character is to just be human. Sometimes funny - for a comic outlet, sometimes stereotyped to ridicule deeply ingrained beliefs. You can often find stereotypical Russians or Americans in books and films, who are not key characters, but make the story more voluminous and entertaining.
What are episodic characters for?
The tasks of secondary and episodic characters may overlap with each other. An episodic hero can also help with:
- revealing the hero
Example: if the key character is driving in a taxi and the driver's chatter is too annoying, the reader will at least infer the protagonist's temperament. As a maximum - if you place the accents correctly - it will give an understanding that the hero is a sadist: he imagined during the whole trip how in literally sews up the chatty driver's mouth.
- creating background and atmosphere
If the hero enters a bar, he must be surrounded by people. At least a bartender, as a maximum - a crowd of people who are satisfied and not very happy with their lives. episodic heroes help in describing the scene. The bar can be noisy, stuffy from crowds. Such a technique with episodic (background) characters will help to make the scene more voluminous.
- plot advancement
Often, episodic characters push the protagonist to what he will have to deal with throughout the story.
Example: Koji Suzuki Call. The protagonist Asakawa rides in a taxi and learns from the driver about strange death on road. The author himself notes: “If Asakawa had decided to take the subway home that day, it would not have occurred to him to look for a connection between two different incidents. However, no matter how you look at it, the beginning of novels is always a coincidence.”
How to create a main character for a book?
We discussed secondary and episodic characters, now I propose to deal with key characters. So how do you create a character for a book?
Appearance: Do I need to describe it?
Answering the question above, I will say: it is up to the author to describe the appearance of the hero or not. I do not presume to say that there is no way without this, but in most books the authors really describe the appearance of the characters. At least in general terms.
I don’t really like to describe my characters in terms of appearance: if you manage to harmoniously fit the features of the character into the story, that’s great. On purpose, because “you need to tell what the hero looks like,” I don’t do this.
I will share some secrets that I personally use when describing the appearance of the hero:
- Comparing characters to each other.
For example: the main character sits in front of the TV and watches some program. On the screen, he notices the presenter, who is more or less like him. GG begins to compare himself with the character on the screen. It is even possible to imagine yourself not in his place and think that if they have a haircut and a slightly upturned nose, then the figure of the protagonist is better - the suit would sit on it properly, and the hair would shine under the spotlights much brighter and without any or styling aids.
- Interaction with nature and the environment. Task: weave together action and appearance description.
For example: Kais turned around and, brushing away the strands that had fallen on his face, looked at Greg, waiting for an answer. He, seeing the movement of the young man, grinned and involuntarily ran his hand along short hair that the wind could not touch.
For example: Gaby slams her fist on the table, tears running down her round, freckled face to the lines around her mouth.
- through other heroes. It can be both dialogues and thoughts. Often it turns out that in the eyes of others we look different than we think. Usually, other people immediately identify for themselves the main, most striking features of our appearance - this can be taken as the basis for describing the character.
With the following methods of describing appearance, I advise you to be careful. They have a place to be, but I advise you to avoid them altogether:
- hackneyed comparisons. For example: Ocean-colored eyes, chocolate-colored hair, and the like. There is nothing wrong with describing appearance with comparisons, but try not to use too hackneyed expressions.
- Description of appearance in reflection. This technique has a place to be, it is used in the book "50 Shades of Grey", but is already considered a stamp. And while the average reader may not care how the appearance is described, the reader-author or the very picky reader may draw negative premature conclusions about the story as a whole.
- Unrealistic, high-flown, exaggerated description of appearance. For example: Her skin was like velvet, I inhaled the amazing smell of her gorgeous fiery hair, which shimmered in the sun like silk, like a real sun. Her teeth are like pearls, and her eyes are the color of emerald. Her walk, figure, everything was perfect: from long legs I couldn't take my eyes off.
Character character
It's no secret that the reader remembers a character by character, not appearance. Failure is when all your characters differ from each other is the color of their hair and eyes.
Character (Greek χαρακτηρ - sign, distinguishing feature, sign) - a combination of stable mental characteristics of a person that determine his behavior in life circumstances and, first of all, when interacting with people around him. Character is closely related to other aspects of a person's personality, in particular, with temperament, which defines the outer form of the character expression.
For the reliability of the description of the character, you can:
Method number 1- To ask questions:
- Is the hero annoying?
- What can piss him off?
- How will he react to the betrayal?
- Is he principled?
- For a hero, duty comes first?
- Is the hero conscientious?
- Will the hero get into the fight first?
- How does it feel about violence?
- How does he resolve conflicts: with a cry or with words?
- How loudly does he speak?
- Is the hero talkative?
- Is it easy to trust people?
- Is the glass half full or empty for the hero?
Other questions can be thought up by analogy.
Method number 2- Put heroes in ambiguous situations
Also, it will not be superfluous to put all your heroes in the same delicate situation and think about how they will behave in it.
For example: The hero has those he needs to take care of, but he is broke. A profitable but illegal business is coming up: to distribute drugs, kidnap people, etc. Will your hero go for it? And if on the condition that he will DEFINITELY never be caught?
Or other situations, like this one:
Method number 3- Associations
Associations are connections between mental phenomena, in which the appearance of one of them in the mind of a person entails the almost simultaneous appearance of others.
When you search for "association" you will find a lot of interesting things on the Internet. Asking people simple words you can learn a lot about them. Play associations with the characters. Find on the Internet or come up with a list of words yourself and answer them for your characters.
For example:
family - love
house - fortress
mother - native
father - betrayal
betrayal is pain
money is glory
power is violence
man - cruelty
woman is a victim
children are not needed
Now think, what can be said about the character who made such associations?
5 ways to reveal your character
- Through action/inaction
In the same situations, the characters behind whom are own experience, past and motivation, will act differently. Their reactions to the circumstances are also dictated by temperament.
Example: "Ten Little Indians" by Agatha Christie. Ten people are locked on the island. After the first murder, real chaos begins in the villa: everyone is scared, but behave differently. Someone is furious and wants to get out, someone is crying and predicts a quick death for everyone.
- Through descriptions
You can reveal the hero through description environment . His house, office, life: does the hero keep order? Is his refrigerator empty because he is constantly working and simply does not have time to go to the grocery store? Are there photo frames around the house with family photos? etc.
See also description weather or the joys of the current season can help to tell more about the character: does the hero like heavy rain, because then there is almost no one on the street? Does he like snow? Does falling leaves evoke any childhood memories? Happy or not?
- Through thoughts
This can be the thoughts of both the hero himself, who needs to be revealed, and the reasoning about him of another character.
- Through dialogues
Dialogue is a very important part of any story. When they come out alive, reliable and interesting - this is already a great achievement. It would seem: what is difficult in describing the dialogues? You just talk through the lips of heroes about the current situation. It is, but HOW you do it matters.
It is clear that artificially extended conversations will make the reader bored. So long exchanges of pleasantries (if this does not carry some hidden meaning) should be omitted. The phrases of the heroes for the most part should be informative:
- show the character's attitude to the situation,
- to the person he is talking to
- his mood
- willingness to compromise, etc.
Writing good dialogue is absolutely possible, the main thing is to practice and learn from those authors who you think are good at it.
When you start writing dialogue, ask yourself the question:
Dialogue from which book or movie can I remember? What feelings did he make me feel? What exactly attracted and liked it so much? What side of the character's personality did the author reveal through the memorable conversation?
Analyze the answers. As a practice: try to remake the same dialogue only through the mouths of your heroes (in draft). Did it work out well? Think about the techniques used by the author.
The manner of speech will also give individuality to your characters. It could be:
- Accent;
- crown phrases, set expressions. Example: the hero adds after almost every phrase: “I think so” or “maybe not”;
- The habit of giving people nicknames;
- speech defects;
- The pace of speech.
- Through interactions with other people
It could be a relationship with episodic characters, as well as with the main ones. How does the hero behave in society? Is it polite to service personnel, does it interfere with passers-by, what kind of relationship with neighbors? How does he treat people in general? Do they annoy him? How does he behave with colleagues? With parents?
How to come up with names for the characters in the book?
The easiest way is to open lists of male and female names on the Internet, select the country in which the actions will take place, and pick up the ones that you like. Names to Avoid: long x and unpronounceable.
If you decide to come up with names yourself, I recommend making them as harmonious and memorable as possible.
Bad example: Mahtrangstenbach
Good: vilessa
If there are many heroes, try to do without surnames - this will greatly facilitate the life of the reader and help avoid confusion.
If you decide to come up with names yourself, consider making a few similar names for people of the same race or those who are territorially related. For example: all the names of one of the races end in "u".
In The Shine of the Rim, all the names of the nomadic tribe end in "tan": I-tan, Miu-tan, Ark-tan, etc. The names of all tsiturins - on "o": Ako, Nino, Jogo, Runo, etc.
How to come up with a name for the main character of the book?
The tips that I described above can also help in choosing a name for a key character. The main recommendation: let the name be as memorable as possible. You can find the name:
- in your head. What name do you think is appropriate? Maybe you came up with some name for playing in the yard as a child and you still like it? And most importantly: does it fit perfectly into the plot and the place of action?
- in the list of names on the Internet.
- in another word by rearranging or replacing letters. For example: silence - Channi Mol, marks - Teki (Teki), etc.
I want to remind you that there are no rules and standards that would dictate what a name should be. Only recommendations, advice, observations. Want a main character with the most common name? Let. With the unusual? Also normal. Just remember that your story will be read by other people who may or may not remember Karnodisavr Makhmarkhatov. Keep this in mind.
I hope the article was useful for you and you learned something new for yourself. Thank you for your attention!
