For this blog posting, I want to discuss the creation
of characters in novels. Let me rephrase that. I want to discuss the creation
of
interesting and
believable characters in novels. What
do I mean?
We have all read novels where the characters literally jumped out of the
pages of the book and pulled us into the story. These types of novels are hard to find. Most of us have also read novels where
the characters were as wooden as trees in a forest. The characters in these novels did not pull us into the story, instead, they made us want to close the book and hurry to take it
to the used book store.
I have only written four novels (soon to be five) so
I don't want you to think that I am an expert on writing or character development in novels. I am not. I am still a novice. I
am still working hard to improve my ability to bring depth and breadth to my
characters in my novels. That's why it is so important for me to focus on a process for character creation and development. I am a country mile away from achieving a standard where I can
even sit at the feet of such great fiction writers as Stephen King or Dean
Koontz. For anyone who has read their novels, the characters seem to explode
from the pages, grabbing readers by the nape of the neck and dragging them back into the plot of the book. Before a
reader of King and Koontz even knows it, they are participating in the story as
one of the characters. THAT is the place where I want my characters to be!
So, how do these great writers create these believable characters?
I am sure every novelist has his or her own formula, but since this is my blog,
we are going to discuss how I do it; right, wrong or indifferent.
Characters! Those little jewels that supply life to any novel.
If done right, they transform pages of paper into a reader’s involvement in the
day-to-day lives of the characters. The reader becomes a part of the
character’s life, not the other way around. From a novelist’s perspective,
where do these characters come from? I assume that almost every novelist gets
these characters from pretty much the same place. Most of the characters I have created are
composites of people I have known or studied, either directly or indirectly. I also
believe that most novelists inject portions of their beliefs and
personalities into certain characters in every novel. I know that more than a few of my characters have a bit of me in them.
In most good novels, a variety of characters is the spice of life.
The last thing any novelist strives
 |
Could this be the character of Volk from Saving Miguel. Read
the novel and create your own Volk. Courtesy Sons of Anarchy. |
for is a bunch of characters that act like zombies walking down the road, unless of course the novel is about zombies. Characters should have different behaviors and personalities. Then, it is up to the novelist to integrate these various characters into the storyline of the novel. Just as in real life,
some characters are going to be more interesting than others and some characters are good
while others are evil. Creating a novel is like creating seafood gumbo. When we make a delicious seafood gumbo
called a novel, a variety of ingredients is essential and if we want the taste of the novel to be rich and fulfilling like our gumbo, a variety of characters is essential.
One of my all-time favorite character creations is in my novel, Saving
Miguel. Volk is this character’s name. He was built from a composite of
people I have known, watched, or read about. Volk's character in the book would be easy to stereotype so I went out of my way to make sure that did not happen. The
physical attributes of Volk were modeled after a country and western
singer, believe it or not. Any guesses who that country and western singer
could be? Sorry, I plead the fifth.
The
first thing I try to do when I introduce a new character in one of my novels is
to provide the reader with a little background information as to how that
character fits into the overall plot of the story. Following are a few excerpts from Volk’s first appearances in Saving Miguel. Let’s see if you can
understand from this paragraph how Volk fits in to the overall plot of the book.
The Chapter
President of the Skulls was a man named Johannes Pudine or Volk as his fellow
club members called him. Johannes Pudine began his career in the early 21st
century as a pledge in an infamous, global outlaw motorcycle club. Through
brains and brawn, Volk rose through the ranks of that motorcycle club until the
world’s economic collapse occurred. Volk took the collapse as a good
opportunity to break off from the larger motorcycle club and form a much smaller, regional
organization he named the Skulls. The smaller, less political organization
allowed Volk to move the organization into different business opportunities
without having to go through the politics and bureaucracy of a global organization.
As chapter president, Volk not only focused on the bread-and-butter illegal
businesses, but he had enough business savvy and foresight to invest in
legitimate enterprises, such as farms, ranches, and feedlots. Ironically, the Skulls’ biggest
customer for beef, pork, fruit, and vegetables was the Security Service at Camp
Randolph. To get in the door of the Security Service with the Skull’s legitimate
businesses, Volk had bribed several influential people in the S.S., but when
the Skulls proved they could effectively manage the businesses, Volk slowly
weaned these people away from bribes. The business with Camp Randolph grew
exponentially and allowed the Skulls the hard currency to
expand into other legal businesses. Volk wanted his club out of the illegal
activities altogether but it would take time. His biggest frustration in
growing these businesses was that few people had anything worth trading, so if
he wanted to sell their goods, the S.S. was their only customer.
 |
Are these people the Skulls from Saving Miguel? I don't
know, read the novel and YOU decide. Courtesy 81? |
What
do you think? Do you at least have a general idea how Volk and the
Skulls tie into the story of Saving Miguel? Now,
that the introduction is done, it is time to give the reader an idea of Volk's physical attributes, i.e. what does the character physically look like.
Volk was in his
mid-fifties. His long jet-black hair and beard of yesteryear had turned from
coal to salt. He stood about six foot, four inches and weighed around two
hundred fifty pounds. Volk had always been able to handle himself in the
violent encounters that were part of the culture of an outlaw motorcycle club.
Even as he became older, his legendary temper was always boiling under his calm
exterior, but now he was wise enough to handle things less violently, or at
least let his subordinates handle the violence.
There, we understand a little bit
about the physical makeup of Volk. He is no one to mess with, obviously. We now know how Volk fits into the story and
some of his physical characteristics. We will let the reader now fill in the blanks of Volk's appearance. It is now time to inject Volk into the story.
Tonight, Volk was
sitting at a table in an old south side restaurant that served as his
headquarters. The restaurant was quiet except for the steady hum of an electric
generator on the outside of the building. The S.S. had offered to run electricity
to his headquarters, but Volk declined the offer.
He did not need the
Security Service to know where his headquarters were and besides, he moved his
headquarters routinely.
Volk was waiting
for his six captains to show up to a meeting that he had arranged. He was
concerned about the reports that the S.S. had taken over several sectors on the
north side of the city and that they were continuing to expand into other
sectors. He wanted to know what his captains knew and if there were any
opportunities or threats for the Skulls."
Dialogue is the most powerful tool a novelist has to work with. Dialogue is the heart and soul of character development. Through dialogue, the reader
really gets to know a character. Just like when we meet someone and get to know
them by talking to them, the reader gets to know the characters through their dialogue
with others. They begin to understand the character's thoughts, beliefs, motives, and behavioral tendencies through dialogue. Below is where dialogue starts to build a connection between Volk and the reader.
The last captain
finally showed up and Volk did not wait for him to sit down before he called
the meeting to order. Volk asked what the captains had heard about the invasion
in the north part of the city and then he sat back and listened. The captains
had all kinds of information about the invasion, but it was all second-hand
information, rumors, and speculation. Volk held his temper in check as he
listened to the unsubstantiated hearsay coming out of his captains’ mouths. This
is like listenin’ to an old women’s sewing circle! Volk could not rely on
anything his captains told him without collaboration of the information. Volk
watched his captains yap and noticed that one of his captains, at the end of
the table, was not saying a word.
“You’re awful quiet, Joey,” Volk said to the
captain at the end of the table.
“Just listenin’,”
Joey replied.
“Listenin’?” Volk
asked, glaring at him. “This is not listenin’ time, if you know somethin’,
spill it.”
“Well I was waitin’
until these guys got through their tall tales,” Joey answered.
“Well they’re done,
if you don’t mind sharin’ your captivating insight,” Volk declared, giving each
captain a stare.
“What do you want
to know?” Joey asked.
“Part of your
territory is around that hospital that just got blown up, the S.S. is as thick
as gnats there; what are you hearin’?” Volk replied, unhappy with having to
pull information out of his youngest captain, one thread at a time.
Even
in this very short section of dialogue, the reader gets an idea how
Volk runs things on the ‘south side of the city’. There is no better place to learn
about a character than to listen to them talk and interact
with others, including the reader.
To
summarize my process for character development. First, I introduce the character into the overall story and plot, i.e. how do they fit in. Then I give the readers just enough of a physical description to allow them to fill in the rest. Finally, I inject the character into the overall story through their dialogue. This is where readers learn the most about a character, just by the way they talk and interact with others. There is no reason that a novelist would have to go through the specific order above. The order could be changed to fit the circumstances, but I would recommend all three elements.
I hope you enjoyed this post and
I look forward to hearing how you like my novel Saving Miguel, which by
the way is available at better booksellers around the globe. Click the Link to Join the World of Saving Miguel
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