Characters in a book are, by definition,
fictional. The tricky part, though, is that they need to become real to both
the writer and the reader or their story isn’t worth telling—or reading.
It takes me months to write a book. I spend hours
at the computer with only my characters and my imagination for company. (Well,
and my parakeets who think they are my official Muses!) Much of that time is
spent in getting to know not just the hero and heroine but also the supporting
cast or secondary characters. Even I wouldn’t want to spend that much time with
these people if they came across as flat and lifeless.
Often there isn’t a lot of room on the page to go
into a lot of detail about the secondary characters because the spotlight needs
to be on the hero and heroine. Giving each of the characters something to
distinguish him/her from all of the others helps make their personality pop on
the page, making them memorable to the reader. This is especially important
with the book is just one in a series and these characters may appear in more
than one story.
I once wrote a western historical where a gambler named
Cal and his friend Toby had been riding together for years. You could always
tell when Toby wasn’t happy with Cal because he’d spit tobacco in the general
direction of the gambler’s boots. The closer he came to hitting those boots,
the madder Toby was. As disgusting as that image is, it made me really love
Toby. It also made him memorable. One of Cal's habits was dealing cards because
he found the repetitive motion soothing. It served as a reminder that he'd been
supporting himself with his winnings since he was a young boy.
Then there was one of my villains who loved to
make lists. Sure, lots of people make a list before going to the grocery story
or perhaps to detail the things they need to get done. But for this character,
the one list he took great pleasure in writing was made up of the names of the
people he intended to kill and in what order they needed to die. This
particular quirk showed he was very methodical and that made him dangerous.
Another series of mine centered around a group of
warriors. Each had to have his own distinct personality. One had a habit of putting
his feet on his boss’s desk and an unfortunate tendency to say the wrong thing
at the wrong time. He also had a real talent for hacking into other people’s
computer systems to play cyber-tag. What made him one of my readers’ favorite
characters, though, was his fierce loyalty and courage.
In my new Snowberry Creek series, you’ll meet a
physician’s assistant who has pink spiked hair. It’s an instant clue to the
reader that Brandi is a little different. But regardless of her appearance,
patients love her because of her kind heart.
Not all distinguishing characteristics have to be
strange. The first books in Snowberry Creek center around three soldiers. All
three have a strong love of country, courage, and loyalty to each other. That
doesn't mean they care cookie cutter characters, indistinguishable except for
superficial details like height or eye color. Instead, Nick is the leader, who takes
his responsibilities very seriously. Spence has mad driving skills and loves
driving right at the edge of crazy. Leif is the calm one, often plays referee
between the other two, and has a great sense of humor.
With that in mind, Nick drives a pickup that is
solid, but not flashy—the kind of truck that a contractor might drive. Leif
drives a shiny, cherry-red pickup and worries a lot about nicks and scratches.
Spence, on the other hand, goes tearing around on a Harley that he's owned
since high school. Their personalities show up in their possessions. I love these guys, and I hope you will as
well.
So take a minute to think about your favorite
character in a series you've been reading. What is it about that person that
made him/her stand out from the crowd? What
drew you to him? I'm betting it's the details the author built into the story
that makes that character three dimensional and real.
Alexis
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