Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Characterization

I am firm believer that no matter how talented of a writer you are and no matter how wonderfully crafted your plot is, your work won't survive without good characters. Characters are what drive most any story forward. They are the vehicle in which your audience drives through the story with. There is nothing more disappointing than loving the plot of something, only to realize your cast is bland and insipid. Or even worse, you have written a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu). Whats that? As defined by Wikipedia:
"A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfilment fantasy for the author or reader."
That doesn't mean your characters have to be likeable, however. In the end, it should all boil down to relatability. I am not suggesting that your characters have to match up with the likes and dislikes of the reader, but give them flaws, bad habits. Make them human. We relate to that which we understand, what we can sympathize with. A perfect example: I was playing a game where the main heroine was a huge Mary Sue. I hated her, and she was borderline ruining the game for me. Then, a scene was shown where the character got jealous. So jealous that she got angry. It completely caught me off guard, and suddenly my hate melted away. I actually felt bad for her. She had shown a human quality that  I related too. Sad to say, it was the only moment in the game where she exhibited such behavior, and she quickly transformed back into her one dimensional state. But for that brief moment, she was a character who I still didn't like, but wanted to know more about.

Flaws seem to be the easiest way of making a character three dimensional. Have them bite their nails, give them a horrible temper, make them horribly antisocial. Small quirks make somebody interesting, and not just story fodder. I recall, when I first starting writing my novel, I wanted to create a character for exactly that. Plot fodder. However, as I wrote him, his mannerisms and quirks surprised me. When the time came to it, I realized he had suddenly become an integral part of the cast. I couldn't get rid of him.

Characters can make or break your story (most of the time). So, unless you have a very specific idea in mind, I highly suggest taking the time to plan them out. To at least give them a foundation of a personality. Then, you can let the rest write itself.

3 comments:

  1. "I am firm believer that no matter how talented of a writer you are and no matter how wonderfully crafted your plot is, your work won't survive without good characters."

    Quoted for truth.

    I'd even argue that it goes a step further than that -- it's the main character(s) that define the story, not just the plot. It's like we're hardwired to associate a face with a product, you know? And once we do, it shapes our expectations.

    Whatever the case, a good read. Out of curiosity, though, what game were you playing that had the Mary Sue?

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  2. "I'd even argue that it goes a step further than that -- it's the main character(s) that define the story, not just the plot."

    Agreed! When I write, I find it's my characters who tell me whats going to happen, what the main issue is, etc. When planning out a story (Which I do *very* little of), I just make characters and see what happens. Its amazing the stuff that comes out. Especially when characters begin to write themselves.

    As for my Mary Sue example... Shirley from Tales of Legendia (PS2). My God I hated her with the burning passion of a thousand suns. Such a boring ass character and yet we were supposed to sympathize and cheer for her.

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    1. Ohhhh yeah...I remember that game. Admittedly my memory of her is a little hazy, because I played through the character quests while my bro tackled the main story. Still, she didn't leave too great of an impression.

      On the other hand, I'm a sucker for characters that punch the life out of anything that moves, so thanks to Senel I'm probably more forgiving than I should be. I hear that Legendia's the black sheep of the Tales games, but I still kind of like it.

      How can you hate a game featuring THIS?
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ydSIzwVgBQ

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