We discussed “tension” last week and why it is good to have this element present in stories. The fact is, tension can be more internal than external when the character realizes they have special abilities but is torn between using them and just being a normal person.
In our third installment of our Creative Writing Life Group last Friday, we discussed character development and talked about why this is significant. The reason this is significant is because a character should be well rounded, he/she should have flaws, and be relatable to the reader.
In other words, a good character should be just like us but maybe with some special or hidden talent or secret that sets them apart from everyone else.
We discussed “tension” last week and why it is good to have this element present in stories. The fact is, tension can be more internal than external when the character realizes they have special abilities but is torn between using them and just being a normal person.
A good example of this is Spiderman 3 when Peter Parker decides to give up his “Spidey” powers and ditches his really cool pajamas. He wants to be a normal person but then tries to be the “good Samaritan” when he rescues the little girl from the burning building.
Even though he saved the little girl, he is made aware of another victim that “didn’t make it”. These kinds of inner turmoil and second guessing is what makes us human and if these elements are not there, the character becomes flat and boring.
Stan Lee was a master at creating this kind of tension in his comic book characters and probably much of the reason why his characters have become so popular.
Character development is crucial to having relatable characters that the reader can relate to and can make the difference between the story being read and being passed over on the book shelf.
Usually, a character is based on either ourselves or someone we know. As William Faulkner explains in Lisa Roney’s book, Serious Daring: Creative Writing in Four Genres,
“It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does” (125).
Another element of character development is to give your character nervous tics or habits. When I heard this, the television character “Monk”, played by actor Tony Shalhoub, came to mind.
In this show, Monk is a private investigator who is a germophobe and also has obsessive-compulsive traits. Here is the breakdown of Adrian Monk’s character:
Adrian Monk, a San Francisco Police Department detective, has a nervous breakdown after his wife, Trudy, is killed by a car bomb, possibly because of her work as a journalist.
He loses his job and refuses to leave his house for several years. With the help of his nurse/assistant, Sharona Fleming,
he finally is able to leave his house and begins work as a private detective and a consultant for the police, although his obsessive–compulsive disorder,
which has worsened since Trudy's death, poses challenges for him and frustration for those around him. Monk also continues to investigate Trudy's death.
These character “flaws” really do make the character more believable and more interesting to watch and read about.
So, remember, to fully develop your character you have to make them believable and interesting. A couple ways of doing this is to give them real flaws, just like a real person would have.
Also, giving them inner turmoil and conflict makes them relatable to the reader and hence more interesting to follow. As Bella Rose Pope from Self-Publishingschool.Com puts it,
“The character development in your story is vital for its selling. After all, people love and rave about books not always because of the story itself… But because of the characters they fell in love with.” But, whether you are looking to publish or just write an interesting story, character development is extremely important!