Characteristics Used to Create Believable Characters

It’s noted that you should let the reader see your protagonist’s characteristics within the first few pages. This enables the reader to quickly identify with him. This connection will determine whether the reader continues to turn the next page.

Unless you’re writing fantasy or science fiction, your protagonist will have ordinary strengths (possibly extraordinary, but within the realm of reality); he will also have weaknesses. These qualities need to be conveyed early on.

Here are 15 characteristics that may pertain to a protagonist or main character (MC):

1. Intelligent: Is your MC smart? If so, how smart: is he a genius, did he finish college, does he get all As in school?

2. Handy or Crafty: Maybe your MC isn’t great at academics, but is he handy, musically inclined, or crafty?

3. Arrogant: Does your character think he’s better or smarter than others?  Does he let others know it? If so, how?

4. Trustworthy: Is your MC the kind of individual that others feel they can trust?

5. Determined: Does your MC know what he wants and strives to obtain his goal?

6. Greedy: Is your MC the kind of person who wants everything he doesn’t have? Is he the type of person who wants much more than he actually needs? Does he make it obvious?

7. Dependable: Is your MC the kind of individual that others know they can count on?

8. Brave: Does your MC do what he has to even if he’s frightened? Is he known for his bravery?

9. Cowardly: Is your MC afraid of his own shadow? Does he try to avoid any kind of confrontation or adventure?

10. Caring: Does your MC demonstrate kind and caring qualities? Does his family and friends think of him as a caring individual?

11. Selfish: Does your MC think of only himself? Is he known for this unsavory quality?

12. Strong: Does your MC have great physical strength? Is he strong emotionally?

13. Weak: Is your MC weak either physically or emotionally or both?

14. Athletic: Is your character into sports? Does he excel at it?

15. Artistic or musical: Does he draw or paint? Does he play a musical instrument?

These are just some of the characteristics you can give to your protagonist. There are many others though, such as: shrewd, cheap, a liar, a thief, a go getter, beautiful, awkward, loyal, kind, lazy, introvert, extrovert, irresponsible, and cruel.

It’s up to you as the creator to give your protagonist a set of characteristics that will allow him to connect to the reader – whether the reader loves him or hates him there must be a connection. This connection is what will cause the reader to keep turning the pages.

Be cautious though, if you are giving your protagonist unsavory qualities at the beginning, be sure to include at least one redeeming quality otherwise your audience may not find that connection and decide not to read on.

And remember, you can always have the protagonist change characteristics through the momentum of the story. He can start out as a coward and through various occurrences within the story he can evolve into a hero, or whatever you choose. That’s the amazing thing about being a writer – you create something from nothing. You give your character breath and dimension.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, successful children’s ghostwriter, and online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. Check out her middle-grade book, WALKING THROUGH WALLS.

You can connect with Karen at:
Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/writingforchildrenwithkarencioffi/
LinkedIn  http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Twitter  http://twitter.com/KarenCV

Character Interviews and Questionnaires

We recently discussed that good writing requires engaging characters. In order to create strong, dynamic, realistic, and relatable characters, we must know them in and out. They must become as real to us as our own family members.

So, how do we do that?

One way is to complete character interviews and questionnaires. From physical descriptions to likes

and dislikes, from hobbies to memories, and from pets peeves to quirks, spending time with your characters in such a meaningful way will create the rich, deep, and complex characters readers enjoy.

If you look online, you will find a variety of character interviews and questionnaires from well-known sources.

The Ultimate Character Questionnaire from The Novel Factory

Gotham Character Questionnaire

The Official NaNoWriMo Character Questionnaire

Writer's Digest Novel Writing: 10 Questions You Need to Ask Your Characters

No matter where you start --plot, setting, or character-- taking the time to get to know your characters will build depth and texture into your story.

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Little Shepherd, A Christmas Kindness, Macaroni and Cheese for Thanksgiving, and Amos Faces His Bully. A blogger and book reviewer, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters. She also has a son who is married. Visit Cheryl online at http://ccmalandrinos.com and her children’s book blog at https://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com

Writing a realistic BFF

What were you afraid of as a kid?

Hot tears bubbled into my child’s eyes when the minivan pulled into the preschool parking lot. Like a caged animal, Erica usually strained against the straps of her car seat to be released. Erica LOVED preschool, from the dress-up corner to snack time to the hamster named Peanut to chasing boys around the playground. On this bright morning, however, my three year old was kicking and holding onto the straps for dear life.

           

A lioness could not have been more proud of her cub’s attack; but where was the danger? I braved a few bruises to lean in and heard Erica mutter about a leopard at school. Today. What?!? Dashing to the entrance, I grabbed Mrs. “B”, the head teacher. “Erica won’t get out of the car. She thinks a leopard is at school?!?”

Dawning comprehension lit Mrs. B’s face as she kept pace with me, running back to the car. “Not leopard, a leprechaun!” she panted out. “Today . . . St. Patrick’s Day . . . promised the kids . . . leprechaun visit . . . puppet show . . . Oh my, I forgot.”

Puppets. That explained it. The only other bad day for Erica at preschool had been when a firefighter used puppets to explain fire safety. To say puppets freaked out my child would be an understatement. As only good teachers can do, Mrs. B quickly transformed Erica back into my happy child who skipped into school holding her hand with a promise she could sit next to her backstage to see how the show worked. She came home raving about being brave to stick her hand in a puppet.        

Does it matter now?

It isn’t St. Patrick’s Day and Erica isn’t three anymore, but sixteen—to this day a fan of the stage and NOT puppets. When writing for older kids, it is time consuming but worthwhile to create a back story for each character including a made-up childhood. Each tidbit might not make it into the book, but you will draw from the well to write a richer story.  School stories abound—easily put down, easily forgotten—with stereotypical bullies, team defeats, unbending teachers and catty friendships. To help you write a book worth re-reading, develop characterizations that include fears, secrets, and giddy joys left over from childhood. In the classic book The Secret Garden, the invalid Colin irrationally believed from a young age he was doomed to suffer a crooked back, coloring the household’s treatment of him for years.

Create a realistic BFF!

When I write middle grade fiction, I worry about creating realistic friendships. Imagine the emotional, weighty moment between teen friends when they discover something uniquely shared between them from childhood: a favorite song, amusement park ride, unusual color, a worst nightmare, a special toy. My father-in-law and stepmother share a birthday on Valentine’s Day, a fun discovery bonding two people from different countries. Once, while visiting a friend’s home, tears filled my eyes when I noticed a teddy bear identical to one I had loved and lost decades ago.

·       Do you have a childhood fear or passion that lingers to teen/adulthood?

·       Have you worked it into your writing via characterization, symbolism, flashback?

Destination Imagination

By Suzanne Y. Cordatos

www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

Ever have one of those days when your characters run out of breath and fall flat on the page no matter long you keep at it? When my fingers sludge instead of dance on the keyboard, and my rear is shape-shifting to the desk chair, it is time to go on a road trip. Destination? Imagination.

Art Imitates Life – so LIVE!  It is the best way to breathe life into your writing. Do something creative besides writing. Find a creative project at home or try one from the list below. Include family members who might feel second fiddle to your characters!

        

  Try these and use your senses as guide: Sights, smells, sounds, textures, tastes.

·      

      Museum

Soak in any collection. People watch. Are kids curious, bored, dragged behind Mom? Is anyone sketching? Are they good? Observe paintings from a distance and close up. The woman’s hat with a ribbon? It’s a smudge of color with a curling swipe of black. Simple, isn’t it? Stop at a craft store on the way home for inexpensive supplies—and try it. How does it feel to put a paintbrush to canvas? Frustrating? Exhilarating? Do the paints smell funny? Pretend to be Monet—or one of your characters. How would each react?

·      

      Hotel Lobby

Take a seat in a fine hotel lobby. Note details in elegant carpets, gorgeous flower arrangements, uniforms of desk clerks. If they serve tea, go for it. Select the best dressed guest and imagine you or your character has an appointment, or is swept off your feet. What happens next?

·      

     Historical Site

Where I live in New England, you can climb aboard a whaling ship at Mystic Seaport, listen to sea chanteys and pull on ropes pretending to be a sailor. The blacksmith’s ring on the anvil and mob caps of Sturbridge Village churn up historical adventures. Warm your fingers to wood fires and smell the goose stew cooking at Plimouth Plantation, or card wool in Old Wethersfield. Your hands feel soft from the lanolin in the wool.

·       

      City Park or Hiking Trail

A walk and fresh air is all you need. Listen to leaves rustle. Look for insects lugging a load. What creature might be living in that hollow tree? What if it needs a friend? What if it wants to go to outer space?

·       

      Airport                              

Even without a passport in hand, a Departure Board at an international airport is a great Destination Imagination. Rome? Tokyo? Toledo, Ohio? Who is going where? Business travelers with a purpose? What’s in the briefcase? Make it up. Any tearful good-byes? Joyful hellos? A family in matching T-shirts? Make up their emotional reasons. Imagine taking your characters on a trip. Where and why? Anyone afraid to fly?

·       

      Memory Lane

If you are housebound or seriously time-crunched, close your eyes and take yourself there.

What places take your imagination to greater heights? Let us know!

Lessons from the Golf Course

                                    By Suzanne Y. Cordatos

www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

For the third week in a row, a female executive in an expensive suit hops onto the driving range ten minutes late, balancing on a 4-inch stiletto heel while shoving her other foot into a stiff golf shoe. She nods at the instructor while speaking into the cell phone pressed between her ear and shoulder.

            The golf pro has lost patience, but not her sense of humor. She poses a question. “Are your clients expected to be on time for appointments? Early, right?”

            The executive nods and mutters ‘call you back’ into her phone.

            The pro holds out her hand and says, “Next week, you will arrive ten minutes early for my lesson. You will be dressed for a golf course. You will hand over your phone the minute you arrive, which will be how early?”

            “Ten minutes,” the exec replies, dropping her cell phone into the pro’s open palm.

My neighbor talked me into golf lessons this summer. When we figured out the key to a successful swing was to relax, I asked the pro, “How do CEO types relax enough to enjoy this game?” The story above was my instructor’s reply, hilarious when she acted out the details. That was the day I scored writing lessons along with my first par 3.

Writing Lesson from the Fairway

Keep true to your characters no matter what they are doing. 

People have different personalities and motivations. Characters should approach activities accordingly, whether they are skydiving, washing dishes or being treated in a hospital. How would your characters react to new situations? Brave and daring? Or timid and shy ?

If I put a team of characters together on the golf course, the individuals might:

            -Have brilliant beginner’s luck

            -Be riddled with self-negativity and despair with every swing

            -Sign up out of a golf widow’s desperate attempt to keep up with her missing husband

            -Be frustrated and curse every hole for its unfairness

            -Beat a hasty retreat to the clubhouse bar or befriend the beverage cart driver

            -Bask in the lovely scenery and quiet peacefulness of the course

Much more interesting writing fodder than a simple reporting, "Joe met his friends on the golf course every Saturday."   

More Writing Lessons     

Remember it is a game. Relax, have fun and your writer’s voice will emerge.

Each course, hole, and story is unique; approach each blank slate with confidence and the right tools.

Expect bad shots and rejections. Your best might be around the next corner!

Turn Up the Heat and Win BIG

Turn Up the Heat

                                                                                                                                                                     By Suzanne Cordatos

                                                                                            www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

One of the best ways to spend a summer afternoon is watching a sailing regatta. Lovely and peaceful, there is nothing quite like a fleet of colorful spinnakers billowing over sunlit waves, cool breezes kicking through the summer heat. As a bonus, no engine noises mar the view.

If you tally up the bruises afterward, participating in a race might be more akin to tackle football. My brother-in-law returned from two E-Scow regattas in one week proclaiming “My bruises got bruises!” With a wide smile, this sailor showed off his thighs streaked with multiple marks in shades of purple. Beaten up by a boom, apparently.

This sailor’s pride in accomplishment got me thinking as a writer.  Main characters need “bruises on their bruises” to bring their challenge to a satisfying conclusion.

     Are you too easy on your characters?

Beginning writers tend to love their characters too much and hesitate making their situations awful. Readers identify with characters and live through them: How would that character deal with something that, in real life, would be too scary to face?  

Real writing fun starts when you dig holes deep enough to make your characters show their stuff. From the first pages, plant seeds—personal qualities—that will eventually help him or her save the day. One of my main characters wants to learn how to whistle just like her father. She works hard at it, puckering over and over. Perhaps your character has an uncanny ability to communicate with animals or throw his voice. A girl’s hair-braiding skills can be employed to rope-weaving. That whistle turns into a life-saving signal in the book’s climax.

No matter how outrageous the situation, your characters’ challenges will be met in a way that is believable if you have planted the seeds to their success early on. Your readers will root for him or her to jump figurative or literal chasms.

  Is your villain nasty enough? Has he/she/it gone soft?

Think of any villain you love to hate. My current favorites are the actors on ABC’s Once Upon a Time series. Lana Parilla plays Snow White’s Evil Queen. Her colleague, Robert Carlyle, plays a delightfully devious Rumpelstiltskin.  Both seek to fulfill their own agendas at any cost. Sparingly, authors can use superlatives to add weight. If Voldemort was merely trying to give Harry Potter a bad day once in a while would his triumphant end be worth reading thousands of pages? As the darkest wizard in generations, with a name people feared to speak, Voldemort was a worthy opponent for the good vs. evil quest.

Your readers deserve the smartest hero or heroine (even if they don't start out that way) and the toughest nemesis you can dream up. Well-earned victory over a true villain makes it worth the effort to bang up your character with a boom. 

Pile on bruises on the bruises! 

Your readers will forgive you—and enjoy the ride.

Writer, Can You Spare a Dime?

Writer, Can you Spare a Dime?

By Suzanne Cordatos

www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

Are some of your characters standing on street corners with their hands out? Do you have jobs for everybody in town? Are they puppets, simply cardboard cut-outs holding a sign? Convenient buggers, aren’t they? Need a taxi driver? Here you are. Teacher. Kid on bike. Red Herring. Our characters get a literal “job”— but is it meaty enough? Will it satisfy?

Writer, you are CEO and chief employer of the fictional world you’ve created. How do you divvy out character roles? Do the best jobs go always to the protagonist and villain? Any spare change left for the unemployed but ever-present sidekick?

Don’t get mugged!  

It is loads of fun plotting and putting together a novel with as many pieces as a jigsaw puzzle. The more complicated the plot, however, the darker the alley of keeping every character’s job in mind. I got “mugged” recently by my cousin’s daughter, Ann. At ten, is the first official kid to read my work-in-progress manuscript. I sent her a hundred pages; she recorded it on her school reading log, and I resisted the urge to ask every ten minutes what she thinks. Two weeks later, I got an email with three magical words: “What happens next?” She wants MORE!

Ann’s email was a loaded gun, pointed at me and filled with questions. Questions that caught me unguarded in this dark alley of who-does-what. The most painful: OOH, I  can’t wait to see if [minor sidekick character] gets to do something special later on!

WHAT? BACK UP THE TRAIN.

In importance to the story, this cutie-pie sidekick character she’s referring to doesn’t rank in the top ten. Remember, if we’re doing our job, readers care about the characters. It keeps them turning pages. This sidekick’s puppy had a job. A good one. A fun-to-read, momentous-moment kind of job that only the puppy could do. The puppy’s little master, however, did not. How can she help the plot move forward? I had to think quickly to save myself, before disappointing 100% of my readership—the one kid in the world who had entered my newly-minted world!

In the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling developed several minor characters. They were fleshed-out  with strengths and flaws; virtually none were just filling the hallways of Hogwarts. The author NEEDED those characters to pick up the ball and run with it in the final novel, Deathly Hallows, while the hero, Harry, was preoccupied in the Forbidden Forest with the villain Voldemort.  If JK Rowling had not taken the time to lovingly develop her minor characters into fully-formed beings, Harry’s fate might have been different.

Writer-boss, don’t let crimes of character happen on your watch. To prevent slips, try a Cluster Diagram.

Cluster Diagrams Show Poor Spots

If you are not familiar with a Cluster Diagram, do a quick Google search of Cluster Diagram images. Essentially, draw a circle in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. I wrote a quick summary of the climax scene in the center: Summer Festival. Draw lines extending out like rays of the sun and attach each line to a character name. Circle the name and add a couple lines indicating that character’s main job in the scene. Don’t leave anybody out.

Ask yourself: Who isn’t busy enough? Is that character a place holder? If they don't have a meaningful job, add one or fire them from your book. Take them out. Your writing will be tighter and your characters more memorable as a result.

What readers want from authors

As readers move from traditional hardbound books to digital books for the various e-readers available now and in the future, one thing hasn’t changed over the years, the reader’s expectations. They expect a level of quality when they spend their money to purchase a hard copy, or time downloading a digital book.

What readers expect:

• Readability
• Believability
• Characters they can empathize with
• Believable Dialogue
• Descriptive
• Good editing
• Deep POV
• Tight writing
• Consistency
• Good word choice
• Proper use of nouns, verbs, and adjectives
• Proper grammar
• Proper punctuation
• Proper spelling
• Words that don’t send the reader to the dictionary
• A book that doesn’t bore the reader

This is only a short list, but you get the idea. Readers are author’s best friend or their worst enemy, the author makes the difference by the words in their story, how well the edited the manuscript is, and the author proofreads it before it reaches the reader.

Some may think this is a lot to ask, but consider the fact, the author’s reputation is on the line with every piece of writing they prepare for consumption by readers. This could be a blog about the book, a viral book tour, an author’s web site, a press release about their book or any piece of copy.

Authors need to take readers seriously. Word of mouth advertising is still the best form of advertising. How will the reader talk about your books, authors? Will they give it thumbs up or thumbs down because there are errors? It’s your choice authors.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Reviewer

http://twitter.com/RJ_Medak

http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak

What I've learned from television

by Vivian Zabel

     I watch many police, detective, and crime shows on television, often hoping to learn something I can use in my writing. Of course much of what I learn is what not to use, but all is part of learning.

     From CIS (all versions), NCIS, Law and Order, The Mentalist, Castle, and other various show, I've learned that most law enforcement people and criminologists are manipulative, lying, promiscuous, immoral, corrupt, and over-all dysfunctional. I wonder how any crimes can be solved when the people supposedly solving the crimes use their time to commit their own crimes or to try unwind their own twisted lives.

     Ahh, you ask for examples. In at least three shows (CSI Miami, NCIS, and NCIS LA), the protagonists take the law into their own hands and murder some bad guys, in other countries of course. They might have some twinges of trouble as results, but nothing drastic happens to them because of their actions.

     I'll admit NCIS is one of my favorite shows, but really. In real life, Tony would be up on charges of harassment and dismissed faster than I could spell harassment. He has become a caricature rather than a crime fighter. Enough is enough and really too much. If I had a protagonist in one of my novels like Tony, I would definitely not sell any copies. I'm a fan of Jethro Gibbs, usually, but, much as I would understand a character wanting to kill the murderer of my family, the writers really must be careful not to write when under the influence of whatever.

     From CSI Miami, I've learned to use appropriate body actions. People do not normally look off somewhere else when talking to a person, as the main character does on this show. As a result, I try to make the actions of my characters believable and appropriate.

     On all these shows, characters must play musical beds, apparently. What such behavior has to do with solving crimes, I have no idea. In this world of dissolving marriages, split families, people having trouble bonding with others, why do we need to see the lack of personal control extolled constantly on television? I could see an occasional incidence popping up, especially on the part of antagonists or red-herring characters, but according to television, all the protagonists, the heroes, are flawed to such a great extent that I don't know how they find the time or energy to do their jobs.

     No, characters shouldn't be "perfect," because no one is perfect, but few successful, productive people are so imperfect, so flawed, so unappetizing. Therefore, I've learned from television shows to work extra hard to make my characters believable.

     The same idea applies to plots: Plots should be believable enough that a reader can suspend belief enough to accept them. Television plots often are so unbelievable that anyone of a sound mind can't stretch his imagination that far.

      Yes, I have learned much from TV shows. Mainly I've learned what to avoid, but I still enjoy, for the most part, the shows and do pick up some helpful ideas.

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How to Improve Mysteries

by Vivian Zabel  

          I take and read several writing magazines: The Writer, WRITERS' Journal, and Writer's Digest. All of them give me ideas and advice that helps me be a better writer. As I read some of the current issues, I realized that some of the articles included suggestions that definitely apply to writing mysteries, thrillers, crime, and/or suspense novels and/or stories.

          In my reading, and from my experiences over the years, I found some writing tips that definitely apply to writing mysteries and sub-genres.

          Some of the suggestions apply to any writing; some perhaps more to the mystery genres. However, all are usable to us. At the end of this article, I'll give the sources for the information I'm using, besides my own expertise. I highly recommend that everyone read all the articles.

          Create believable and distinctive characters. Have you ever read more than one book where at least one character could be dropped into more than one story, even if the names aren't the same, and no one could notice? I mean other than in a series or a sequel that contains the same characters.

          Ways to make characters believable and distinctive are several, but a few include 1) to have characters not be predictable, 2) to make them three-dimensional rather than stereotypical or all good or all bad, 3) to "show" their personalities and characters rather than "tell" the reader what kind of person they are. An antagonist shouldn't be a "flat" all bad, evil person. A protagonist shouldn't be all good without any faults or short comings.

          Include the four elements. Every well-written novel or story needs to have 1) a strong hook at the beginning to grab the readers attention and keep it.

          2) Conflict is necessary to have a plot, a story. Of course without conflict, we would have only a narrative, and we wouldn't have anything to interest a reader.

          Conflict leads to a 3) struggle, according to Diane E. Robertson, both internal and external. The ups and downs of the struggle make the plot move forward to the 4) resolution, the end of the story. Authors need to be sure that that end is not a false finish. The end must make sense and satisfy the reader. A surprise ending should still be credible.

          Make sure the plot is plausible to the reader. Often, coincidences are thrown in to surprise a reader, but if credibility is stretched too far, the reader won't accept it. Hallie Ephron states, "... never, ever, ever make a coincident integral to the solution."

          Don't conceal clues from the reader. The reader should know all the clues as soon as the mystery solver or detective does.

         I gave a few of the many tips found in three articles and a bit of my own knowledge mixed in.

***
Sources, besides the information I've accumulated over the years:

The Writer, Hallie Ephron,October 2008 page 26-29; Paola Carso, December 2008 page 28-29.
WRITERS' Journal, Diane E. Robertson, January/February 2009 page 46-47.


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