Some people have asked “can I be a character in your next story?” or “can you write a story about me?” Be careful what you wish for. I won’t design a character of you trait-for-trait. You may not even recognize yourself on the page. If you want, I’ll give you a different name to protect your anonymity.
What goes into characterization?
The answer: a lot. Characterization is about more than eye or hair color or body type. Character runs deeper than the physical. In fact, when I imagine my characters, physical features are secondary. Physical features are beyond that person’s control (to a point), and so aren’t as important. Information like this may not even make it to the page, or only briefly so the reader can get a sense of what the person looks like so they can build the rest in their imagination.
Where I exert the most effort for characterization is the seemingly little things: the way they walk, the way they talk, the clothes they wear, their hobbies, their job, and all the little things that make them who they are. For example, you may know a set of identical twins or triplets. Outside, they look exactly the same – hair color, eye color, skin tone, body shape, etc. But they’ll never have exactly the same lived experiences. Each is an individual – one may like sports and become a multi-sport athlete while the other is more comfortable sitting on the sidelines to cheer on their sibling. While their accent and vocabulary may be similar, their tone and the words they choose to use can be markedly different. Favorite foods will be different, too.
If you want a character designed around you that you recognize as you, we’ll need to talk. I need these little nuances that make you who you are. I don’t need your deepest, darkest secrets. Listening to you talk, asking your opinions on certain topics, your goals, what you wanted to be when you grew up vs. what you are, and more. The ‘you’ that comes out on the page will hopefully be close to who you really are, with a little embellishment here and there to turn you into a fictional character rather than specifically you. When people read the story and say “this sounds like you!” you can say “because it is!”
My most recent character based on someone I know is quite unique, because he himself is quite unique. I can’t imagine there’s anyone else like him. When I proposed the idea of basing a character on him and writing his story, he jumped at the opportunity. We’ve had detailed discussions about what seems like hundreds of different topics: his job, various personal and political beliefs, hobbies, and more. He let me ask ‘stupid’ questions. When he sees his character reflected on the page, he’ll know it’s him. The people who know him will know it’s him. All without focusing on his physical features.
But when most of my readers read the story, they’ll just see a well-developed character who could be as real as they are themselves. (Wait, are my readers real?) For me, when writing about real people in my life, the inspiration comes from knowing those details. No, not every character in every story is based on someone I know, but their lives started with this characterization focus, not the superficial.
What character traits do you admire? What do you think are you best and worst trait? Have you ever tried to change it? Let’s talk more on Facebook!
Being a writer is more than just sitting at a desk with a pen and a notebook or staring at a computer screen and hoping the words write themselves. For a story to be truly captivating, readers must often use their suspension of disbelief. If you want a definition, suspension of disbelief is the avoidance—often described as willing—of critical thinking and logic in understanding something that is unreal or impossible in reality in order to believe it for the sake of enjoying its narrative.
Many works of fiction include elements that may not be entirely believable in real life, like magic or various fictional beings, or even something somewhat believable, like teenager being a ‘star’ witness to a crime and being an integral part of the investigation.
Writers play a big role in the suspension of disbelief. Their story must be crafted in such a way that it’s not too far out of the realm of believability, yet entertaining enough to take the reader out of their reality and into the story.
One way to do this is with thorough research. Yes, research. Believe it or not, your favorite writer likely didn’t always know all about the sizes of entrance and exit wounds from various firearms, the concept of every day carry (which I covered in a previous blog), or how a police detective actually goes about solving a crime. Hint: it’s not how it’s done on your favorite police procedural TV show.
Your favorite writer came up with the framework for the story: the main plot, subplots, scenes, characters, and dialogue – and a lot more – to create the book you read on your e-reader or the physical copy you hold in your hand. Then, they had to fill in the details, including details they may not know.
One detail I’ve had to research recently for a work in progress is car bombs. The thoroughness of the search may have shot my name to the top of some government lists, but now I feel I know enough that the small scene believable. I put in several hours of research to make one, 62-word, 4-sentence paragraph believable to not just my entire audience but to the select few who may know how car bombs are made, where the ‘best’ place to plant them is, how they detonate, and the aftermath they leave behind.
Would a person close to the blast have been able to escape? If so, would that person come away with only minor injuries – like cuts and scrapes from shrapnel – and nothing else? What could be the extent of injuries? Collapsed lungs? Smoke inhalation? How long would that person survive without immediate care? These are all questions that needed to be answered to make those 62 words less Hollywood and more reality. You won’t need to pull yourself out of the story to go look up the information to see if I’m right or wrong.
My readers don’t necessarily need to know the exact mechanics of how the bomb was made, planted, and detonated in technical terms. Of course I know those facts, but they add nothing to the story. Even when the character that knows about the bomb is talking about the event, they won’t go through exactly how it’s made. If they did, you’d be bored within a few sentences and put the book down, possibly to never finish it.
What’s a story you had trouble finishing because small details weren’t addressed? Or stories where the author offered too much information that reading through it all made you wish you hadn’t picked up the book? Let’s talk more on Facebook!
You’ve likely heard of beta reading or beta testing before, where you get a nearly final product to test out or read and give feedback to make the version released to the public the best it can be. But does anything come before beta? Yes! Alpha testers or readers are the ones who experience the rawest form of the product. In writing, that means the very first draft. If you’ve ever presented a piece to a writing group or workshop, you’ve had alpha readers.
My alpha reader is a good friend I’ve known for many years. I’ll drop sections or whole chapters for them to read and they give me honest feedback on how to make it better. The sections may not be completely raw, but they are the first to see a work besides myself. Alpha readers look at your work in much the same way beta readers do, searching for plot holes, loose ends, and anything else that will distract a reader from the story. What they don’t do is point out editorial mistakes like spelling, grammar, sentence structure, or punctuation – unless there are glaring mistakes that distract from the story.
Does your alpha reader have to be a fellow writer or an editor themselves? No, but since they’re reading your first draft and looking to help you make the story better, it can help if they know a little about the process. This friend of mine isn’t a writer, but asks intelligent questions and makes thoughtful comments that makes my writing better. You could consider them ‘casual readers’ whose feedback helps build the story into the product that beta readers, and ultimately the reader who buys the book, will experience.
Do you need alpha readers? Yes! And us writers have used them whether or not we know it, and you have, too. Remember back to your school days of writing book reports or other long works and you gave the paper to your mom or another family member to read the first draft – that person was your alpha reader. With their suggestions, the work got better and when you returned it to them after the suggested revisions, or presented it to someone else, that person was your beta reader, and the teacher you turned it in to the final audience.
The value an alpha reader brings is that they don’t live with your story daily the way you do. They’re a set of ‘fresh eyes’ that can point out the flaws you’ll never see, even if you self-edit a dozen times and give the story a rest between reads. You know it too well, know what you want to see, and see it.
If you’re a writer looking for an alpha reader for the first time, you may not even know what to ask of them. If you’ve been enlisted by a writer as their alpha reader, here are some questions to ask or answer to help make the work better:
Did you have any questions once you’d read it?
What’s working here?
What’s not working for you?
What do you think of the alpha reading process? Let’s talk more on Facebook!
Today would have been a great day to announce the release date of my upcoming novel, but alas, it’s stuck in proofreading. It’s the last step before publication, and I’m itching to get it done. But there are other ways to celebrate.
– Tell me about your favorite book
– Tell me about your favorite author
– Give that person’s latest work and honest (even if it’s negative) review
– Buy a new book
– Check out some books from the library. Maybe look for some dusty ones that haven’t been checked out in a while, you may find a new favorite!
– Support a local author. Many bookstores and libraries have sections featuring local authors!
How will I celebrate? Likely by writing or editing one of my current works in progress.
