Elements of Fiction: Character
Elements of Fiction: Character
Stock Characters are the stereotypical characters: Prince Charming in fairy tales, mad scientists in horror movies, the loyal sidekick in Westerns etc.
Stock Characters are convenient in commercial fiction and requires only minute descriptions and have about one dominant virtue and/or vice. If you’re writing a literary story however, writing main characters who are unique individuals is a must. But even in the best literary novels, minor characters are better flat so they don’t distract us from the main characters.
What is a character? They are imagined persons who inhabits a story. Exceptions are: In George Stewart’s novel Storm, the protagonist is the wind; in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the main characters are animals.
In a well writen story, characters act consistently with their motivation (their reasons why they behave the way they do). If a character starts acting weird then logical reasons and explanations should be given. But these are not hard and fast rules. There are characters who sometimes act for no apparent reason. And characters can change and develop.
For instance in A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge, a cheap, mean guy reforms overning and becomes a generous kind person. But Charles Dickens fully shows why Scrooge changes dramatically: 4 ghosts warned and motivated him to.
What is a Flat Character? This character only has one outstanding trait or feature, or at most a few distinguishing marks Ie. The stock character of the mad scientist. He lusts for power, has crazy hair and gleaming eyes.
A flat character has one function. In A Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim is there only to look sympathetic and invoke pity.
Some writers distinguish flat characters with one odd physical feature or mannerism: a nervous twitch; piercing gaze; obsession with the color pink.
Flat Characters tend to stay the same throughout the story (static) while Round Charaters often change, learn, get enlightened, grow or maybe deteriorate (dynamic).
What are Round Characters? This character is described more fully and is portrayed in more scenes with more action, more emotions, more dialogue, etc.
Round Characters can be described by other characters. If they view her differently then we see another facet of her.
We enter a Round Character’s thoughs, feelings and perceptions as we read on and she becomes 3-D.
Choosing Your Character’s Name
1. Names can indicate natures Ie. Miss Golightly in Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s
2. Names can be an allusion or a reference to a famous person, place or thing in history, other fiction or real life Ie. In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville uses names from the Old Testament like Ahab after a tyrant who came to a bad end and Ishmaiel for his narrator. These names allude to the plot and hints the personalities of the characters
Many contemporary writers include the unconscious as motivation in human behavior. Ie. A character might fear dogs, not because he’s a scardy cat by nature, but because of his unconscious memories of being bit by a poodle as a baby. A character is also motivated by age, disease, neurosis, psychic shock, brainwashing, etc.
How to Create Great Characters!
Stock Characters are the stereotypical characters: Prince Charming in fairy tales, mad scientists in horror movies, the loyal sidekick in Westerns etc.
Stock Characters are convenient in commercial fiction and requires only minute descriptions and have about one dominant virtue and/or vice. If you’re writing a literary story however, writing main characters who are unique individuals is a must. But even in the best literary novels, minor characters are better flat so they don’t distract us from the main characters.
What is a character? They are imagined persons who inhabits a story. Exceptions are: In George Stewart’s novel Storm, the protagonist is the wind; in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the main characters are animals.
In a well writen story, characters act consistently with their motivation (their reasons why they behave the way they do). If a character starts acting weird then logical reasons and explanations should be given. But these are not hard and fast rules. There are characters who sometimes act for no apparent reason. And characters can change and develop.
For instance in A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge, a cheap, mean guy reforms overning and becomes a generous kind person. But Charles Dickens fully shows why Scrooge changes dramatically: 4 ghosts warned and motivated him to.
What is a Flat Character? This character only has one outstanding trait or feature, or at most a few distinguishing marks Ie. The stock character of the mad scientist. He lusts for power, has crazy hair and gleaming eyes.
A flat character has one function. In A Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim is there only to look sympathetic and invoke pity.
Some writers distinguish flat characters with one odd physical feature or mannerism: a nervous twitch; piercing gaze; obsession with the color pink.
Flat Characters tend to stay the same throughout the story (static) while Round Charaters often change, learn, get enlightened, grow or maybe deteriorate (dynamic).
What are Round Characters? This character is described more fully and is portrayed in more scenes with more action, more emotions, more dialogue, etc.
Round Characters can be described by other characters. If they view her differently then we see another facet of her.
We enter a Round Character’s thoughs, feelings and perceptions as we read on and she becomes 3-D.
Choosing Your Character’s Name
1. Names can indicate natures Ie. Miss Golightly in Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s
2. Names can be an allusion or a reference to a famous person, place or thing in history, other fiction or real life Ie. In Moby-Dick, Herman Melville uses names from the Old Testament like Ahab after a tyrant who came to a bad end and Ishmaiel for his narrator. These names allude to the plot and hints the personalities of the characters
Many contemporary writers include the unconscious as motivation in human behavior. Ie. A character might fear dogs, not because he’s a scardy cat by nature, but because of his unconscious memories of being bit by a poodle as a baby. A character is also motivated by age, disease, neurosis, psychic shock, brainwashing, etc.
How to Create Great Characters!
From the Dramatica Theory Book:
Chapter 4: Objective Characters
Chapter 5: Drivers and Passengers
Chapter 6: Character Elements intro
Chapter 7: 16 Character Motivation Elements
Chapter 8: Complex Characters in Gone With the Wind
Chapter 9: Complex Characters in Rear Window
Chapter 10: Other Character Dimensions
Chapter 11: Character Problem Solving and Justification
Chapter 21: Storytelling and Character Dynamics
Chapter 27: Storytelling and Encoding Objective Characters
Chapter 28: Storytelling and Encoding Subjective Characters
From Dramatica: The "Lost" Theory Book
posted by Shalla at 10:06 AM
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