Give Your Character Attitude

Sarah Stone and Ron Nyren in their book, Deepening Fiction, tell us that a character is a constellation of very particular traits and attitudes, and when these traits and attitudes coalesce into a harmonious whole we have the essence of that character.

There’s a particular way your character enters a room full of people, the strangers he makes ready eye contact with, and the strangers that he ignores. Ask yourself, how is your character with people from the opposite sex? Is she quick to take offense? How do you know when she’s annoyed? Does your character overeat when he’s stressed, or does he look for a fight? When her feelings are hurt, does she cry or swear up a storm? What would it take for your character to fall in love, get mad, give up hope? What makes your character laugh?

Now make that very, very particular. Using the example of what makes your character laugh, think of three people in your own life. What makes them laugh? Then ask yourself how each of them laughs?

If you’re starting to build a character, take one of these reactions and a write a paragraph or a short scene in which your character is embarrassed or busts out laughing. Write it in third person, so that you as the writer can see what your character looks like and sounds like. Then try to write the same scene in first person to discover what it feels like. Try to use as many particular and sensory details as possible. I find that if I sink my character deeply enough in a scene, she will reveal herself.

This same exercise works beautifully for rounding out an established character in your on-going project.

Diane Ackerman wrote an editorial piece in the New York Times some months ago about interpersonal neurobiology—how our brains rewire themselves based on what we think about. It’s like the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.” And he never heard of interpersonal neurobiology. Now scientists can watch what parts of our brain light up based on stimula, and observe parallels between love and opiates, heartbreak and broken bones.

In case we thought love is a bad thing, Ms Ackerman does her best to win us over to hearts and flowers. Tests have proven that we can withstand more pain if we’re touched by a loved one. A happy marriage relieves stress, lights up the reward centers of the brain, makes a body feel safe. When two people become a couple, they add a host of new experiences: new friends, family and interests. They also have the opportunity to grow in compassion, patience and wisdom.

So yay for love! And Happy Valentine’s Day!

I believe it was Jim Frey (www.jamesnfrey.com ) who came up with the principle of maximum capacity as it applies to character building. Characters in dramatic fiction are revealed through their actions when faced with a challenge—and as a writer make certain that your characters meet challenge after challenge. If when faced with a challenge your character does not employ every resource within his power, you the writer face the risk of your reader abandoning you.

I’m a big fan of Elmore Leonard, but his novel, Cat Chaser, is a classic example of two attractive characters acting like idiots. Leonard creates a likeable motel owner, George Moran, and his soul mate, Mary de Boya. Only Mary is the wife of a super dangerous bad dude. My problem with the novel is that I believed that the bad guy was a serious, serious threat, so I didn’t understand why George and Mary took so many chances. Either the bad guy wasn’t a threat or the protagonists were idiots. I found myself holding my breath more than once, but then I gave up. It was like if you two don’t care about your personal safety, why should I?

Back to Jo Nesbo’s Headhunters (did I mention they made  the novel into a movie?) : Roger Brown was not a likeable character, but when he faced real danger, he thought of ways to elude his threat that were  both surprising and ingenious. Over the span of the novel I grew ever more sympathetic to his cause.

As you  have your characters acting at maximum capacity, remember that they must behave within the bounds of their personality. It’s unlikely that the shy accountant will vanquish her stalker in a gun battle (unless you set her up as a sharp shooter at the beginning of your story).

So give your character an obstacle and then figure out how she will overcome it. Writing a list of solutions is a great tool for coming up with surprise. Make a list of 30 possibilities. The first ten might all be cliché, and then by the grace of the Muse, you might hit gold.

Your characters need to be goal driven, they need to take action. What they don’t need is perfection. Why? Perfect is boring. Remember Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind? Boring. Scarlett for all her flaws is the unforgettable character because she seems real to us, because she wants to save Tara and she’s willing to do anything. It’s dangerous creating a character like Scarlett: if she’s too unsympathetic, readers won’t follow her through an entire novel. If you feel compelled to write an unsympathetic character, give her a goal we can get behind and give us hope the character will grow into someone we can admire.

Roger in Jo Nesbo’s novel, Headhunters is an example of an unsympathetic character with a compelling goal: he’s being pursued by a super-human killer and he wants to stay alive. Why do I care? Roger, for all his faults, is a smart man and he tries with every gram of resourcefulness he can conjure to stay alive. I had to admire him.

 Back to flaws: alcoholism and substance abuse has been done again and again, so if you’re willing to take my advice, think of something different. Lionel Essrog in Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn is a perfect example of a flawed character. He’s resourceful, smart, goal driven, and totally handicapped by Tourette syndrome. I loved Lionel and stole time to finish reading his story.

What’s your character’s flaw? Make a list of 50 flaws. By the thirteenth, I predict you’ll be getting into some fascinating territory. Remember, you have to live with this condition during the writing of an entire novel so make it something you’re interested in and have sympathy for.

Once you have your flawed character make sure your other characters react to the flaw. Do they poke fun at your character, do they dismiss him? How does your character react to their derision? Does he get angry? Depressed? It’s in these interactions that your characters come to life. It’s magic, it really is.