The Many Faces of Our Characters

Great characters, like interesting fun people, must be multifaceted.  It is important that our heroes have some positive traits---maybe they are smart or physically gifted, but those same heroes must also have faults.  Perhaps they are overconfident, or too trusting, or insanely stubborn.  

The next part is critical.  It is not only important that they have faults, but those faults must become meaningful to our story. If our hero is overconfident, however her overconfidence never leads to trouble, it doesn’t really count and won’t grip the reader.  Of course the same holds true for our villains. 

It’s also important to remember that good writing entertains, so our characters whether protagonists or antagonists, must catch our imagination. Few good novels are based on perfectly ordinary characters doing perfectly ordinary events.  Where is the fun in that? Even books that seem to be about an average Joe thrust into an extreme situation, usually involve characters that are not average and not named Joe! It is okay to create characters that are exceptional, so long as the reader understands their motives, their strengths, and their flaws. 

Don’t fall into the one-dimensional trap.  “Stock” characters quickly become boring, losing our interest and turning us off.  If you need a thug or greedy banker for one chapter they might come in handy.  Other than that, think layers.  Remember how the Donkey from Shrek describes his new pal. He likens him to an onion.   Now those are two great characters!

By Jeff Altabef, the author of the new thriller Fourteenth Colony.  Half of my proceeds go to the Covenant House, so enjoy a critically acclaimed thriller and help homeless kids at the same time.http://www.amazon.com/Fourteenth-Colony-Jeff-Altabef/dp/1625104529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=13...