Dame Jackie

Even when a story is more action-oriented than character-driven, I think most would agree that it’s important for readers to connect with the characters. If readers don’t care whether the protagonist lives or dies, well, that’s a problem. It’s rare for readers to stick with a story when they’re not invested in the main character. If you think about it, no matter how engrossing the plot of a story, it pretty much always comes down to rooting for the protagonist to succeed. That means authors have to take pains to make their characters sympathetic. Maybe they’re also entertaining to read about. Maybe they’re incredibly cool. Maybe they’re literary awesomeness and should be walking around in capes because fabulousness is their super power. But first and foremost, there’s got to be something about the protagonist that readers care about. It’s the protagonist who carries the burden of making the reader want to keep reading. That means authors have to create multifaceted, interesting main characters.

Now, I don’t know about you, but for me, characters usually don’t pull an Athena and spring fully formed out of my head. Yeah, I joke that Death did exactly that when I was writing HUNGER, but it took me a while to really get him. Even someone like Death has motivations (besides, you know, being there when living things die), and I had to take a lot of time to figure those motivations out. Along with those motivations, I had to come up with his history. I had to create an overall goal for him — which isn’t always the same thing as having a motivation. And, of course, I had to create obstacles, because otherwise there’s no tension. (Debra Dixon wrote all about Goal, Motivation & Conflict, which I’ve heard is a terrific resource for writers.)

To do all of this, I had to give myself room to discover the character. I had to give myself permission to take my time, and to make lots (and lots) of mistakes. This is part of the reason why there can be — and maybe even should be — multiple drafts before we’re ready to revise into something that’s ready for prime time.

Character development is a lot like cultivating new friendships. It’s not as simple as telling the characters what to do and making sure they do those things. There’s got to be some give and take. It’s like walking a dog: you can’t keep that leash taut all the time. And there are times when the dog runs ahead and you have to jog to keep up. (Of course, I’m writing that as someone who’s lived most of her life with cats and has never had a dog.) Writing characters is sort of like that: you’re connected to them, and you’re in charge of them, but there comes a point when they really come to life and you suddenly find yourself running to keep up with them. (This is me, hoping I don’t sound too crazy.) There’s a balance between being in charge and giving the characters not exactly free rein but enough slack to run with so that they’re not tripping over your feet or strangling. How much slack is all about finding the trust.

What I mean by that is there comes a point when our characters don’t give a damn what we’ve written in our synopses or outlines — they have their own agenda, which may or may not have anything to do with the plot of the book. We, as authors, have to trust our characters enough to let them develop in their own way…while still keeping control of the story. That’s not always easy. Here are some steps I’ve taken that you may find helpful when you’re thinking about how to develop your characters:

1. Have an overall story plot in mind. In fiction, something’s got to happen. A girl saves the world. A boy falls in love. A teen learns a paralyzing truth. There’s something there, and the characters have to see to in that the plot actually comes to pass. Having a terrific character doesn’t help if you don’t have a story in which that character can appear. You don’t have to have a fully developed plot; it could be as simple as a one-sentence summary. (“A bullied teenage boy is tricked into becoming the White Rider of the Apocalypse.”) Let’s say we’re writing a story about a girl who saves the world.

2. Pick the right character name. This sounds trite, but I find it to be extremely useful. Names don’t always have to have capital-m Meaning to them; sometimes, they just feel right. Sometimes, names are titles. (“The Doctor.”) Sometimes, names are a play on words or other names. (“Daunuan” = Don Juan.) But a character isn’t a character without a name. If you haven’t found a name for your character yet, take some time to explore. Check out baby name websites for ideas. For our story about a girl who saves the world, let’s call her Theodora (Theo) Broma. (The seeds of the theobroma cacao plant is where chocolate comes from. Named after chocolate!)

3. Find the character’s goal. While some of us may go through life without a purpose (or at least feel like we’re going through life without a purpose), our main characters need to have a reason to be in the story. It could be to win their true love’s heart. (And if you’re writing a supernatural story, that could be literal.) It could be to save the world. It could be to discover the truth about their parents and, in the process, about themselves. It could be to find the Last Chocolate Bar. (Ooh. Yeah!) Give your main character a purpose — even if the character doesn’t know what that purpose is at first. So our gal Theo, who has to save the world, must find the Last Chocolate Bar.

4. Motivate the character. Okay, so you know what the character is supposed to do in the book — Theo, in order to save the world, must find the Last Chocolate Bar. Dandy. Why is Theo going to do this? It’s got to be for a better reason than “Because I’m the author and I said so.” (Yeah, that argument doesn’t really work with my kids, either.) Maybe Theo is doing this (to borrow from Suzanne Collins) so that her beloved little sister wouldn’t have to risk her life to find the Last Chocolate Bar. Maybe she’s doing it because her true love (who also needs a name) is going on the great quest for the Last Chocolate Bar. Maybe Theo is a criminal and this is her punishment. Maybe it’s her salvation. Maybe she’s incredibly bored and this Chocolate Quest promises to be the adventure of a lifetime. Let’s go ahead and say that Theo was imprisoned for stealing, and she chooses to go on the dangerous quest to find the Last Chocolate Bar to shorten her sentence.

5. Don’t make it easy for the character. If the protagonist does everything easily, there’s really no point in reading, is there? This is why someone like Superman has kryptonite and a vulnerability to magic: even the Big Blue Boy Scout needs to run into the risk of getting seriously hurt and maybe even dying. Give the protagonist obstacles. So in our Chocolate story, let’s say that Theo isn’t the only one on the quest for the Last Chocolate Bar — maybe her true love is also looking for the Chocolate for reasons that are mysterious at first, but over the course of the story, it’s clear that her love is going to betray her. Da da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! And let’s throw in some explosions and booby traps and deadly flying penguins for fun. And…she’s deathly afraid of penguins because of the Gruesome Penguin Attack that had left her and her sister orphans! Suddenly, Theo has a real fight on her hands — both external and internal. (Those penguin scars run deep!)

6. Let your inner critic speak. Grab some post-in note paper and write down every single thing that comes to mind as you think about your character. Do you have nagging questions? Get ‘em down. Are there plot holes that need to be resolved? Write them down, one page per question/idea. Soon you will have a stack of paper. Next step is to answer the questions. This may spark ideas that will become better world-building, better character history, better emotional development, better everything. Why did penguins savagely kill Theo’s parents? Why is there no other chocolate in the world? What’s the big deal about the Last Chocolate Bar? Will eating it clear up Theo’s Embarrassing Acne? Does chocolate have Magical Healing Powers? Why was she stealing in the first place? And does she even like her little sister? These are burning questions that we have to answer — because once we know the answers, they will flesh out the overall story.

7. Give your characters room to grow. So Theo is off to find the Last Chocolate Bar and save the world in the process…and learning what it means to be betrayed by someone she had loved. I’m sure she’ll pull through — she is the protagonist, after all. But by the end of the book, she’ll be a different character than she had been at the beginning. This is crucial: characters have to learn along the way. They need to grow — which isn’t the same thing as becoming more mature, but these may go hand-in-hand.

I hope these tips help you learn more about your protagonists. Let them out to play. Have fun getting to know them. Yell at them, and be prepared to have them yell right back. Soon, you’ll find the right balance between leading and being led. Once you trust your characters, the story will snap into place.

And if it doesn’t, well, you can always eat chocolate.