CREATING CHARACTERS for

FICTION

Goals To acquire better tools to create “original,”

complex characters in our writing

Better understanding of the structure of fiction writing

Start creating our own original character to build on

Excerpt reading from Jacob Safari

PROTAGONISTthe main character/

“hero”Goals: What does the character want to achieve

&

What is preventing the character from achieving it?

ExamplesProtagonist: Goals: Obstacles:

Man meets the woman of his dreams

Woman is chased by a horde of zombies

A boy witnesses a murder

? Brainstorm

Have an ending in mind

For protagonist could be the goal:

Protagonist Obstacles More Obstacles Final Obstacle GOAL!

Change and Growth Visualize the character at the beginning of the story, and visualize them at

the end. Character Arc: how does the character change from the beginning to the

end?

Are they naïve and inexperienced? What do they learn?

Emotionally damaged? How do they find happiness or ways to cope?

Selfish? How do they learn to give?

Down on their luck? How do they find success?

Sometimes, it’s best to give the character what they need as oppose to what they wanted in the beginning

Have a Protagonist with a goal in mind

Create obstacles making it harder for character to achieve their goal

Know how the story will end

Visualize how the character is different from the beginning of the story as they are at the end

WHAT DO YOU WANT THE READER TO KNOW ABOUT

YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

Excerpt reading from Jacob Safari

What do we know about the characters?

InferenceReveal or INFER things about the character without stating them bluntly.

Example: if your character has committed a crime, don’t say

“John was a criminal who did time for robbery.”

INFER it instead by saying

“the sandwich reminded him of the prison food he never quite got used to.”

we know now that “John” is an ex-con and it leaves us asking WHY?

Each scene should leave at least one unanswered question.

ImpressionsWhat sort of impression do you want your

character to give to the reader?

Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everythingTo make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home  

and put a bullet through his head. 

Were our initial impressions about Richard correct?

False impressions can provide nice contrast to make what’s really there stand out.

What was Richard really like?

DialogueDialogue should reveal things about the character

in an interesting and indirect way.

HLWE for PP.wav

Reinterpretations All stories are INTERPRETATIONS of events, real

or made up through the eyes of an individual.

Come up with your own interpretations of something familiar:

Folklore, fairy-tales, myth, songs, historic events. Your writing should be relatable in some way.

Example:

Advantages of reinterpretation

Pros:

Familiarity and wide audience

A chance to expand a story you already like and hone your writing skills

Enough altering can turn the characters into your own

What do we know about Cyndi?

What don’t we know?

Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル  Batoru Rowaiaru?) is a novel by 

Japanese writer Koushun Takami. Originally completed in 1996, it

was not published until 1999. The story tells of junior high school

students who are forced to fight each other to the death in a

program run by the  totalitarian Japanese government, now known

as the Republic of Greater East Asia.

The Hunger Games is a 2008 young adult novel by American

writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old 

Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem,

where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a

highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest

of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one

boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts

surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a

televised battle to the death.

Wicked (full title: Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is a . . .

a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. . . . told from

the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz; its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival in Oz from Kansas

and includes several references to the 1939 film and Baum's novel. Wicked tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the

Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good Witch of the North), who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints,

rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace.

George Lucas has acknowledged influence of The Hidden Fortress on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,[6] particularly in

the technique of telling the story from the perspective of the film's lowliest characters, C-3PO and R2-D2.[7][8]

Lucas' original plot outline for Star Wars also had a strong resemblance to the plot of The Hidden

Fortress.[9]

Go Beyond the Page Ask yourself, what is your biggest hope? What

is your biggest fear?

Think of what your characters biggest hopes and biggest fears are and how it defines them. This probably won’t ever be actually written in the story: “Shelly’s biggest hope was . . .” but you’ll know it as the author and it will give depth to your character.

Have a Protagonist with a goal in mind

Create obstacles making it harder for character to achieve their goal

Know how the story will end

Visualize how the character is different from the beginning of the story as opposed to how they are at the end

Dialogue should reveal things about characters in indirect ways

Reinterpretations can be a great place to start

Go beyond the pages of your story and ask what your characters biggest hopes and biggest fears are

ExerciseRead and listen to the words of the following song, “If I Die Young”, by The Band Perry.

Expand the protagonist’s story.

What happened to the girl?