Nov 26, 2011

Character of Our Characters

by Cindy R. Williams

It is not our ability that shows what we truly are; it is our character - Abraham Lincoln

Great advice for our characters. I mean think about it. You can have the most accomplished hero in your story, but if they knocked a child over then laughed, you have more of a villain than a hero.  If you have a character that never makes a mistake, you have a boring character.

The character of our characters is probably the most important thing in creating and writing good characters. (That's a whole lot of character going on there.)

We all know people who others refer to as "What a character," usually meaning that the person is quite a joker, or a story teller or the like. We know some characters character is dark and mean, while an other's character is bright, shiny and happy.

The character of each of our characters makes or brakes whether the reader love or hate them.

Here's a question just for fun. If you were in your own book, what kind of a character would you be?

I would be sometimes serious, sometimes silly, sometimes hard working, sometimes lazy, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes outgoing, sometimes quiet and shy - yeah I know . . . hard to believe, sometimes funny, sometimes I just think I'm funny but I'm not, sometimes wishy washy, sometimes determined, sometimes good, sometimes not so much. I think this is probably how most of our characters characters really are. I am not black and white, cut and dry, so why would my characters be so. However, I know my heart, and my heart is in the right place.

Maybe the trick is to know the "heart" of our characters. Hmmm . . . I think I'll save that for another blog.

4 comments:

  1. Something I have been thinking a bit about thanks.

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  2. I think you ended with a very good point. Since everyone...even the best of the best...make mistakes, drool in their sleep, or unintentionally hurt someone they care about, it is important to understand their heart.
    Thanks for giving me something to ponder more upon today.
    hugs~

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  3. I don't like one dimensional bad guys either. What made Vader so much more compelling than Palatine was his intent was honorable, his descent into evil was stunning, his inability to see beyond his pain painful. The emperor was just pure evil. There's a place for that too I suppose. And the jedis by Yoda's admission arrogant. They lost sight of their responsibility too. Oh gosh hope I haven't bored you with my SW analogy.

    ReplyDelete

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