by Ngozi Obanye-Stephen

Created on: January 29, 2009

Characters are the most important part of any story, so they have to be seen as real people and not simply as words on a page. Wooden and lifeless characters make it difficult for a writer to move prose forward. A writer's goal is to bring characters to life. It is almost like the writer finds their way under the characters' skin. When creating a real person, all aspects of their persona have to be right.

For example:

Names

Throughout the centuries, every era has had fashionable names. Doris, Betty and Gladys were more fashionable in the fifties and sixties for baby girls than they are today; Tracy and Sharon are more common for baby girls now than fifty years ago. The name of one character should not be similar sounding to another, as similar sounding names are confusing for the reader. It is not essential to choose names before writing the first chapter. Indeed, as the story progresses, you may get a feel for a particular name.

Characterization

Defining a character based on astrology is helpful when trying to form characters. This makes the character more believable. For example, Geminis are known to be excellent communicators, whilst Virgos have a reputation as neat and tidy individuals. A writer should decide how much planning they want to do in terms of characterization. For example, it is easier to write about who and what you know, unless you can put your research skills to full use. A writer can bring the characters to life by making a comparison with his or her life or to that of a familiar person, thus making the story believable. Be aware though: creating a character from scratch takes a lot of planning.

Dialogue

Characters need voices. Giving each character a unique voice means that if all words were removed except dialogue, the reader would still know who was talking. With dialogue comes action the reader wants to know, see and feel what is happening to their character. Giving characters an accent helps to distinguish one from another. If a character is a cockney from the East End of London, he or she would say, it aint right', as opposed to it isn't right.' Of course, use dialect sparingly, otherwise it can become irritating for the reader.

The characters should progress throughout the story and change according to the challenges they meet. By paying attention to all aspects of each character, the writer is able to move the story forward.

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