Developing Characters in Narrative Writing

Four Ways an Author Develops Characters: 1. Through direct description 2. Through character’s actions 3. Through character’s words and thoughts 4. Through other character’s words and thoughts

Direct Description The character will reveal how they see themselves to the audience. Example: “As I look in the mirror I can’t help but see the dark brown roots slowly creeping out of my skull, erasing my perfectly dyed blond hair.”

Character’s Actions The character will do some action that lets the reader see their true personality. Example: “I know it is wrong to cheat on tests, but I didn’t have a chance to study after being up half the night worrying about what Parker would think of my new outfit and Emily won’t notice if I happened to casually look over her shoulder at her answer key.”

Character’s Thoughts and Words The character will reveal him/herself through dialogue with others or internal thoughts shared only with the reader. Examples: Dialogue- “Do you really think you can sit with us?” Regina, the most popular girl in school asked. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind,” I replied, my knees shaking together so loudly you would think you were hearing an earthquake. Internal Thoughts- I can’t believe I was so dumb to think that the cool kids would actually want to spend time with me. I am a nobody to them, and worse, now they know I am pathetic. I wish I could be more like Regina, full of confidence and drop dead beautiful.

Other Character’s Thoughts and Words How other’s feel about your character will be revealed through direct dialogue. Since you are writing the narrative in first person, you won’t be able to tell what these other character’s are thinking, but you can show how they feel through words. Example: “Did she really think we would want to sit with her?” Regina questioned her friends at the lunch table. “I know, seriously, like who does she think she is? Doesn’t she know only the four of us ever eat lunch together. What a loser!” Sabrina responded.

Appearance and First Impressions One of the most important aspects of character development is the introductory image of each character that you provide for the reader. The character’s appearance is both how he/she looks physically but also what his/her personality is like. It is important to paint a clear image of what your character looks like in order for the reader to imagine your character throughout the story. You can accomplish this by providing details about how your character actually views themselves, how others view them, how they dress, wear their hair, make up choices, etc. in order to indicate essential qualities that are specific to each character.

Revealing Actions Your characters' actions are the strongest tools you have for developing their personalities and story arcs. Just as in real life, people can say whatever they want, but their actions are what define them. The idea of letting your characters' actions speak for themselves also promotes the creative writing technique of "showing" instead of "telling." For example, if you want the reader to know that a female character is a thief, show her stealing something. The reading experience will be more engaging than if you simply say that she is a thief because the readers get to witness the behavior and judge for themselves. Whenever you want to communicate an aspect or change in a character, show it through the character's behavior.

History and Context The personal history of your characters is just as important as a real person's history, and influences their thoughts and behavior in the same ways. Revealing an important aspect of a character's history or current predicament can shed light on motivations and struggles, and therefore help develop the character's personality for the reader. For example, a reader might be unsympathetic to a grandmother character for rudely opposing her grandson's wedding. When it is revealed that the grandmother has never stopped mourning the loss of her husband, and is trying to dissuade her grandson -- albeit misguidedly -- to protect him from the same pain of loss, she becomes a more sympathetic character in the eyes of the reader.

Dynamic Character Arc The most important part of character development is the word "development," in that the character should ultimately undergo some manner of change. In the case of the heartbroken grandmother, her back-story changes how she appears to the reader, but only if the grandson learns this information and sees her in this new light can they reconcile and foster a true change in her disposition. Revelations about characters will help readers better understand them, but only when characters change do they become dynamic, and capable of delivering a truly satisfying reading experience.

Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Rules for Creative Writing 1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. 2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. 3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. 4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action. 5. Start as close to the end as possible. 6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of. 7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. 8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.