It’s crucial to have a plot that will be able to involve characters who are not just different but who will also ‘represent’ or call out to all the various readers that we hope to attract off the high street. There’s a temptation to write books for readers who are just like ourselves. But you must know from all the various areas in your own life, that there are an awful lot of others who are completely different from you. (Just as well as it would be very boring if we were all the same !).
Therefore it stands to reason that your idea must allow you to bring in characters who are like chalk and cheese to each other. This is crucial because the reader needs to be able to know which character is which in your novel. It’s not enough to say that one woman has blonde hair and another has brunette. We are much more likely to be interested in these women if the blonde has obsessive compulsive disorder which irritates her boyfriend or if the brunette has been trying to get pregnant and now finds she’s done exactly that after a drunken Christmas kiss with the new office IT whizzkid who happens to be the son of a friend.
This is where the idea comes in again! If your novel centred around, say, an office party, there might be some scope for different characters. You could have Anthony from accounts who is still living with his mother. And Polly who used to be in a much better job but had to take redundancy and is now silently seething in a menial position. And maybe Debbie who is Polly’s boss but is all too aware that Polly would do a better job.
But I personally don’t feel particularly grabbed by this idea for a novel because all the characters are going to have to go into the same office every day. True – they will have different home lives which will help them to stand out. Maybe Polly is living with a boyfriend. And Debbie is splitting up from her husband. Yet is it enough?
My feeling is that if you picture the idea as an even broader stage which can be adapted for different situations in various acts, you are more likely to find characters who will really knock you sideways as a reader. Take a coach trip, for instance. Any idea which involves a journey is great for both characters and plot because the scenery is going to change and with it, the effect on the characters. Now a coach trip would allow you to bring in all kinds of people travelling on it – and each one will have their own reason for making that journey. Just as important, they won’t have met each other before (or will they?)
There might be Gillian who is going to see her son for the first time in ten years because ….well, maybe we won’t tell the reader why, just now. We’ll keep the reader in suspense which is a good way of making sure he or she stays turning those pages. But we could allow Gillian to drop some hints to Barry, a gawky 17 year old who happens to be sitting next to her. The great thing about a journey is the characters often don’t know each other at the beginning but the journey throws them together. And it might make them tell each other confidences that they wouldn’t have done otherwise. So by the end of the first or second chapter, Gillian could discover that Barry is running away from home. And maybe by the middle of the novel, we might find that Gillian hasn’t seen her son for ten years because he’s just been released from prison.
Already, we can feel an empathy for this couple. Maybe Gillian can see, in Barry, her son who also ran away from home when he was 17. Perhaps Barry is scared Gillian is going to ring his parents. Maybe, to pinch some ideas from the office party, Gillian has just discovered she is pregnant at 42 and Barry has OCD. Do you see how plot and character are working together in just a few paragraphs, hand in hand?
TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAKE THEM DIFFERENT
OK. So we’ve already made two characters different by giving them two backgrounds which are both different and similar. But a backstory is not enough to make your characters breathe, sneeze and go to the bathroom like the rest of us. So how do we do that?
I don’t know about you but I’ve found myself, all too often, reading a book where some of the characters seem to merge into one. ‘I kept forgetting which character is which,’ is another common complaint. One way of making sure that doesn’t happen in YOUR novel is to consider your idea and then, very methodically, think of characters which are going to represent different angles; who will be chalk and cheese to each other; AND also appeal to different readers.
Here’s an example. In my current novel, THE WEDDING PARTY which is about four people going to the wedding of a middle aged couple in nine months time, I set about thinking about four very different people who might be involved in a wedding. I didn’t want them all to be middle aged like the bride and groom because I wanted to appeal to my usual readership which is anything from 13 to 80 plus. So I chose a youngish career woman with small children because that would allow me to reflect the difficulties that brings and also the humour. I selected the groom’s ex wife because that would let me bring in all the feelings that a divided family bring about (another modern problem) and also show how tough it is for women on their own. My third character was a woman vicar with rude teenagers (lots of conflict there). And my fourth was a dyslexic wedding planner because that would allow me to have a younger person without kids who often got things wrong (humour and also a genuine problem in the form of dyslexia).
MANNERISMS AND TRADE MARK PHRASES
Now we need to add another layer. We have to give each character his or her own way of walking, talking, sleeping, washing up (with gloves or not), driving (speedometer watcher?)and so on. We need to think about how they speak (fast or slow; high pitched or low?). And we need to know their hopes and fears (are they scared of the dark? Do they eat meat? Why not?’).
I advise students to write what I call an ‘emotional CV’ about their characters. This means listing what kind of person they are and also details such as what type of toothpaste they use. You won’t use all this in your novel but it will help you understand your characters.
Meanwhile, here’s a list below for you to fill in.
SATELLITE ‘POSSESSIONS’. What kind of house/car/family/pets does your character have ?
CLOTHES. What would they wear – and refuse to wear ?
TRADEMARK PHRASES. Do they use the same phrase over and over again eg ‘Mustn’t grumble’ ?
JOB. What do they do; do they like it; might they change it ?
PROBLEM. What is their problem in life – if there isn’t one, there’s not much of a story?
LOOKS. Use magazine pictures to get ideas.
REAL LIFE OR IMAGINARY?
There’s a common assumption amongst friends and family of authors, that certain characters are based on real people. If you do feel tempted to do this, STOP! You could lay yourself open to libel or a broken friendships. Instead, mix their characteristics and looks with other people you know. Take a bit from one and something else from another so you create a pot pourri of characters. Try changing their sex, their height and the country/county they come from. Always go back through your novel at the end to ensure that without meaning to, you’ve described someone you know or uses a name which is similar to someone and might be considered offensive.
TAKE YOUR TIME
I usually find that when I start my novel, I only have a vague idea about what my character looks like and what their mannerisms are. Their problem (and plot) is much clearer. But as I get into my novel, I get to know my characters much better. I might realise that they don’t drive because they are scared of having an accident. And then I will go back – usually before I have finished the book – to put in fillers which build up my character from the beginning.
QUICK RESUME ON LAST MONTH’S IDEAS ARTICLE
You can find ideas through
Word of mouth
Problem page letters
Your own life
Other people’s lives
Classified ads and news stories in the local paper
Television and radio.
Make sure your idea has scope for lots of things to happen to different characters. Avoid obvious settings which have been done before like school reunions.
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