Character development
Unless you are writing nonfiction you need to create characters which are interesting and unique in order to capture and keep the reader's interest. What makes your characters stand out? What makes them different from the hundreds of other characters already out there?
First you need to know your characters. You need to know their strengths and their weaknesses. As I have posted before, using an spreadsheet may help you keep track of their distinguishing traits. However, more than simply logging what color eyes your characters have you need to take it a few steps further. You need to think about how your characters express their uniqueness.
Let's take for example a character who is constantly nervous. Would you simply write, John felt nervous, or would you show behavior in John which demonstrates this instead? Instead of the earlier text, try this:
John's fingers twitched on the trigger and his leg jiggled non-stop as his eyes darted around the room, trying to adjust to the darkness.
The second version version put your reader into the scene and gives the sensation of what John is experiencing.
One would expect to be nervous in the situation described above but if the situation wasn't presented as possible life and death then how would you illustrate John's natural nervousness? Think about how you feel when something causes you stress. Your heart rate may increase, your palms feel sweaty, you may bite your fingernails or your throat may feel dry. Now take those sensations and apply them to John's situation.
John jumped as the doorbell chimed and wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans before peering through the peephole. It was only the mailman but still John wasn't comfortable answering the door without checking at least three times.
If you read the paragraph above what might you think about John? Would you be curious as to why he was afraid of even the mail carrier? Or would you wonder if he was expecting someone more sinister? Would you imagine that John might be afraid to leave his house to perform such mundane tasks as grocery shopping?
These are minor examples of character development and you'll need to expand this to show your characters without simply telling the reader about them.
Leslie
First you need to know your characters. You need to know their strengths and their weaknesses. As I have posted before, using an spreadsheet may help you keep track of their distinguishing traits. However, more than simply logging what color eyes your characters have you need to take it a few steps further. You need to think about how your characters express their uniqueness.
Let's take for example a character who is constantly nervous. Would you simply write, John felt nervous, or would you show behavior in John which demonstrates this instead? Instead of the earlier text, try this:
John's fingers twitched on the trigger and his leg jiggled non-stop as his eyes darted around the room, trying to adjust to the darkness.
The second version version put your reader into the scene and gives the sensation of what John is experiencing.
One would expect to be nervous in the situation described above but if the situation wasn't presented as possible life and death then how would you illustrate John's natural nervousness? Think about how you feel when something causes you stress. Your heart rate may increase, your palms feel sweaty, you may bite your fingernails or your throat may feel dry. Now take those sensations and apply them to John's situation.
John jumped as the doorbell chimed and wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans before peering through the peephole. It was only the mailman but still John wasn't comfortable answering the door without checking at least three times.
If you read the paragraph above what might you think about John? Would you be curious as to why he was afraid of even the mail carrier? Or would you wonder if he was expecting someone more sinister? Would you imagine that John might be afraid to leave his house to perform such mundane tasks as grocery shopping?
These are minor examples of character development and you'll need to expand this to show your characters without simply telling the reader about them.
Leslie
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