When the desire to write a novel arises, the first question future writers ask is where to start? Someone starts with an idea, someone paints the plot in detail, and someone immediately proceeds to describe the landscapes. But, in fact, you can start writing with characters. Moreover, this is how it should be done.
Reading books, you can see how differently the authors pay attention to the characters of their characters. And, if a book with a wonderful plot, but dry and lifeless characters, leaves in memory little memory, then a work with perfectly described and realistic characters will never be forgotten.
In our time great attention The American writer Donna Tartt pays attention to characters in her books. Reading her works, you understand that some characters look more real and interesting than real people. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Tartt deservedly received the Pulitzer Prize for her latest novel.
James Frey talks very well about character creation in his book How to Write a Great Novel:
1. A fictional person must be different from a reasonable person.
One one of the main mistakes of writers is that they “write off” their characters from real people. This is not bad if you take only a part of the qualities, and invent the rest, or exaggerate. The fact is that the reader will be bored watching ordinary people. The fictional person must surpass the real person in everything. It should be more emotional, or, conversely, more boring. His actions are bound to surprise and shock, delight or disappoint. Just do not leave indifferent. The reader will not forgive this.
Very important. Whatever your character is, his actions should be understandable to the reader. If his actions and feelings seem illogical to someone, people will simply close the book and find something better.
Also it is important to understand that a fictional person is easier to describe than a rational person. Why? Because he has limited story line, and only those feelings and decisions of the character that the plot requires should be described.
Characters are the material from which the entire novel is built.
2. A fictional person - subspecies.
"flat", "cardboard", "one-dimensional". Here we are talking about the characters of the second plan, whom we can meet in the book once or twice, hear a couple of words from them, and no longer remember their existence. These are, for example, bartenders, waiters, etc. We don’t care what happens in their inner world what losses they experienced, who they loved and who they hated. It does not matter. Such characters can not be painted;
a "full", "multidimensional", or "triangular" character. This is the type of main characters, including villains. The main quality of this type is that no label can be attached to its representatives. They must be interesting personalities, with a complex and complex motivation for actions. These heroes must go through a lot of suffering and know a lot of joys, love, hate, seek and run away, suffer and enjoy ... And, most importantly, they must have a full biography. But more on that later. You must interest the reader so that he wants to get to know your characters better.
3. Getting to know the characters
How to get to know the characters? In his work "The Art of Creating dramatic works"Lajos Egri calls the character "triangular", and highlights the following facets:
physiological. This includes all the physical qualities of your character, such as his weight, height, age, eye color, health status, and the like. Although this edge may seem the easiest to create, you need to remember what exactly appearance judged first. Therefore, it is important that the appearance fits the personality of the character;
sociological. To form this edge, you need to answer the following questions: what social class does your character belong to? What church does he go to? political party does it support? Who raised him? Was he a spoiled child, or did he grow up in strictness and order? Does he have many friends? What are their common qualities? And there can be many, many such questions. The main thing is to find out what your character is socially. It is very important to understand the dynamics of character development. He was not born the way he is now, he became that way. You need to understand the reasons for the formation of his character, only in this way you will get a realistic hero;
psychological. It should immediately be noted that it is not necessary to be professional psychologist to create good and quality characters. It is enough to understand human nature and be observant. Has your employee quit? Find out why he did it. Did a friend quit malnutrition and signed up for sports? Get in touch and find out what caused these changes.
This facet is considered to be the interaction of the social and physiological facets. Here you need to describe the passions, fantasies, complexes, fears, guilt of your character, and the like. It also includes emotions, habits, intelligence, self-confidence and various tendencies.
The greatness of the drama depends on how the author manages to create complex multidimensional images of the characters. thus, the eternal task of self-knowledge turns for the playwright into the task of knowing the characters own work. The old "know thyself" call for the playwright is "get to know the characters as closely as possible." George Baker Drama Technique
4. Making the characters act
Very important advice- do not create inert characters. Have you ever read books that minor characters were more interesting than the main ones? This should not be so, firstly, and secondly, this happens due to the fact that the main character turned out to be inert. In this case, he will avoid conflicts, be afraid of difficulties and struggle. Such characters are of no interest to anyone. Try to keep your main characters dynamic and able to cope with various difficult situations.
5. Create a character biography
Before you start writing the first chapter of the book, you need to fully create each character. The biography of the main characters should consist of 10-50 A4 pages. You should know everything about your character - where he was born, how he grew up, who raised him, with whom he was friends, whom he loved ... In general, everything that can explain to the reader why your hero became the way he is now.
Of course, when you already have almost the entire biography in front of you (it is recommended to write it in the first person), you will still have a few questions about the hero, the answers to which you will not know. Then the best option will hold character interview. Since he is a figment of your imagination, all his answers will definitely be honest.
You must paint all the details of your hero's life. Even if you don't use them in the book, and no one but you knows about them, you must write them. After all, you are creating a person.
Write the books you yourself like to read.
If you take all these tips into account when creating your character, you will realize that you yourself begin to believe in his existence. This will be confirmation that you have created a truly high-quality hero.
Create new file on a computer or take a sheet of paper for notes. Start with a name. It must match the culture or nationality (for example, Gothic characters might be called Arachne Valdor or Hellebor Natrix).
Consider the character's age. Think of a date of birth, and if necessary, a date of death.
Think of its origin. What country is your character from and where does he live now? Has he or she experienced some kind of shock in the past - the death of loved ones, parents, rape, cruel treatment, dislike of parents, loneliness and the need to take care of yourself with young years or something even worse?
Consider how past events have changed the character's life. Perhaps he became a silent and unsociable goth or emo? Or an alcoholic? You decide!
Think about the parents and the rest of the character's family. How did his parents treat him? Was he an outcast in his family or the same as everyone else? Did he have brothers or sisters? If so, how did they get along? Did quarrels rage between them, or, on the contrary, did peace and love reign?
Describe how he treats others. He is cute? Haughty? Harmful? Mysterious? Was he affected by a difficult childhood (if it was such) - for example, suddenly he is cruel to animals? How your character reacts to others can tell readers a lot about him (for example, "Laura avoided walking through the park because the children playground annoyed her" sounds more interesting than "Laura didn't like children").
If you get stuck, try placing your character in certain circumstances (such as a robbery or an earthquake) and see how he reacts. Whine and cower in fear? Fearlessly throw the robber to the ground? Or is he the robber? Will he help rescue people from the rubble of the earthquake? Or will he start robbing abandoned stores and killing bystanders? Remember that actions speak louder than words.
Does the character have a favorite item? Perhaps this is an old hunting knife or a terrible-looking blouse - a gift from a loved one? Or is it not even a thing, but a favorite gold fish? Imagine what a character carries in his pockets: lip balm, Swiss army knife, shiny pebble?
Now think about his values in life. What is the most important thing for the character, what does he believe in (for example, "money is above all")? If you want to give depth to his personality, give him conflicting values. For example, nothing is more important to Bob than his seriously ill dog Nemo. It's fine, but not enough for the story. But let money be no less important for Bob. Now we have a plot twist: Bob loves Nemo, but his treatment is too expensive. How will Bob do it? He can't get rid of Nemo - and he can't afford to keep paying the vet. Perhaps he will get a second job, or start robbing people, or pretend to be blind and be in free time begging on the street.
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 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?
What is important in the house? The consumer looks at the facade and interiors, and the builder looks at the foundation, walls and roof. To become a storyteller and compose interesting stories, it is necessary to change the consumer's view of history to the point of view of the builder, that is, the author. There are stages in the construction of a building: first they put the foundation, then the walls, the roof, and only then they move on to interior decoration. If we think of making up a story as architectural project, then there are also steps that must be followed.
Why Russian TV series dull and like everyone is the same? The biggest problem is the characters. classic hero series of the Russian broadcast channel is a smart, brave man, with an innate sense of justice, who does not get along well with his superiors, is not a fool to drink, but at the same time he gets along well with women. This hero can think of any profession, but in fact it will always be a series about the same person. It is clear that it cannot be done good series about the walking code of criminal procedure. In the American series, the characters are completely different. For example, Dr. House is a drug addict, misanthrope, badly converges with women, mocks his subordinates, and besides, he is a genius.
That is why the series "Capercaillie" broke all TV ratings - there appeared unusual hero. The character of Capercaillie differed from the standard "fair cops" - he put friendship above justice and law. Many admit that Maxim Averin played well there. Yes, but also because he had something to play.
Without interesting hero no history. It's like with people - if it happened to a boring person funny story, this does not mean that he will be able to tell her interestingly. A interesting person can even describe in a breathtaking way how he went to the store for bread.
First you need to come up with a character. The main mistake of novice screenwriters is that they start to come up with a character from the wrong place. They think about his profession, age, clothes, appearance, habits and biography. This is a dead end path. If you only think about outward manifestation, you will not invent a whole person. Character creation must begin at the core of the character. A hero is one who acts. A character's personality is how he acts. The core of the character can be built on two main features, for example, a boring hero, a misanthropic killer. Next, you need to determine the goal of the hero, that is, what makes him act. The goal determines the personality of the hero. If you figure out how the hero acts and why, he himself will lead you to a good plot.
The hero must also have value - what he believes in. For example, he wants to try everything in life. It is clear that this character trait will most likely lead him to try something very bad and this will somehow turn his life upside down.
It's also good when the hero has a paradox in his character. For example, a bandit loves his mother very much, a misanthrope fanatically treats people, a bandit speaks literary language etc. The paradox should logically follow from the nature of your character and at the same time be very different from him.
Also, the character can come up with details. Details should also be tied to character: an athlete can have protein shakes, a cleaner can have a small brush, a coward can have good sneakers to quickly run away.
The biography of the hero is how he lived before the start of the action. She comes up with the most last turn, and only if the plot requires it. But the biography must also be submitted through action, living detail and not through a verbal description of the past. For example, the hero stutters because at the age of six he was given a cuff on the back of the head on a drawing mug.
When the hero is ready, you can proceed to the plot. The story consists of several important elements. All successful scripts use this structure - without it, the plot risks falling apart into disjointed scenes.
Structure of a good story:
The theme, the driving idea, is what we want to tell the story about. It consists of three components - character, conflict and ending. It is better to start inventing a story from the end. It's like driving a car: you have to know where you want to go, otherwise you won't get anywhere.
Exposition is the moment when we talk about our character. His qualities must be revealed through action.
An Inciting Incident is an event that spurs our hero into action.
