Characterisation in the Fiction Novel

Characters make novels. There is no point in having a novel with characters as interesting as watching paint dry. I read a book the other day. As I doggedly turned the pages of the book, I wondered why I felt so compelled to finish it despite the fact that I didn’t care one way or the other what happened to the characters. Then it dawned on me; I was also studying the book to find out how not to make the same mistakes as the writer. The novel was dotted with cardboard characters and blessed with dialogue that may well have been constructed from wooden actors. And yes, I did finish the book, excruciating though it was.

 

I believe my characters are real. I see them when I write about them or when they’re engaged in dialogue with another character. I ask myself questions; would Sue really say that or wear that item of clothing? Isn’t John more suited to that comment? I do this because my characters are real to me and that is what readers want. They want people they can identify with.

 

Not everyone can identify with a serial killer but everyone can identify with his desire to eat when he is hungry. Not everyone can identify with a single parent, but every parent can identify with those once-in-a-while moments of frustration that overtake every parent (yes, Christians have those moments as well). Your characters and the events that befall them must strike a chord with your readers. If they don’t, your novel wouldn’t last three minutes in the hands of your readers. 

 

I’m considering eliminating two characters from a novel I’m working on for the simple reason that they serve no purpose whatsoever. I just liked having them in the novel because, well, I could. Eliminating them is probably not the easiest decision I’ve made because it will affect the plot development and one character in particular. But it has to be done.

 

I’ve often said that a novel idea is the simplest thing about being a writer. I don’t even mind the daunting task of the necessary background research needed before embarking on a fiction novel. What I absolutely hate is the hours spent writing the plot development, chapter outlines and my most absolute hate; character profiles and characterisation. I hate doing those things because they not only reduce my literary masterpiece—pun intended—to its barest bones but I find the whole process tedious. Necessary but tedious. Yet, without the plot development, chapter outlines, character profiles and all the rest of it, I am like a lone sheep running amok on the Yorkshire moors. However, my preparation (tedious and excruciating though it was), makes it extremely easy to chart a character’s progress and their overall place in the novel.

 

Every writer has a creation they hate. I often threaten to kill some characters because I’m convinced they’ve turned up in the novel specifically to get on my nerves. But I soldier on with the determination to finish the novel if only to be rid of the albatrossic character. My advice to you is to do the same.

 

One way of doing this is to create someone that you admire or despise. Throw some cataclysmic event their way and watch as their character develop. You need inspiration? No problem. Try the Bible. It’s full of real people who managed to overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties and even grow in their knowledge of God. You don’t believe me? Ask Moses! Can you imagine what it must have been like to lead three million people out of Egypt and listen to them whine for forty years? Or even the Apostle Paul; “I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have travelled many weary miles. I have faced danger from flooded rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the stormy seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be Christians but are not. I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food. Often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm” (2 Cor 11:23-27).

So the answer is yes, it can be done. You can create memorable characters.

 

The more I read the Bible, the more I know Him. The more time I spend in God’s presence, the quicker I discern His voice when He speaks to me.

 

The same principle should be applied to the way we develop our characters. As you write your character profiles, you’ll find yourself giving the character certain attributes and quirks and before you know it, the character will become an individual. How do individuals develop? Their development is shaped by how they respond to life’s challenges. And remember that an individual’s response to life is very much characterised by who they are. What you as a writer must do is shape their response in light of who they will be. And never, ever take away a character’s human frailty. That’s what makes them real.