1. Week 11: Compelling Characters
ENG: 3217 Creative Nonfiction

2. Characters
Protagonist = the main character but note: not always a positive character. Anti-hero's are hugely popular these days.
Crime drama with protag as murderer is good example.
Antagonist = the person who attempts to foil the pro’s plans
Complexity and inner conflict are key to creating compelling characters.

3. Characters
Most famous negative protagonist is Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost
But why is Satan so compelling as a character, belief aside?
BC he’s conflicted/complicated
By comparison, Adam is pretty boring, or, “stock”

4. Characters Stock characters do one thing: they turn readers off.
However, they do have purposes: to reveal something about a character.
As example: most of the detectives in WATDD are “stock”, but they’re necessary for the action to unfold.
Unlike the hangman, James Berry, who’s conflicted about his job and thus provides tension and the ability to talk about the greater issue of capital punishment.

5. Characters
Make a list of the most interesting people you know (these can be people you know or wish to know)
What characteristics stand out? Probably those that defy expectation.
Fascinating people have depth. They have complicated interior lives.

6. Characters Your characters cannot be simply “good” or simply “evil”
Your protag can be both nasty and nice; generous and greedy; narcissistic and selfless.
What they must do is speak some truth about the human experience.
Your readers have to be able to relate to some aspect of your characters, even the nasty ones. Think: Dexter/Dark Knight/Twilight/Monster

7. Characters Negative characters are terribly difficult to write about.
They must have some internal conflict or private motivation.
They do not have to seek redemption but readers should understand why they acted as they did.
The more terrible the character/crime, the more important it is to understand why he/she did what they did.

8. In Class Exercise
Think about the characters – all the characters – in the writing sample you’re going to submit for your final project.
Jot down several details about them. Highlight the most interesting details. Are there scenes you can build that will offer you a way to feature these details/descriptions, which build character, without being too obvious or without slowing down the plot?
Be prepared to share in class.

9. Homework Wiki Discussion Boards Reading