Creating Unforgettable Characters

Creating Unforgettable Characters by Vicki Hinze © 2003: "

In 1757, in Poor Richard's Almanac, the wise and astute Benjamin Franklin wrote: 'Little strokes fell great oaks.' Important message tow writers in that saying, because it is through incorporating little strokes (details) that writers create and develop unforgettable characters. Little strokes turn stick-characters into real people.

Little Strokes = details. Concrete, vivid, easily identifiable character traits.

Oaks = readers. Those folks we must convince that this product of our imagination (our book) will transport them from reading words on a page to becoming an active participant in the story. Writers negotiate readers into a willingness to suspend disbelief.

Now everyone recognizes everything is negotiable and that there's an art to negotiating. This is valuable insight to the writer because negotiating is exactly what writers do when developing all novel elements. A major portion of learning the art of negotiating is in recognizing that the old saying is true--you might cut the deal but the devil is in the details. We've all heard that a million times.

What we haven't heard that is of particular interest to us, as writers, is to acknowledge that, yes, the devil is in the details, but so are the angelic gems. What do I mean--we negotiate a novel?
Exactly that. As writers, we begin a project in vastly different ways. Our creative processes are different. Some of us start with an idea. Some with a character. Some with an event--a plot. Some, and I tend to fall into this category, develop plot and character simultaneously with the setting.

There is no right or wrong way, only diverse ways, and whatever creative process works for you is right. Remember, it is in our diversity that we writers find our strengths and enhance them.

So our methodology isn't important. What is vitally important is that regardless of how we approach writing a book, at the end, we have a book. That means we have negotiated every element in it. At some time, in some way, we have had to answer hard questions."