Character According to Noah Lukeman

Characterization  Must be consistent  Must emerge from the action of the story

Naming  Go beyond the ordinary, but don’t have overly exotic names  According to personality or roles  Don’t switch between first and last names (John Smith and then Mr. Smith)  Sources: mythology, Bible, books of names, google names by origin, anagrams  Consider ethnicity, locale, religion and social class

Development Development  Action reveals human beings  Other people’s impression or dialogue  Make him or her unusual in some way  Create a character sketch  Get to know that person  No stock characters—make each one interesting

Names as Development  Reveal your characters through action, not a name.  A gun-toting Western robber in a revealing red evening dress should not be Ann— make her Annie “Get Your Gun”

Make Your Characters Unusual  Cynical private detective  Man with a broken leg who solves a mystery looking out his rear window

Describe Your Characters  Don’t stop the action to describe  Keep the pace and allow the description to emerge in action: he had to braid the hair on his chest before he could compete in the swim meet.  Try comparison: his eyes were the color of the tiles without [the blood] [the spit- up]—impact your descriptions with clues.

Description  Avoid “man in his forties, medium height and weight with brown hair and brown eyes”—make your character unique and then report actions that reveal details  Create a character we will care about (don’t want us to be put off by your protagonist!)  Dr. Lecter is likable

Alternative ways to describe  Describe details about the eyes: “His eyes were sunken in his head, close together and so large they made him look like a ghoul.  “His pale hair sat too far back on his head, prematurely receded for a man his age.”

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness  “He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol.” He describes cheeks, complexion, posture, aspect with words like “sunken” cheeks, “yellow” complexion; “straight” back, etc., that call to mind an idol— taking the description one step farther.

Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim  “He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made you think of a charging bull. His voice was deep, loud, and his manner displayed a kind of dogged self-assertion which had nothing aggressive in it.”

Discussion  This inaccurate height gives the narration style and flourish. Why doesn’t the narrator know how tall he is?  That he “advanced” at you and had a “stoop” of his shoulders besides a “fixed-from-under stare” deals with traits in a fresh way. Then he gives the impression of a charging bull (a simile)

Number of Characters  Protagonist (main actor)  Antagonist (stands in the way of the main character)  No non-essential characters (even a waitress should move the action forward)

Warning  Don’t create characters in the service of the plot  Create characters out of an emotion and then let the story develop out of that character’s actions. Both build together as you discover something new about the character (and yourself) and the story emerges.

 Offer surprises—no stock characters  Have both your protagonist and your antagonist do unexpected things.  Give your protagonist a friend or guide right away. Greeks had goddesses.  Never mention the name of someone who is not significant.

Protagonist  Appropriate name  Distinctive and unusual appearance  Unusual speech  Unusual walk or compulsive habit  Unusual habit  Something that he/she wants and can’t have.

In-class assignment  In a group of five, choose one of the stories we read for class tonight. As you read through the story, look to see how the protagonist is developed.  Be prepared to tell the class where and how the character is developed. What is his/her inner landscape and how is that shown?.