Character Creation by Tal Lingenua (best historical fiction books of all time .TXT) 📕

Weaknesses and flaws.

Nobody is perfect. Most real people are incapable of more things than they are capable of things. This is due to the fact that there are a ton of things to be good at that you can only be but so good at a few.

This is true for characters too. Although, simply saying that your character cannot climb a mountain doesn't qualify as a weakness. Why? Because it doesn't matter. If your character has need to climb a mountain but isn't able to, then your character's weakness is meaningful.

For everything that your character can do and is good at, make sure there is something that she can't do and is bad at.

The tips for weaknesses are pretty much the same as for skills.

How old is your character? Think about the things that someone her age wouldn't be able to do and would be bad at.

Do not center weaknesses onto one character. (Especially minor characters) it's not realistic for one person to be the deadweight all the time.

Don't make useless characters. I mean, you can. But if there's somebody who can't do anything at all people will just think she's pathetic.

Now, onto character flaws.

Character flaws include weaknesses but the way I mean it is personality wise. A person who has high moral standards isn't always going to do the right thing. She isn't always going to think pure thoughts. But simply thinking impure thoughts isn't bad enough, she has to act on them.

Flaws make characters human.

There are three types of flaws. Minor, major and tragic.

Minor flaws are generally just to make the character more interesting. They are something like biting one's nails or scars. These do not really affect any of the characters.

Major flaws are not necessarily bad like the name suggest. A major flaw hinders the character in her goals. A few examples of a major flaw are blindness, amnesia and greed.

Tragic flaws is a flaw which causes an otherwise noble or exceptional character to bring about her own downfall and, often, her eventual death.

Examples of this are hubris, misplaced trust, excessive curiosity, pride and lack of self-control.

Here are a few tips on flaws.

Give every minor character at least a minor flaw.

Give every major character at least one major flaw. Give them a few minor flaws too.

Don't over-flaw villains and don't under-flaw heroes.

Do not give your character fake flaws. Something like, 'she was so beautiful it's a curse.' This is bogus and will accomplish the exact opposite of what flaws are intended to do.

Focal characters. They can be any characters, villains, heroes, view-point characters, etc., etc.

What is a focal character exactly? A focal character is the character the audience is expected to focus the majority of their attention on. They are the center of attention and the most interesting character.

Focal characters are my favorite characters to create, and also the characters I tend to develop the most.

For me, the process of creating a focal character starts by me becoming interested in the character. I start thinking about her more than the other characters and developing her more than the other characters and then pretty soon I want her to be memorable.

I think of a more interesting and unique personality to give my focal characters and they have a tendency to steal the show and demand more air time and because I like them so much I give it to them.

Anyway, here are a few tips on focal characters.

First and foremost, unless the story is actually about her, do not give her more air time than the protagonist.

Focal characters are the characters most likely to be remembered forever. So build her legacy on something unique.

Do not give your focal character fancy names and fancy appearances. You can (especially if it's realistic within the story) but it feeds into the idea that focal characters are special.

But they're not special. They're characters like everyone else, they just tend to be more interesting.

Avoid killing/removing the focal character early on in the series/book. This will be a huge mistake.

Think of the memorable characters from fiction and characters you like and base them loosely off of these people. Look at the traits you like and the traits that make them memorable.

Remember not to just go for flashy. Give them real emotions and real wants, need, etc., etc.

Avoid favoritism. I don't know if this is true for everyone else, but my focal characters are my favorite characters and they tend to be a little spoiled.

Out of character moments.

OOC moments happen when a character defies their morals, abilities or personality for no good reason at all. A very common reason for OOC moments to occur are when the author wishes a character to do something for the purpose of the plot or another character.

OOC moments are very unacceptable and your readers will be royally pissed off at them. OOC moments could potentially lose you readers (Yes, they're that bad.) so avoid them at all cost.

Here are some tips on avoiding this oft-fatal mistake.

Ask yourself, would your character (or anybody for that matter) really do this? If the answer is no delete the section without any backups.

Does your character benefit from this action?

Let the characters run the show. You can have a plot (you should actually), but let the characters choose what they want to do and determine what happens in the story.

If you are stuck in a problem and can't solve it do the following:
- do not force a solution. What I mean by that is don't just make something work that wouldn't really.
- think of it from the characters POV, this may not solve your problem but it will probably help you avoid an OOC moment.
- don't play God. This is unrelated to OOC moments (it could be actually...). It's called a Deus ex machina

and it is basically cheating.
- keep the problem and let it be unsolvable and be one of the things the heroes fail at (unless it's not the heroes).
- remove the problem. (unless it not being there is unrealistic. i.e. the villains would've really sprung this trap. Which would qualify as an OOC moment.)

Characterization.

This is the part, at least for me, of showing the character's behavior, description, etc. within the story. This section needs no farther introduction so I'm going to jump right to tips.

Speech patterns and word choices. You can tell a lot about a person by the way she speaks. If she is pretentious, smart or a grammar-Nazi she might use big words and proper grammar.

Description. You can do double duty with descriptions. You can use their choice of clothing to hint at their personality, (or to give off the wrong impression of a character).

Make sure to define your characters early and try not to make them too mysterious. Mystery can be fun, but if you don't know who someone truly is until the end of the novel it can be a frustrating.

Show don't tell. Telling can be easy and it's probably okay with minor characters. But it's better to show a character's personality through her actions and words because that's how you really gather information about people.

Use backstory sparingly. It's generally not a good idea to pile backstory onto your readers in the beginning or at one time. Give them a little bit and only when they need it and exactly how much they need.

When characters have an epiphany don't say it. Show her coming to this realization or if she's a/the view point character use interior monologue. A few signs that you may be telling an epiphany are:
- suddenly,...
- it dawned on her...
- then it hit her...
- she had an epiphany...
Stuff like that.

People often hide things about themselves. What is your character hiding about herself? Why is she hiding these things? How does she hide these things? Remember though, that sooner or later your characters need to show their true colors.

An extension of sorts on the previous one. (Sort of.) People often act different around different people. She might act like an angel around her parents, she might bully her little sister, and she might try to act cool around her friends.

Intelligence.

Some characters are know-it-alls and they truly do know everything. But nobody and I do mean nobody, will ever