CREATING "CHARACTERS" WITH CHARACTER

The quickest way to lose a reader is for a writer to offer characters for whom no one can drum up any interest. ''Bland'' and ''cardboard'' are not words that a writer can afford to hear regarding his or her characters.

A reader doesn''t necessarily have to like a character (indeed, the very essence of a villain lies herein), but a character should be interesting enough to compel the reader to read on. While the creation of a good character is never an easy job, nonetheless, it need not be overly difficult either. The following are some steps I''ve learned, often the hard way, for creating interesting characters.

First of all you must realize that not all characters in a book are created equally. I always think of my characters as falling into one of three groups: primary characters, secondary characters and those characters necessary just to get the story told (unnamed walk-ons, if you will). This latter group I''ll discuss first, for they carry the least weight in a story. They are the cab drivers, the desk clerks, the grocery checkers, etc. These people are generally unnamed and often appear in a limited scope and sometimes only for a single appearance. It is unwise to develop these characters, for then the reader expects to see more of them. If the reader won''t be following the desk clerk, there''s no point in mentioning that he''s married, has three children, likes long solitary walks and is working this job because he hasn''t the skills to do much of anything else. These facts just aren''t relevant to the story.

On the other hand, secondary characters do require development, but never so much as to distract from the primary characters. These characters are often the heroine''s best friend or the hero''s brother. Sometimes these characters lead the primary characters toward some understanding (typically, there''s an older individual who acts as mediator). These characters can be fun to write, because if you want a quirky, even eccentric, character, it is from this group that you can add color. They may even have a point of view, but they should always stand in the shadow of the primary characters.

Primary characters are the vehicles through which a reader drives through a novel, and because of that, they should, by and large, be normal people with whom the reader can identify (although not always, for villains often fall into this category.) They may not be like the reader, but they must interest the reader. Neither does the reader have to like them, but they should be able to elicit empathy from the reader. I well remember in The Day of the Jackal, that I was sad when the would-be assassin of Charles de Gaulle was shot-not that I approved of what he wanted to do, but because I had spent enough time with him to understand his motives. These characters'' needs and wants are what propel the story forward.

So how do you create these interesting secondary and primary characters?

(1) A character''s actions tells the reader volumes about said character. The motive behind that action is likewise important. Consider these two examples: a character who shoots a dog because the dog crossed onto his property; a character who shoots an injured dog to put him out of his misery. The same act, but while the first character is diminished by the act, the second is ennobled by it.

(2) What a character thinks, feels or says defines him/her.

(3) What others think, feel or say about a character also defines said character.

(4) Every primary character should have a past that has shaped him/her into the present person he/she is, but a word of caution here. Less is more. In real life, all of us come from complicated pasts, but a novel is not reality. It''s the illusion of reality. Give your character something from the past that motivates him/her in the present (this may well be tied in with the character''s goal, which then becomes the plot of the novel).

(5) I always like to give a character a flaw. Sometimes large, sometimes small. After all, no one is perfect, a fact your reader can identify with and identifying with is key to ensnaring the reader''s interest in a character (no one''s likely to forget Scarlett O''Hara and that''s primarily because she was as flawed as she was strong.)

Here''s hoping I''ve helped you to create some interesting characters. Happy Charactering!