Creating a real character
is the ‘golden fleece’ of story telling. Once we believe your character(s) are
living, breathing human beings, or any other life form, as Mr. Spock might put
it, we engage with the character and the story you are telling us, preferably through
a series of hints, not labels. Ian Fleming never describes James Bond, he is
defined by his actions and reactions; these are the key attributes we need to
get him/her/it stepping around our imagination, forming the impression you
intended. Allowing us to feel our way into the story, rather than showing us a
48-sheet, full-colour illuminated poster.
Using Fleming’s Bond again
as an example, if we are employing the same character in a series of different
stories, we need to start hinting at their ‘back story’. Slowly we find out
where they come from. Why he fears women, why she never wears red etc etc. They
maybe part of the sky in the jigsaw, but they all need to be put in place to
complete the picture and underline our belief.
Helping us define our
character are other props such as habits, clothes, newspapers they read and
little quirks like a penchant for Deer-stalkers, though not a literary figure
Colombo’s raincoat tells us masses about his character. Plus of course our
character(s) need to talk, so why dialogue can be difficult at the best of
times, to keep him in character over a series of stories is vital to us
believing in your creation. So we need to establish their voice, and stick with
it,
it is both what they say
and how they say it.
If all this is teaching my
grandmother to suck eggs, a pastime I have never indulged in myself, I
apologise. I think this is me thinking out loud, trying to get to grips with my
Comanche Joe character and make you all believe a talking dog in the wild west smacks
a wee bit of the truth. If I don’t believe in him why should you? If we don’t
believe in any of our characters, why should the reader, and, at the risk of
sounding like Rhet Butler, give a damn?
Stephen Wright
