Character development is one of the most important parts to writing a novel. And yes, I know that you’ve already written your novel, so how, you ask, does this fit in with editing? Well, if you don’t know your characters enough, how can you possibly edit and rewrite your novel? It will turn out almost the same at the end of March as it is now, at the beginning of March. Everything in your novel has to do with character development because your characters propel the story along, they are the ones speaking the dialogue, making the decisions, falling in love, and getting killed. Your story is about your characters and if you don’t know who they are, what have you got? You can’t write a biography about Hemingway if you don’t know who he is.
There is an exercise that every fiction writer should do at some point during their writing or rewriting, and that is to compile a list of facts about each character. True, you will not use everything from this list in your novel, but all of it will help you to understand your character better and why she suddenly can’t sleep at two in the morning unless she eats a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
Because you know more about your character than you did at the beginning of November when you started to write your novel, it will be easier to do this exercise. That doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t do this before you begin writing. Of course you should. Fill in the blanks as best you can, and as you write you will learn more about your character, just add in the new information as you go along.
So, to begin the exercise, choose a character in your story, and answer a list of questions about them. What is: the character’s name, nickname, sex, age, looks, education, vocation/occupation, status and money, marital status, family ethnicity, diction or accent, relationships, places (home, office, car...), possessions, recreation or hobbies, obsessions, beliefs, politics, sexual history, ambitions, religion, superstitions, fears, attitudes, character flaws, character strengths, pets, taste in books or music, journal entries, correspondence, food preferences, handwriting, astrological sign, and talents. Of course, you may add to this list anything else you can think of that may be relevant to your character and your story.
When inserting any of these facts about your character into your novel, you don’t want to bluntly list them in a paragraph. You want them to reveal themselves to the reader. Like pieces of a puzzle, let the reader find them and put them together. This is also called “showing” instead of “telling”.
For example, if your character speaks in a southern drawl, the reader will instantly know they are in the south, or, if the story is not set in the south, they will at least know that the character originated from the south. And that’s important. Just the same as if your character uses the term “wicked” to mean cool, your reader will then understand that the character is from New England, and is not talking about the Wicked Witch of the West. Or any other witch for that matter.
If you show your character without a wedding ring, or if they have the pale skin on the finger to show a ring was once there, we will know that either they’ve never been married, or they have recently divorced. Of course, maybe they haven’t divorced, and took the ring off temporarily to hook up with someone else. Little things like a wedding ring can say a lot about a character. Take a wedding ring off and set it next to a glass of brandy. What might that tell you about the character and his or her relationship?
Of course, there is much more about character development than just the list above, but it would take too long for me to write about all of it here, in this short article. My advice, grab a copy of Janet Burroway’s Fiction Writing: A Guide to Narrative Craft, I highly recommend it! Not only does it talk, in great length, about character development, but it also helps writers with world building and point of view issues as well as many other obstacles common to fiction writers. You will not be disappointed by this book.
What I’ve been talking about here, however, is what I feel to be the most important part of character development: to know your character. Know how he or she ticks. Know why they did what they did in chapter three to get where they went in chapter six. Know what their interests are, who they like and don’t like. And why. Know your character, otherwise you don’t have a story. Know your character.
(The list exercise above came from a creative writing workshop I took a few years ago, and I’m sorry to say I do not know who the original author is.)
There is an exercise that every fiction writer should do at some point during their writing or rewriting, and that is to compile a list of facts about each character. True, you will not use everything from this list in your novel, but all of it will help you to understand your character better and why she suddenly can’t sleep at two in the morning unless she eats a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
Because you know more about your character than you did at the beginning of November when you started to write your novel, it will be easier to do this exercise. That doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t do this before you begin writing. Of course you should. Fill in the blanks as best you can, and as you write you will learn more about your character, just add in the new information as you go along.
So, to begin the exercise, choose a character in your story, and answer a list of questions about them. What is: the character’s name, nickname, sex, age, looks, education, vocation/occupation, status and money, marital status, family ethnicity, diction or accent, relationships, places (home, office, car...), possessions, recreation or hobbies, obsessions, beliefs, politics, sexual history, ambitions, religion, superstitions, fears, attitudes, character flaws, character strengths, pets, taste in books or music, journal entries, correspondence, food preferences, handwriting, astrological sign, and talents. Of course, you may add to this list anything else you can think of that may be relevant to your character and your story.
When inserting any of these facts about your character into your novel, you don’t want to bluntly list them in a paragraph. You want them to reveal themselves to the reader. Like pieces of a puzzle, let the reader find them and put them together. This is also called “showing” instead of “telling”.
For example, if your character speaks in a southern drawl, the reader will instantly know they are in the south, or, if the story is not set in the south, they will at least know that the character originated from the south. And that’s important. Just the same as if your character uses the term “wicked” to mean cool, your reader will then understand that the character is from New England, and is not talking about the Wicked Witch of the West. Or any other witch for that matter.
If you show your character without a wedding ring, or if they have the pale skin on the finger to show a ring was once there, we will know that either they’ve never been married, or they have recently divorced. Of course, maybe they haven’t divorced, and took the ring off temporarily to hook up with someone else. Little things like a wedding ring can say a lot about a character. Take a wedding ring off and set it next to a glass of brandy. What might that tell you about the character and his or her relationship?
Of course, there is much more about character development than just the list above, but it would take too long for me to write about all of it here, in this short article. My advice, grab a copy of Janet Burroway’s Fiction Writing: A Guide to Narrative Craft, I highly recommend it! Not only does it talk, in great length, about character development, but it also helps writers with world building and point of view issues as well as many other obstacles common to fiction writers. You will not be disappointed by this book.
What I’ve been talking about here, however, is what I feel to be the most important part of character development: to know your character. Know how he or she ticks. Know why they did what they did in chapter three to get where they went in chapter six. Know what their interests are, who they like and don’t like. And why. Know your character, otherwise you don’t have a story. Know your character.
(The list exercise above came from a creative writing workshop I took a few years ago, and I’m sorry to say I do not know who the original author is.)
Re: Character Development