Why a Character’s Blue Eyes Are Not Enough to Define Them
A character’s ‘organic’ characteristics aren’t everything there is to it. Narrative characteristics also define a character.
In a previous article, I’ve talked about what are the main traits of a compelling character, touching on physical looks, background and psychological and emotional states. I would define these ‘organic characteristics’, because they define the character as an ‘organism’.
But characters are more than that. They also are — or should I say, they are, above all — narrative devices. Characters, more than anything, are what makes a story tick and what makes the story move. They are the travellers allowing the narrative journey to exist.
Characters, more than anything, are what makes a story tick and what makes the story move. They are the travellers allowing the narrative journey to exist.
In this capacity, characters have very specific characteristics that have nothing to do with them as ‘people’, and everything to do with them as ‘story engines’.
All the moving energy of a story manifests in characters, in their action and their narrative characteristics. Remember, a story is how something morphs into something else. There’s no story without movement…
