As a writer, you must always remember the number one priority--satisfy the reader. When a reader picks up a book, he wants a good plot, but not just an interesting set of events. He also wants good company. In a good piece of fiction you can meet someone and get to know him or her in depth. Or you can meet yourself in disguise. Either way, your interest is caught. You want to follow this interesting character as they handle the situation in which they find themselves.

It is difficult to care about flat characters. Flat characters have few traits, and all of the traits s/he does have are predictable. None will create genuine conflict. You wind up with a stereotype. Stereotypes=prejudice=reader turn-off.

Instead, you want to show your reader why a person is as s/he is and then have the reader feel something for him/her: pity, compassion, sympathy.

In order to achieve this, you have to understand the character yourself. How? Well, how do you come to understand your friends? By knowing as much as possible about them. It is the same with your characters. You need to know your character mentally and emotionally in ways deeper than your reader needs to. You end up accumulating more background than you will ever use, but it will affect what you write. Brian Cleve, short story author, describes it this way, "…the whole nature of a tree is present in and governs the appearance of a single plank that you may cut from the heart of it."

Many writers use character sketches or character biography sheets to accomplish this. In his book The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, (Writer's Digest Books, 1998) Evan Marshall provides a checklist to help authors consider various aspects of their character that will impact the way they move, talk and act throughout the story. These aspects include:

Appearance: You may have had a mental picture of your lead all along. Jot down any appearance traits you've come up with. It may help to gather some magazines and catalogs and look for a color photo of a person whose appearance fits your notes. When you find one, try to imagine this person as the character of your story--in action and interacting with other characters.

Height and body type

Hair color

Eye color

Mannerisms--comes from imagining your character eating, walking, talking, laughing. Does he talk with his hands? Or does she smile all the time. Pay particular attention to the eyes.

Distinctive speech pattern

Personality: A lead character generally should be courageous, virtuous, likeable and competent.

Background

Geography: Where born, where grew up

Family: What were parents like? Siblings? What was the relationship between them? Is the character married/used to be married/have children?

Childhood: What was it like? Happy, well adjusted and popular? Miserable, lonely? Why?

Education/Vocation: College? Where? How long? Additional training? Work history?

Personal life: Where does s/he live? Type of house, locality, furnishings. Who else lives there? Pets? What is social life like? Who are his/her friends? What do they do together?

Private life: What does your lead do when s/he's alone? What are her hobbies and interests?

Work life: What does s/he do for a living? Where does s/he work? Does s/he travel? Allies? Rivals?

Strength: What is your lead's strongest positive trait?

Weakness: What is your lead's strongest negative trait or flaw?

Name: Baby books, background, parents' personality, time period, fits personality,

So once you have all this information, which parts do you actually use? Ideally everything in your story is there for a reason; it furthers character and/or the plot. You can use a variety of techniques to establish character for your readers:

1. Use action: habitual mannerisms, specific movements in a one-time, one-place situation, or a pattern of action throughout the story.

Does his/her expression change readily? What does he do with his hands/feet? How does she walk? Stride, wobble, slink, lurch? How does s/he shake hands? How does s/he initially react when frightened? Surprised? Angered?

Not all details contribute insights into character. Some mannerisms are "humanizers." These are small actions that cast the character into the framework of "doing what humans do." Leonard Bishop ( Dare to Be A Great Writer ) likes this to tassels on a lampshade. They do not alter the shape or function of the lampshade, but they add to what exists and serve a purpose overall, rather than in and of themselves. Examples of humanizers might be: nail biting, nervous laughing, cracking knuckles, pacing, and hand gestures.

2. Use setting: The environment people create around themselves tells a great deal about them. Use environment to draw character.

You can also thrust your character into an unusual or alien environment and record how the character reacts.

3. The way a character interacts with another (or vice versa) can be used to reveal character.
4. The thoughts of the character
5. Dialog: Not only what the character says, but also how they say it. Vocal quality: high, low, thin, rich, stutter? Word choice can be an indication of degree of education. Sentence structure, pet expressions.
6. Direct explanation: Some feel they have to shy away from direct explanation because it tells and doesn't show. However, it has some advantages. Direct explanation/description is simple and readable, and can focus quickly on the main character conflict. At the same time, it can provide necessary background and set up clear expectations for the future of the character. When a reader easily understands the main character's traits and conflicts, then reader identification (and interest) is set up immediately. Note how Hemmingway accomplishes this in the following passage:

There is nothing here to visualize, but we do end up with a clear idea of the character's thinking and motivation. Later, you see the character speak and act, but for now, this serves to guide our ideas about him and will help the reader understand what follows.

Also, since the action this novel is concerned with is not in the past, but in the present, you would shatter the novel's focus by going back to Princeton and "showing" everything that is summarized in that opening. This summary gives us relevant aspects of the past then moves us on into the story.

Direct explanation/observation also calls for sharp observation and careful attention to word choice to be effective. "Mr. Tozer was an old farmer who worried a lot." is a far different description than: "Mr. Tozer was as thin and undistinguished and sun-worn as his wife, and like her he peered, he kept silent and fretted." (Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, Harcourt, Brace 1925)

How can you improve your ability to convey unique and three-dimensional characters? Be more observant as you watch people. Strive to pinpoint attributes in appearance, speech or actions that make a person you encounter unique. What is individual about the eyes, nose, mouth, speech, gait, posture…..

Most writers will use a combination of these techniques to develop their characters. Plot may dictate which you use, and so may personal preference.

Exercises:

1. Read the first chapter of a book or a short story. When you finish, write a brief description of the main character. The go back to the story and find the words the author used to bring you to that description. Note how the details were conveyed to you--whether in thought, deed (action), or words (dialog).
2. Make a character visible through surroundings. What s/he loves will influence what s/he surrounds himself or herself with. Sketch the house using sights, smells, sounds. Environment becomes your "paint" as you tell us about this character.
3. Focus on hands. Describe a character's hands so that the reader gets the idea that the character is nervous, graceful, rich, poor, or sick. Try any or all of the traits.
4. Describe a character by shape, posture and gait. Don't describe the head or tell us the character's main trait or frame of mind. Instead show these traits through body language.