How to withstand contradictions in character creation:
Getting to the crux of your protagonists.
by Anna Price
Character creation is a tricky art, and the advice on how to do it successfully is often full of contradictions. How many times have you heard that your characters need to be believable, but unique? It is a fine balance to strike between an implausible character and a compelling one. Here are some writing techniques to finding a character for your novel.
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is a prime example of how to create and develop characters successfully. The novel places character relationships and human reaction at the core. From the prologue, we know that the principle characters are murderers, but instead of being a book about the event of a murder, it tells the story of how five students become murderers, and how they then deal with this secret.
Richard Papen, the narrator, introduces himself on the first page. The reader consequently learns that we will be seeing everything on the following pages of the novel through his eyes. When the reader encounters the other core characters of the text, a group of enigmatic students, they are introduced to them through the lens of Richard’s eyes, as he observes them from afar.
Tartt uses Richard to describe the appearance of the individual members of the group in great detail. For example, Richard notes how Henry Winter ‘wore dark English suits and carried an umbrella’ and ‘walked stiffly through the throngs of hippies and beatniks and preppies and punks with the self-conscious formality of an old ballerina’. From Richard’s observations, Tartt reveals that Henry Winter is stiff, awkward and traditional. This is achieved by focussing on his actions as well as his appearance.
In the following examples of Tartt’s character descriptions, it is the description of attitude alongside appearance that illuminates aspects of the character’s personalities. Richard describes Bunny Corcoran to be a ‘sloppy blond boy, rosy-cheeked and gum-chewing, with a relentlessly cheery demeanour’, while Francis Albernathy is ‘the most exotic of the set. Angular and elegant […]’ and twins, Charles and Camilla Macaulay, are detailed to have ‘heavy dark-blond hair and epicene faces as clear, as cheerful and grave, as a couple of Flemish angels […] they appeared here and three like figures from an allegory, or long-dead celebrants from some forgotten garden party’.
Notice how each character looks different in appearance and has an individual personality. These characters are easily imagined in the mind’s eye, and their quirky aesthetic intrigues the reader and evokes the desire to know more. These characters are unusual and fictive, but that’s the point. They create a mysterious aesthetic of otherworldliness that ties in with the Greek mythology that runs throughout the text.
As Richard befriends the group, the reader begins to learn more of the group’s eccentricities beyond the initial appearance. Henry, Bunny, Francis, Charles and Camilla are fully rounded, and deeply developed characters: they have families, they have idiosyncrasies, they have likes and dislikes and they differ from one another, but this is not revealed all at once.
As the plot progresses and as a consequence of dramatic events, each character suffers under pressure, and in turn begins to deteriorate. Henry, the composed ring-leader becomes fanatical and illogical. Bunny, the unpredictable loose cannon meets his end. Francis, the elegant dandy succumbs to anxiety and panic attacks. Charles, one part of the angelic duo turns to alcohol and becomes abusive. And Camilla, Charles’ counterpart, is now weak and victimized. Despite appearing as a group throughout the text, they are divided, and each fulfils their own trajectory by the end.
Donna Tartt is clearly successful in creating and developing her characters. Despite their oddities and un-conventionalities, they are believable because of the human nature of their fears, desires and joys. Like their circumstances, they are not normal, but they are convincing and compelling.
Down to you now… Have a go at drafting your character
Here’s some tips on how to create your own convincing, captivating and compelling characters:
- Aim for well-rounded characters. Think about their families, upbringing, likes, dislikes, fears and desires. These do not necessarily need to be described, but can instead be revealed in reactions, conversations or action. It is not even necessary to reveal every aspect of your character – but it is very important that you, the author, knows them inside and out.
- Steer clear of stereotypes. Subvert the reader’s expectation and make your characters interesting. Instead of having a nerdy, tee-total librarian, why not have a librarian who goes salsa-dancing every Thursday?
- Give your characters some identifiable traits or flaws. Allow your readers to relate to them. This could be something as simple as tapping along to music in the car, or as unhealthy as anxiety-induced smoking.
- Here are some character building questions for writers
- Distinguishing facial features?
- Which facial feature is most prominent?
- Which bodily feature is most prominent?
- Other distinguishing features?
- Do they make snap judgements or take time to consider?
- How do they react to praise?
- How do they react to criticism?
- What is their greatest fear?
- What are their biggest secrets?
- What is their philosophy of life?
- What is the worst thing they did to someone they loved?
- What are their ambitions?
- What advice would they give their younger self?
- What smells remind them of their childhood?
Good luck, and have fun!
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COME AND MEET ANNA PRICE:
Hello! I’m Anna: English Lit graduate, Victorianist, part-time PhD-er and full-time bibliophile. I am also an Editorial Assistant at a national magazine, a music teacher and a coffee, museum, music and art lover. I can be found in my soft-office or on twitter at: @annaroseprice.
Thank you Anna for a stimulating read and for inspiring writing techniques
Spread the word - it helps to support our fabulous writers - and you too get rewards
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Thank you Anna for a stimulating read and for inspiring writing techniques
Spread the word - it helps to support our fabulous writers - and you too get rewards
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