Several weeks ago, I read a romance novel that I’m still thinking about. I have no idea how it came to be in my To Read stack. It’s not really a book I’d purchase unless I planned to study that genre. Maybe that’s how I got hold of it.
I have to admit, I like the cover. A handsome hero with two beautiful little girls–twins. But that alone makes it an odd purchase for me. I don’t go for stories that involve a lot of kids.
I started reading this one, was immediately yanked into the story and couldn’t put it down. Here I am, weeks later, still thinking of these characters as if they’re real people, friends who live right down the road from me. Isn’t that what a writer wants? Works toward? Yeah, so I wonder what made these characters feel real to me. My kids are grown, don’t even have grandkids–and, I really don’t like being around undisciplined children. So …
In this book:
The kids were spoiled and annoying.
The hero still lived with his mother.
The heroine acted as if she had all the answers.
The hero’s mom was too stern for my liking.
The story was good–okay, better than good, so it all worked. But why?
Most of the time I think I’ve done a good job rounding out my characters but once the crit partners get hold of my pages, they come back marked up with lots of suggestions. One crit partner always says, “I just can’t relate to her!.” Only then do I realize I haven’t done my job. I’ve failed to dig deep into my character. I’ve been in too big a hurry to get to the next point.
There are a number of ways to make our characters real. Here are a few I know of:
Internal dialogue – Their thoughts reveal a lot.
Backstory. That’s the reason a character is the way he is.
Interaction with the other characters. This gives us a glimpse into personality traits; whether they’re kind, snippy, rude, etc.
Voice, gestures, dialogue
Can you add more or tell how you might utilize some of the above? What makes fictional characters fit in with our reality, people we can relate to? Teach me something about making characters memorable.
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