Great characters display consistent character traits. If you describe your character as quick to anger, then I expect some fireworks from time to time. Don’t cross wires and toss in scenes where he or she acts like wet toast.
To make characters really pop, reinforce their personalities by having the characters act out their character traits. Perhaps your fiery character should ball up her hands into fists at the slightest provocation. Maybe your smart character figures out a puzzle easily or completes the crossword without a problem. Who knows? They are your characters, but use details to consistently reinforce their character traits. Immerse yourself in your characters, and think about the chapter from their point of view.
Let’s use Harry Potter characters as examples because they are so good. We pretty much know what Harry, Hermione, and Ron will do when faced with any situation. Harry is always the brave one, Hermione the smartest, and Ron the most loyal. Except, of course, when they aren’t. Every “rule” has exceptions. There are a handful of times during the entire series when they act out of character and each time, J.K. Rowling makes a big deal of it. Ron leaves Harry and Hermione for a stretch in the sixth book and your mouth drops. That’s not Ron like. Here the author knows she is breaking consistency, but she’s already stored so much good will (by making believable characters) that we let her slide.
I’ve now posted three articles on characters. To summarize, details count (make sure your characters are dressed correctly), bestow good and bad qualities to your characters (and make their flaws count), and be consistent (unless you’re really making a point and do this very sparingly). We’ll move off of characters in the next post. I’ll probably come back to the topic because great characters make great stories, but there are so many other areas to cover.
By Jeff Altabef, author of the new thriller Fourteenth Colony. I donate half of my proceeds to the Covenant House, so enjoy a great book and help homeless kids at the same time. http://www.amazon.com/Fourteenth-Colony-ebook/dp/B00C2D97OS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1...
