Building Characters
How can we build our characters? This is a common enough question fielded by new writers, and has many and varied answers online and off. Some writers prefer character sheets and dossiers and detailed notes; others explore their characters in situ, discovering background and personality and attitudes within their native habitat (the story world) and some of the ordinary experiences there. There are a few things that any writer needs to be aware of in the creation of their characters, and in how to reveal those characters to the reader.
The first thing to get straight is that your character is not you, unless of course you’re writing an autobiography. The astute reader has little difficulty in picking out the stories that are a thin veneer of wishful thinking by the author, and most readers do not have a great deal of interest in reading about an author’s poorly disguised fantasies.
Good stories — well written, resonant and memorable stories — explore the human condition, illuminate emotion and thought, experiences both good and bad. They allow us to live the life of others for a little while, travel through time, explore the world and worlds we can never see. They inform without preaching or dictating and entertain through accessibility and diversity and difference.
