Character Enhancements

Note- This paper was given to me as an assignment for the academic writing course I am taking. Being instructed to listen to a lecture and take notes and then turn those notes into a couple paragraphs following a specified structure, I naturally chose to listen to a speech given on the very subject I never seem to learn enough of- writing. All ideas presented here are either adapted from or extrapolated on the concepts taught by James Scott Bell at the Christian Writer's Guild Writing for the Soul Conference. To learn more about the Christian Writer's Guild, please visit www.christianwritersguild.com (I highly recommend their courses to any beginning writer. Each lesson is designed to build the knowledge of the craft as well as fuel the fire Christian writers need to feed a hungry world with the feast, love, and hope experienced by true believers. In addition- and to give you some accountability- a professional writer/teacher guides you along the way.). For a more extensive look into Bell's concepts, please check-out his marvelous book Plot & Structure (another must-have), which is sold at bookstores everywhere. For now, enjoy my very first lecture paper on one of my favorite topics- writing!

Characters are colorful beings, shaded by their pasts and brought to light by their present. Woven and spun by their backgrounds, beliefs, and region of living, they are a tapestry of complex threads- nigh on incomprehensive to all but their creator. How do writers manage it? How do they shape beings enriched with varying traits and put them in a story of cohesion? Well, in order to answer this question, I ask you to close your eyes for a moment. Imagine yourself in a room where there are lots people, all chattering amiably about the courses of life. Being with your best friend, he begins to introduce you to all of his acquaintances. During these introductions, you meet one man who particularly catches your eye- your main character. Now, the first question is, what is his dominant impression? What’s his noun of vocation and his adjective of manner? In order to distinguish clear meaning from ambiguity, let’s say that your character is a farmer. That’s what he does- his noun of vocation. What would you picture? Likely enough, it would be some combination of bib overalls, muddied boots, and straw hats. However, the impression of a farmer can be dual. Unless I told you that he is a tidy farmer, would you have any idea that he is clean-shaven and well-mannered with his shirt nicely tucked in? Maybe or maybe not. That’s just the way he is- that’s his adjective of manner. Therefore, although characters are colored by a great many different things, the very first thing we notice about them should be the very first thing the reader does- their dominant impression and adjective of manner.

Layering his noun of vocation and adjective of manner is his background. To begin, let’s start with the very basics. Where is he from? If you’re left scratching your head, allow your character to speak a bit. Interview him and write down what he says using his own voice. Carefully consider your results and examine it thoroughly for any ticks and tocks that illuminate his both his past and present. Do you hear a distinct accent- Southern or perhaps even Midwestern? Does his grammar reflect an education of repute, or do malapropisms and slang words slight his tongue? Once you have that down, delve deeper into his past to flesh out the meat and bones of his composition. Why does he act the way he does? Many individuals and ideas influenced who he is today. Which contained the most potency? Secrets are priceless bits of information to uncover at this stage. Though they are traumatic and terrible to your character, they bring punch and power to the most poignant of tales- and, when they do, they leave the audience with a huge craving for the rest of your story. Therefore, penning the tale of his past deepens this individual you wish to portray, explaining how he became who he is and flavoring him with the spices of life.

Probably most importantly, you must determine your character’s drive and yearning. What does he want (or think he wants)? Yearning shoves drive from complacency into action, so this is essential knowledge that will eventually end up affecting the course of your plot and maybe even the mood of your novel. When yearning clothes itself in the garments of a home, a family, or a job- or any other basic need- you have storyline with the potential for a book readers will pick up and not put down. You’ve begun to play upon their emotions by using a tile in the game of life that we can all relate to. Or your yearning might be something less tangible, such as safety, freedom, or even a peace of mind. Situations such as these tend to extract some of the most memorable inward battles ever to be put to pen. After you excavate yearning, drive is not much harder to discover, since now all you must ask yourself is why your character wants something. However, the two accompany each other, which produces a noisy, clashing conflict. Conflict creates problems. Without conflict, there is no plot, shading and silhouetting yearning and drive in its important shadow.

Although conflict crowns a tale with a golden shimmer, it is her cousin, inner conflict, that spotlights background in the theater of the imagination. Largely comprised of fears, it consists of a battle fought inside the soul. Using whatever the character has gleaned from his past, you must challenge the kernel of truth (which it may or may not turn out to be) he holds onto, possibly wielding what he most desires as a venerable weapon. These endless bouts of self-turmoil give the character a ready and enlivened purpose to lie upon the page, but all the while they can do much more than that. In a slow, unfolding fashion, they allow him to shake and spread his fledgling wings. They let him soar. Thus, by wrenching your character’s wants and beliefs, you weld a sword able to slice your scenes with his innermost soul.

Being the inertia that carries your character from one scene to the next, momentum must not be lacking. Let’s just face it outright- people read to escape. To enter a world free from the cares of their own into the eyes and ears of another whose life is (hopefully) much more interesting. If you’re character spends his time rotting in front of the TV or sobbing hysterically about her condition, however, it’s time for you to stop and think. Is that really interesting? Do you think people care to know another couch potato or, much less, a victim? Though there are certain exceptions, such as when one such character should be forced into a situation they wouldn’t voluntarily be in, readers almost always demand a human being able to scramble to her feet, stare down her fears, and stamp her statement into place. The world wants to see someone who is willing to stand up, make a shout, cause a commotion, and perhaps shake the way they see things. Fervently maintaining an ardor, he or she must remain in character. In order to ensure that this ardor carries through the whole story, pause and contemplate each scene. In every situation they encounter, what would be the most outrageous thing that they could do? Then take it a step further. Expound upon the outrageousness. It sounds unrealistic, right? Well, since it most likely is, try to bring back the emotion 25%. Keep doing this until you reach an intensity level that feels right and realistic for your novel without breaching your character’s personality. In this way, and all the ways listed above, you may enhance your character to the maximum peak, and thus making them more colorful and benefitting your book.