Bring Your Character To Life, Andrew Scorah [grave mercy .txt] 📗

of all time. A bomb is found ticking down to zero. The quarterback figures he'll save everyone by throwing the bomb far enough away with his amazing quarterback abilities. He doesn't know that the bomb has a motion trigger - when he throws it, BOOM! That's hubris. SEE ALSO "The Tortoise and the Hare".
Poetic justice - Usually refers to a situation in which a bad character "gets what he deserves" at the end of a story; although the villain may not be caught by the police, he (or she) loses something important to him/her, or possibly his/her life. Frequently this involves irony of situation or hubris.
When you are writing a story, you should think carefully about your character development. This means you need to consider your characters' motivation.
Rationale/motivation/reason – information that explains or justifies a condition, an action, or a decision; why a character does a certain action
Undeveloped characters are not interesting to read about; they are flat and static. Realistic characters are round and dynamic.
Round character - a character with a complex and realistic personality; often called "three-dimensional" or "multifaceted" characters. Generally, these are major characters; usually, they are round because they are dynamic (see below). We understand the motivation of these characters (why they do things) and their personal perspective. In Finding Nemo, Marlin is a round character - he starts out very brave, but changes his perspective after an unfortunate incident; later, he changes his perspective again.
Flat character - a character with a very simple personality; often called "one-" or "two-dimensional" characters. Unimportant characters are often flat - the writer does not provide enough information for us to understand them; we only get to see one side of the character's personality. In Finding Nemo, Bruce the shark is a flat character - he is not around very long, and we don't really understand why he does what he does. His motivations are very simple - when he gets hungry, he tries to eat.
Static character – a character who does not change throughout the course of the story; a character who does not “grow” emotionally, a character whose personality remains the same at the end of the story as it was at the beginning of the story. These are usually minor, flat characters.
Dynamic character – a character whose personality changes during the course of the story; a character who grows, emotionally, due to or learns from the actions or events in the story. These are usually major, round characters.
Caricature – the distortion or exaggeration of the peculiarities in a character’s personality, often done to comical effect
Archetype (pronounced arc-type) – A stereotype (personality type observed multiple times, especially an oversimplification of such a type) or an epitome (an typical example of a personality type, especially an extreme version of such an example)


Character & Characterization Notes

Types of Characters
• Dynamic = A characters that changes over the course of the story
• Static = A character that does not change over the course of the story
Protagonist
- Main Character
- Almost always dynamic
Antagonist
- Opposing Character or Force
- May be either dynamic or static


Characterization:
• The evaluation of a character to better understand his or her
personal attributes
o Personal attributes are the qualities or characteristics of a character in regards to:

 Physical appearance
 Age
 Personality traits
 Mental traits
 Emotional traits
 Social traits
 Interests
 Occupation
 Etc.


Types of Characterization:
• Characters may be revealed directly or indirectly
o Direct Characterization
 A direct and specific statement is made by either the author or the narrator about a character’s appearance, thoughts, feelings, actions, or reaction
 The description of a character is directly stated in the text and can be read word for word

o Indirect Characterization
 The reader must use clues from the text and draw upon their own experiences to make inferences about a character and their personal qualities
 The description of the character is NOT directly stated within the text.


Methods of Characterization:
A character’s qualities are revealed through 4 main methods.

1. Appearance (Author/Narrator’s Description)
o An attribute can be revealed by how a character looks
i. Direct Characterization Example:
 Megan was six feet tall, making her the tallest girl in her class.
ii. Indirect Characterization Example:
 His clothes were baggy and did not fit properly.
2. Thoughts & Emotions
o An attribute can be revealed by what a character thinks or feels
i. Direct Characterization Example:
 Julie was excited to find out Mark was in her class. She thought that he was the cutest boy in the whole school.
ii. Indirect Characterization Example:
 Quickly scanning for her name the team roster, Nicole’s stomach began to curl and tears welled up in her eyes until she was crying uncontrollably.
3. Actions & Reactions
a. An attribute can be revealed by what the character does, how he/she reacts, and how others react to the character
i. Direct Characterization Example:
 Stephen was a great hockey player and as he scored his 100th goal of the season, the fans roared with excitement.
ii. Indirect Characterization Example:
 Gabby gazed out the window as Stephen continued to talk.
4. Dialogue
a. An attribute can be revealed by what the character says or by what others say about him/her.
i. Direct Characterization Example:
 “I Love Him, Diana!”
ii. Indirect Characterization Example:
 I asked her if she liked buffalo wings and all she could say was, “I didn’t know buffalos had wings!”
I found these four exercises on a web site designed for student actors but they are just as relevant towards characterization in books, try them out.
1- Take a trip to a public place where sitting and watching people could occur. Some good places for this activity are a shopping mall, an airport, a sporting event or anyplace where people move around as a natural part of the event. Pick a movement trait to observe such as how fast or slow people walk or how people gesture with their hands when they talk. It is helpful to write down quick notes or to draw sketches of the traits you observe. Later, in private, try to duplicate the observed movements yourself. As you duplicate the movement, also imagine the type of person you watched and try to understand why they moved the way they did. Use your imagination.
2- Listen carefully to your favorite actor on television or in a movie. Try to imitate the way that person talks. This is one way to begin "collecting" vocal patterns to use in characters you will develop later. Listen carefully to individuals who have strong accents or rent a video specifically selected for the accents of the characters in the movie. Try to mimic the accent used by these individuals. You will probably be most comfortable doing this in private, but getting a friend to listen after you have been practicing for a while is also helpful.
3- Look through a magazine and find an interesting picture of a person in an everyday situation. Some examples might include a person eating in a restaurant or a person watching a sporting event. Study the picture and use your imagination to create a "life summary" of the person. Decide what their name is and where they went to school. Imagine how they sound when they talk and how they look when they walk. Fill in all the details about their life including favorite food and their most embarrassing moment. After you feel you really know the background of this imaginary person, write a monologue about what the person was thinking the moment the picture was taken. Rehearse the monologue using the voice you created for the person and perform your monologue for a friend.
4- Study individuals as they are feeling different emotions. Do this in a public place where you can watch people without being noticed. As you hear people arguing or laughing, watch how their bodies change and their gestures become faster or slower. If a person looks sad to you, try and decide exactly what the person has done to make you think they are unhappy. You are observing the effects of emotion on the outward appearance of a person. This is important in character study considering that very few characters go through a play without feeling any emotion. You may want to make notes on the various elements of the visual display of emotion.


THE CHARACTERISATION TRIANGLE

STEREOTYPE: Characters in popular fiction become vivid to the degree the reader relates to who
they are. Stereotypes cause crisp images in readers' minds. The trick is to start with the stereotype,
then add differentiating traits that make the character an individual.
1. Start with a stereotype such as profession, place of birth, social background, personal interest
or an unusual personality trait. Examples: Cop, New Yorker, trailer park kid, bird watcher,
hyperactive — the possibilities are endless.
2. Refine the stereotype to bring it into focus. Examples: Hotheaded cop, upstate New Yorker,
vacation time RV park, watches birds of prey, poetry in motion — the possibilities go beyond
endless.
3. Begin character points with a refined stereotype in mind.
Character Points:
Primary
Characteristic
Shadow
Fatal
Flaw
1. Primary Mode — Defines how the character operates. It’s the trait which she normally displays,
such as warm, caretaker, reserved, logical, warrior, outgoing, leader, etc. Think snappy,
descriptive nouns or adjectives. This is an admirable trait and it makes the character
distinctive and likeable to your audience (or in case of the villain, despicable). It is the most
visible part of the personality, both in life and in stories.
2. Fatal Flaw — This trait brings the protagonist down, and is the villain's strength. In all cases,
the fatal flaw is a positive trait carried to extreme (thrifty vs. miserly; courageous vs. reckless,
protective vs. overbearing). The character is blind to this trait or considers it a virtue. Stories
revolve around how the character deals with the fatal flaw.
3. Shadow — A secret yearning. The protagonist actively suppresses this trait or is unaware he
has it, or believes it's a quality he lacks. Mostly it is invisible to the character and to the world.
It is not an evil trait as is commonly supposed. It is suppressed because it doesn't harmonize
well with the other three traits. Generally the shadow is in direct opposition to the primary
characteristic and fatal flaw. The individual believes that allowing it to emerge would destroy
the integrity of the personality while, in truth, this is the trait that completes the personality and
allows the character to defeat the fatal flaw.

Example: An ambitious person squashes a yearning to be laid back and carefree. Her triangle is that
she's an achiever, her fatal flaw is that she's single minded and her shadow is a desire to be more
easygoing. As the story starts, her [insert a profession] career is going gang-busters. She's working
80 hours a week, getting long desired recognition. She's also getting an ulcer along with it. Plus, her
teenaged daughter has been breaking curfew. Or so her husband says (how would she know? she
works all the time) and he's been having a guilty flirtation with the lady who runs the coffee shop in his
office building that he knows he should confess (but how can he? his wife works all the time).
These situations occur almost predictably, considering what's driving this woman. With them, you can
extrapolate a variety of stories. Daughter gets caught in a raid at a wild party that she ended up at by
mistake. Dad rescues her. As they drive home, they strike an agreement not to tell Mom, she's
already overwhelmed, and get in an auto accident. Or daughter attends a wild drug party, not
knowing what she's getting into. She tries to leave, but the party is busted by