Creating character by William Bernhardt

The power being out, I spent most of the day reading. Here is my book report.

Creating character: bringing your story to life

Bernhardt, William

Chapter 1: character is critical

What is character but the elimination of incident, and what is incident but the illumination of character?

Henry James

Memorable characters are the most essential hallmark of enduring fiction.

Chapter 2: character as metaphor

Some of the worst writing advice is “make it real.”

People read stories because they want something better than reality.

Stories must have verisimilitude (a word first applied to literature by Edgar Allan Poe). Lifelike yes. Realistic no.

Characters are not real people. They are metaphors

e.g.

The Statue of Liberty is a metaphor for liberty, freedom, second chances, new beginnings, a fresh start

Scarlett O’Hara is a metaphor for strength and courage under fire

Sherlock Holmes is a metaphor for the power of intelligence, for the triumph of brain over brawn. In real life, it may seem as if the world is run by bullies and brutes and bureaucratic tools, but in the world of homes, the smarter man always wins the day.

Sherlock and Scarlett are metaphors for something readers find appealing, either because it represents the world as they see it, or because it represents the world as they would like it to be.

Basically the information you want to know inside and out about your main characters can be divided into five categories background, personality, appearance, occupation and secret identity.

Most of the above are self-explanatory, but I love the secret identity. If you don’t have one, you haven’t thought deeply enough about the character.

The secret identity may get to the central question of character creation: who are you?

This isn’t a secret identity like Clark Kent. This is the underlying foundation of who the character is. To everyone else, Scarlett is shallow, manipulative, selfish and mean. Underneath all that, what very few people see is the hidden core of passion and determination to save Tara.

Make your main character and body of virtue or principle that connects thematically to what you want your book to represent

When readers finish my book, I want them to feel X.(I want them to feel gleefully triumphant)

When readers finish my book, I want them to think X.(I want them to think, “yeah, the little guy can take on the bullies and hold his ground, and he can win”).

Given that, what should your protagonist represent? What is your metaphor?(my character represents determination, intrepidity and defiance of the status quo).

Chapter 3: character and characterization

Some of the most confused discussions about literary characters result from people who can’t distinguish character from characterization characterization is the tool you used to create these fictional metaphors character is the ultimate goal.

Characterization is the observable details. Character is who they really are.

Those observable details should provide insight into who the character really is

Chapter 4: character is choice

Character is revealed by choices made under pressure.

We tend to pity – but not necessarily admire – people who undergo hardship and fail. And we tend to have little patience for people who undergo hardship and whine about it. We like tough, stoic and resilient heroes. Wah–babies are tiresome – even when they have something legitimate to whine about.

The greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation new character should undergo increasingly difficult pressures resulting in increasingly difficult problems that reveal their true natures.

Special abilities

Often, in the course of deepening pressures and forcing the protagonist to cope, the author will reveal special abilities the protagonist possesses. For example, in the da Vinci code, Robert Langdon is a Harvard professor of symbology. In 99% of all thrillers, this would be completely useless. In the da Vinci code, it’s exactly what is needed. Other special abilities might be doggedness, a perfect memory, unusual empathy and tolerance.

If you’re tempted to protest “I want my characters to be realistic,”:

Then why are you bothering to write about this character at all? What makes this character so appealing to you that you want to spend so much time with them?

And quit being so selfish. Consider writing something that someone might want to read. Your book is not going to capture readers imagination unless there is something out of the ordinary about the characters and their story.

Larger-than-life characters delight readers because they do say and grow in ways that we cannot

Chapter 5: character and contradiction

Contradiction, internal or external, makes characters more interesting.

Don’t make heroes perfectly good or villains perfectly evil.

Even villains believe they are the heroes of their own stories. Consider Draco Malfoy in the half blood Prince.

Chapter 6: considering the protagonist

The protagonist must have a goal or desire, a chance to obtain it, and something that makes him that makes him/her/it appealing to the reader.

John D McDonald once defined story as, “stuff happens to people you care about.”

William Martin defined it as: “there must be something your protagonist wants and someone or something preventing them from getting it.”

Your protagonist either must be sympathetic or empathetic. Which is to say, that the character is either likable, or the reader can relate to the character.Hannibal lector, for example, is about as non-empathetic as it is possible for character to be, but he is perversely likable. Or Macbeth. Macbeth is not particularly likable, but people do empathize with him.

The antagonist must have a goal or desire, a chance to obtain it, and something that makes him/her/it appealing to the reader. A sympathetic or empathetic antagonist may actually be scarier than one who is share, unmitigated evil. The best antagonists have strong and understandable motivations for the actions they take in opposition to the protagonist

Chapter 7: viewpoint

Put as little distance as possible between your reader and your viewpoint character.

Identify the viewpoint character in the first sentence of each new scene.

Never use that character’s name again throughout the scene. When necessary, refer to that character as he or she (or I if you’re in first person).

Chapter 8: making readers care

The most obvious way to make your protagonist likable is to instill him or her with the virtues that we humans typically admire most. We admire people when we detect honesty, courage, loyalty, kindness, trust, devotion, spirituality, purity, passion, integrity, and love of others.

Don’t try to avoid using all of them, or the character will be unbearable. One or two will suffice.

Within the first five pages, show your protagonist doing something likable (or empathetic). For example:

demonstrate the are protagonist is very good at what he does

Give the character a sense of humor.

Show your character committing an act of kindness for which he will receive no reward gratitude or recompense

Readers root for the underdog, so make it clear from the get go that your protagonist is an underdog and don’t let them lose that status until the story is all but over.

There are many virtues, but the greatest of these is love. Show the character giving evidence of a loving heart. Showing someone else loving the character is also good.

Perhaps the people we admire more than any other of those who devote themselves to others, and those with a tremendous gift for forgiveness.

Leaders must like your protagonist either because of who they are or despite who they are, or both

Chapter 9: character arc

A character arc reveals the change in character undergoes in the course of the story.

Usually this is a dialectical journey which had jillion philosophers already know means a journey from one place to its polar opposite. We’re talking here about journeys of the mind and the heart.

Even series characters should have character arts. Yes, some series writers prefer a character who never changes so that the books can be read in any order. However, readers are becoming less tolerant of that, and tends to be more powerfully attracted to series IN which a character grows and changes.