Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories

Characters - they're what drive our stories along and lift them to new heights.  Without characters. there can be no conflict; without conflict, there can be no story.  But, if you think about it, characters are people - ordinary, commonplace, normal people you might meet on the street. 

Everyone has their own personality, so why are characters so often cut from the same molds?  Tolkien's elves have popped up in dozens, hundreds, of different incarnations, and his dwarves are nearly as popular.  Why can't our elves be bright blue, thirteen feet tall, deaf, and covered in pink mud?  Why can't our dwarves have four legs and suddenly have to go in search of the remedy for itchy noses and patchy ear hair?  (That was all off the top of my head, so . . .)

We don't need to follow any expectations for our characters.  As a matter of fact, the most intriguing real fictional people don't meet any lists of criteria; they make the lists.  And then we have twenty books with perfect copies of the hero(ine) of that one bestseller.  This isn't the way to find inspiration!  

Give your characters characteristics.  Maybe that one girl can never stop scratching the back of her neck because she has a rash caused by a microchip, or that mentor character only has one leg because of a rash decision involving a kitchen stove and a cat.  My point is: stop writing characters the way you think they should be written.  Write them like real people instead.  None of your friends are one-dimensional.  Why should your fictional friends be any different? 

If your character is complicated, they're much truer to life.  And everyone has their quirks, failings, and routines.  Let your character leap off the page in vivid color, and your readers will thank you.  Envision your characters and add the ingredients that make them real.

Have you ever seen a person?  We all have, of course, but I mean really seen.  Have you looked deep into their eyes and heart to find the real soul hiding there, or have you taken them at face value?  It's easy to believe the image they're presenting, but superficial judgments won't get us anywhere.  It's the same idea with characters.  You have to dig deep into their person, their motivations, their life, their head.  And that's hard! 

Characters don't stand up ready-made and spill their entire life story to you.  No, you stand up, create that character, and then write her a backstory that turns her into a real person.  Someone with all the fears, loves, insecurities, hopes, and dreams that make us who we are.  And then, you have a character.  


Brianna