Characterization is one of those essential pieces of writer’s craft\u2014the sort of thing that\u2019s difficult but crucial to master. You can have a profound plot, but without good characters driving it, the thing goes nowhere.<\/p>\n
Likewise, if you happen to be a discovery writer, finding the thread of your plot as you write (\u201cpantsing\u201d the plot, to use the vernacular), having strong characters gives you the perfect vehicle for moving forward. You can trust that a good character will drive your story. And you can be sure that poorly developed characters will wreck even the best laid plans. Or plots.<\/p>\n
In this series of posts, we\u2019re going to look at ways to build characters that come alive and carry their own weight\u2014the sort of two-dimensional beings that read four-dimensional in the minds of the reader.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the good guys\u2014our\u00a0protagonists<\/i>.<\/p>\nNot\u00a0Always<\/i>\u00a0the Good Guy<\/h2>\n
The first thing we need to get straight, right from page one, is that there is a difference between the concept of a\u00a0protagonist<\/i>\u00a0and that of\u00a0the good guy<\/i>. They\u2019re not always one and the same.<\/p>\n
As an example, take the movie (and the book it\u2019s based on),\u00a0American Psycho<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In both the film and the novel, the story\u2019s protagonist is Patrick Bateman\u2014a Manhattan-based investment banker who also turns out to be a serial killer. Not so great a stretch, maybe, but simply put,\u00a0not a good guy<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Despite his murderous intent, impulses, and actions, we follow Bateman through a story from beginning to end, empathizing with his plight, identifying with his personal struggles, and mentally standing by his side during his challenges. We would (hopefully) recoil at joining him in his more nefarious activities, here in the real world, but on the page we\u2019re\u00a0intrigued<\/i>\u00a0by him. We follow along to see what he thinks, says, and does next. Which is mostly bloody, gruesome murder.<\/p>\n
Though Bateman is effectively the\u00a0bad guy\/villain<\/i>\u00a0of the story, he\u2019s still the story\u2019s\u00a0protagonist<\/i>. And that gives us our first insight the role of characterization in our storytelling:<\/p>\n
The protagonist is the point of view character\u2014sometimes referred to as \u201cthe main character\u201d of a story.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Whatever his or her motives, the protagonist is the filter through which we experience the events of the tale we\u2019re reading (or watching or listening to). When the protagonist encounters a challenge or obstacle, we\u2019re right there with them, scratching our heads right by their side, trying to figure out what comes next.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s through the protagonist that we are moved along in the story. They\u2019re the motive force, the energy and machinery that gets us from Point A to Point Z.<\/p>\n
Now contrast\u00a0American Psycho<\/i>\u00a0with the novels and television series\u00a0Dexter<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Similar concept\u2014psychopathic serial killer, leading the story, even talking directly to us at times. But we tend to think of Dexter as the\u00a0good guy<\/i>, despite his murders, while we think of Bateman as a\u00a0bad guy<\/i>, despite seeing the story through his eyes.<\/p>\n
Both characters are murderers, but we\u2019re more or less ok with one and wigged out by the other. Why is that?<\/p>\n
The answer is\u00a0motive<\/i>.<\/p>\nWhat a Character Wants<\/h2>\n
Building a good protagonist involves a lot of plates to spin and balance\u2014some of which you\u2019ll likely do instinctively. But some of those plates spin better when you know\u00a0why<\/i>\u00a0they are spinning.<\/p>\n
Motive<\/i>\u00a0is\u00a0\u201can emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(American Heritage Dictionary)<\/i>. If you\u2019ve watched crime shows and police procedurals, you\u2019ve encountered the term before. To catch a crook (or a murderer), investigators first look for\u00a0who had the most motive<\/i>. And while \u201che who has the most motive wins\u201d isn\u2019t necessarily true, knowing that motives of various suspects can narrow down the pool quite a bit.<\/p>\n
Likewise, knowing the motives that drive your protagonist will determine the type of character they are\u2014sympathetic<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0unsympathetic<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Using our examples above, Bateman\u2019s motives are largely centered on self-aggrandizement. Throughout the story, Bateman is obsessed with symbols of prestige. His apartment, his car, even his business cards are all part of a panorama of personality, a substitute for real self-esteem. An empty one, to be sure, but they\u2019re all he has.<\/p>\n
And when they no longer do the job, no longer allow him to feel a sense of completeness, murder is his next self-comfort vehicle. \u201cI kill, therefore I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
So for Bateman, being a serial killer is about establishing a sense of self, but also about being something greater than himself, even if that greatness is an illusion (a pretty disturbing illusion).<\/p>\n
Dexter, on the other hand, has a more altruistic motive.<\/p>\n
Having recognized Dexter\u2019s propensity for violence and murder early on, his adopted father trains him to redirect and channel those urges into \u201cthe Code.\u201d His personal code becomes his guidepost for every decision he makes\u2014allowing him to control his \u201cDark Passenger,\u201d and funnel his urges into something that could arguably be considered good for society.<\/p>\n
He becomes a predator of predators.<\/p>\n
Dexter doesn\u2019t murder innocent people to satisfy his urge to kill. He murders other serial killers, or others who prey on the innocent.<\/p>\n
So in this comparison, we have two serial killers, two sets of similar urges, but their\u00a0motives<\/i>\u00a0divide them. If we were to put both of them into the same story, Dexter would be on the hunt for Bateman, making them each either the protagonist or antagonist of the story, dependent upon another important characterization tool:\u00a0Point of view.<\/i><\/p>\nSeeing Things Their Way<\/h2>\n
Point of view, often abbreviated \u201cPOV,\u201d is the perspective from which a scene is told. If you\u2019ll remember your grade school English classes, there are basically three points of view:<\/p>\n
Whenever you read a scene or story written using \u201cI\u201d or \u201cwe\u201d as the pronouns, it\u2019s in first person POV. The entire story is being related by and through the eyes of the narrator, the teller of the tale.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
I saw the car pull into the drive, half an hour ahead of schedule. This made me nervous. We weren\u2019t supposed to meet until the specific time we\u2019d agreed upon. I don\u2019t do well when plans change.<\/i><\/p>\n
The narrator of that scene is the focal point of all the action, and thus the\u00a0protagonist<\/i>\u00a0of the story. They are the character through which we see the story unfold. Their perspective colors and shapes the events for us.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t learn a ton about the protagonist from those four sentences, but we do get a tidbit of characterization: He or she is keen on keeping plans on the rails. It hints at some possible OCD behavior. But at the very least, we get a sense of the character\u2019s paranoia.<\/p>\n
Most of that characterization comes from the very last sentence\u2014seven words, and we know a little something about the main character.<\/p>\n
Something to note: It\u2019s not impossible for a first person POV to come from the\u00a0antagonist<\/i>\u00a0of the story. It\u2019s just really tricky and challenging to pull off.<\/p>\n
Basically, you\u2019d have to tell the protagonist\u2019s story entirely through the eyes of his or her rival or enemy, the character (or creature, or object, or even the event) that is trying to\u00a0prevent the success of the protagonist.<\/i><\/p>\n
The reason this is tricky is that telling any story through a first person POV tends to make the\u00a0teller<\/i>\u00a0the protagonist. Even if they are the bad guy or the enemy in the story, by telling the story with their own voice they shape it and personalize it. The key to flipping this script is for the narrator to simply relay the story of the main character, without necessarily revealing their own role as the antagonist.<\/p>\n
If that feels confusing, it\u2019s with good reason. Making the antagonist the narrator without making them the protagonist takes some mental tricks and gymnastics.<\/p>\n
Consider the film\u00a0The Usual Suspects.<\/i><\/p>\n
The narrative of the film is being relayed by Roger \u201cVerbal\u201d Kint, who spins the tale of a heist complicated by international intrigue and murder. Verbal relays all of the events of the story to Agent Kujan, including some details about the mysterious \u201cKeyser S\u00f6ze,\u201d a mysterious Turkish crime lord that Verbal and his associates stole from.<\/p>\n
Verbal is essentially the protagonist of the film, though clearly not the \u201cgood guy.\u201d He is more or less on the side of law enforcement, though, filling in the gaps of everything that happened. Kujan wants S\u00f6ze and determines who he believes S\u00f6ze to be after hearing Verbal\u2019s tale.<\/p>\n
But then things take a shift, as Kujan realizes that Verbal made the whole thing up. We learn the details of the fake story as Verbal walks away from the police station, losing his limp gradually, his crippled arm loosening and becoming normal. That\u2019s when we realize that Verbal and S\u00f6ze were one and the same\u2014the protagonist of the story had been the antagonist all along.<\/p>\n
Plot twist!<\/p>\n
Even though we eventually learn that it was Keyser S\u00f6ze telling the tale, misleading us all along the way, the delayed reveal that Verbal is an unreliable narrator effectively splits that character in two. He\u2019s both the protagonist and the antagonist, in a sense. The antagonist narrated the story of a fake protagonist, right up until he eluded the authorities and reveals to us who he really is.<\/p>\n
Now consider\u00a0Sherlock Holmes<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Most of the Holmes stories are told by Watson\u2014loyal companion and narrator\u2014but he is merely relaying the actions, words, and sometimes even the thought process of Sherlock Holmes. Unlike in\u00a0The Usual Suspects,<\/i>\u00a0Watson is not the antagonist of the\u00a0Holmes<\/i>\u00a0stories (that\u2019s usually some unseen villain, revealed by the end of the case). But he\u2019s not the protagonist, either. He\u2019s a concerned third party, narrating in first person, who is relaying someone else\u2019s story. He\u2019s an outsider showing us the protagonist\u2019s character through personal observation of what Holmes says and does.<\/p>\n
The point is, just because a story is being narrated in first person POV, that does not necessarily mean that the narrator is the protagonist. It\u2019s worth considering using first person to control the perspective of the reader, revealing only those bits of the protagonist\u2019s character that are useful for moving the story forward.<\/p>\n
Any story that has \u201cyou\u201d as the main character is a second person POV.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rare. You don\u2019t often see it. But there are literary examples out there.<\/p>\n
The most well-known are the\u00a0Choose Your Own Adventure<\/i>\u00a0books you probably read as a kid. Stories that set up \u201cyou\u201d as the main character, letting you choose branches to follow as you make narrative decisions throughout the book.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
You enter through the ancient, creaking door and find yourself in a dank and musty dungeon. Ahead of is a corridor lined with cells, all closed tight by wooden doors. Torches sputter in mounted stanchions along the walls, and you can smell the pungent odor of kerosene. Screams and moans can be heard emanating from the darkness.<\/i><\/p>\n
Technically, second person POVs are another example of someone other than the narrator playing the role of protagonist. Typically, that someone is the reader\u2014you<\/i>. The narrator is simply relaying the events that are happening to you as you navigate the experience of the story. You, then, become the protagonist. Your choices are what drive the events of the story.<\/p>\n
Again, this is not a common point of view in storytelling. You most often see it from a game-related perspective\u2014such as\u00a0Choose Your Own Adventure,\u00a0<\/i>text-based computer games, and roleplaying games such as\u00a0Dungeons &\u00a0<\/i>Dragons.<\/p>\n
That said, you certainly aren\u2019t limited to games, when using this perspective. Novels such as Jay McInerney\u2019s\u00a0Bright Lights, Big City<\/i>\u00a0have had some tremendous success with this POV. It\u2019s just unusual, sometimes uncomfortable for the reader, and has numerous challenges that make it tough to do right. But it\u00a0can<\/i>\u00a0be done.<\/p>\n
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that characterization in a second person POV is usually pretty light by necessity. The writer knows nothing about you beyond certain basic human characteristics. You, the reader, must do all the \u201chard work\u201d of bringing character and personality to the story. None of it happens on the page, but instead happens by default within the mind of the reader.<\/p>\n
Letting characterization happen \u201coff screen\u201d as it were can be a bit of a shortcut, but only if it\u2019s done right.<\/p>\n
The most common point of view, and the one where the author\u2019s characterization choices make the biggest difference\u2014third person POV is essentially the\u00a0default<\/i>\u00a0storyteller\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n
Nearly every book you\u2019ve ever read was written in third person POV, so you are already very familiar with it. And though I can\u2019t quite say or prove anything about the origins of this perspective as the default and go-to storytelling tool, I have some theories.<\/p>\n
Third person allows us to be outside and above the action of the story\u2014to switch point of view characters as needed, and to control how much and how little information the reader sees.<\/b><\/p>\n
We control the\u00a0how<\/i>,\u00a0when<\/i>, and\u00a0how much<\/i>\u00a0of the story, only allowing those parts that will move it forward. Third person gives us the greatest control over the flow of the narrative.<\/p>\n
In terms of characterization, third person POV lets us reveal those little quirks of personality in a character much easier than first or second person ever could. We can show characterization by\u00a0action<\/i>, rather than having to describe it in cumbersome exposition.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
Kotler entered the main lobby of the Historic Crimes facility, pausing to pass through the row of metal detectors. As he waited in line, he glanced upward to the Latin motto for the agency\u2014hovering an inch from the wall in steel letters.\u00a0<\/i>Ad serve historia, praesidio homnibus. To serve history, and protect humanity.\u00a0He smiled. As an archaeologist, history was his domain, which was half of why he was here. The other half involved a long story best told over a fine whiskey.<\/i><\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot we can learn about Kotler from that one paragraph\u2014details of which would have been challenging in any other point of view. First, Kotler\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0our point of view, as the third-person narrator describes both his inner and outer activities. And look at the near-omniscient power of the narrator in this scene.<\/p>\n
We learn that Kotler is physically entering the lobby of the Historic Crimes facility. But then we jump into his head, read a sign on the wall, interpret it from Latin to English, and then learn that not only is Kotler an archaeologist, but he also has some secrets and a richer story to share. A story we\u2019d learn, if we sat down with him with a couple of glasses of\u00a0George Dickel<\/i>\u00a0between us.<\/p>\n
This is the power of a third person narrative\u2014it lets us dive in and out of a character or multiple characters, shifting our point of view, limiting what the reader sees and hinting at things that can shape the personality of the protagonist (or antagonist, or supporting character).<\/p>\n