Cardboard Characters

I received an email . . .

"How do I add depth to a character, lifting them out of the cardboard stick figures they've become?"

Good question, but, of course, not easily answered.  There are so many variables, including the kind of fiction you're writing, the type of effect you're going for, and how much depth you want to apply.

Yes, breathing life into a two-dimensional fictional creation can be challenging.

It's always been interesting to me how some writers are so adept at making a character come to life with only a few brush strokes, while others spend pages upon pages (if not chapters upon chapters) and never quite accomplish it.

There are a few areas we can look at that might fluff things up.

First, you, as the writer, must know this character inside and out.  There are about a hundred things you need to know.  For example:

What makes him/her safe and content?  What does this look like?

When was his/her first sexual experience?  How has it affected him/her?

Who does he/she fear?  For what reason(s)?

Strongest character trait?

Weakest character trait?

Laughs or jeers at . . . ?

Philosophy?

Political leaning?

Hobbies?

What do others notice first about him/her?

For the record, I adapted this from a seminar I took led by mystery author Elizabeth George.  There are dozens of other questions, some general and simple, others more invasive and challenging.  The point is that not all of these are for use, necessarily, in the novel -- but the author (creator) of the character should know these details because everything the character says and does comes from something, somewhere.  You've got to know!  If you don't, it will be apparent to the reader.

That being said, the new challenge is translating that character in your head into a series of written words.  What to show?  What not to reveal?  What makes one character leap off the page while another is formulaic and stereotypical?

I would say that while appearance is important, especially in our everyday lives, in fiction, it's almost beside the point.  Here's what is absolutely necessary:

Gender, age, occupation.

Those three things will tell the reader A LOT about the character.  If Lisa is heading off for her first year of college, you already know a ton about her, and there's a lot you can assume.  She's obviously female, she's eighteen, and a student.  She's probably attractive, intelligent, and ambitious -- or at least has some very good intentions.

Other stuff is helps to fill her out: Is she going to college on Daddy's dime, a scholarship, or did she earn the money herself?  Each choice says something different about her.  Will she share an apartment with three other young women, stay in a dorm, live on her own, or with her boyfriend?  Again, more shading without you having to spell it out.

In fact, I would suggest that "spelling it out" is one of the best ways to create cardboard characters.  Letting the reader pick up the information on their own helps, at least in the reader's mind, to fill out the character without you having to do the heavy lifting (or typing).

Readers WANT to relate to your characters.  Help them.  What emotional buttons can you (lightly) press that will elicit an instant bonding reaction from the reader?  Wow, that's mind-blowing, isn't it?  But it doesn't have to be a Super Major Fantastical Magnificent Thing that makes us fall in love with the character.  It could be a fear, a joy, a hope, a pain, something we can identify with even if we've never actually experienced it ourselves.  Humor is another -- although not all of us possess the humor writing gene.  That doesn't mean we can't do it.

Humor is a very effective bonding process.  Imagine stepping onto an elevator.  There are three other people inside.  Somewhere between the 14th and 15th floor, one of the other three people "toots."  I don't know about you, but I'd find that awkwardly funny, and would have trouble not laughing out loud.  If one of the others burst out laughing, I certainly would not be able to contain myself -- and I wouldn't be surprised if all four people roared with laughter.  And yet we get off the elevator and go our separate ways.  Later, if I saw one of the other three, I would have to give him a knowing smile.  We have a bond -- true, a silly, weird bond, but a bond nevertheless.

You can bond with the reader through humor . . . but that's a whole other column.

Also, try to avoid stereotypes.  Yes, they can be useful and have a purpose, but usually are best used on secondary or lesser characters.  That Lisa is blonde, blue-eyed and a former cheerleader for the South Hampton Cougars is not very interesting.  That she managed to win a struggle against some highly influential friends who did not have her best interest at heart, leading her into a brief but hurtful addiction to meth is much more compelling.

Yes, the deviations from the stereotypes can be important, like if they have a limp, wear a toupee or have a predilection to visiting web sites featuring naked midgets.  But those things are not their character, they are only passive facets of it.  Allow the character to have quirks, but do not allow quirks to become the character.

But as important as these things are, equally important is WHEN to divulge this information.  Trust me, we do not need a complete history and physical description the moment a character enters the picture.

Here's an important part: In fiction, it's not how the character looks, but what they say and do (and what happens to them and how they react to it) that is important.

Often the characters seem to be pawns in the story.  The plot is moving them around.  They act and react to (often incredible) events that occur in the story.  Here's an interesting thought: What if the characters affected the plot as much as the plot affected the characters?  If your story leans too heavily one way or the other, you may find an imbalance in characterization.

Here's another important part: Allow the characters to tell their story.  I don't necessarily mean write from the first person perspective, I mean allow the story to unfold and the character to be revealed.  Storytelling is not about telling the story -- it is about revealing.  Parse out little facts as the story unfolds.  That Lisa puts her hair in a pony tail, applies make-up to hide a tattoo, ignores the stares of men (young and old), and she has a sister named Meg can be doled out over a few paragraphs or a few pages.  Why cram it all in?

Us writers have a problem in that so much stuff about the characters is in our heads that we either unload it all on the page, or don't unload enough.  Those cardboard stick figures can be a result of either issue.  We either give too many facts without the context of the story, or we "forget" to give some facts assuming the reader "gets it" without us having to explain.  (That would be half-right -- we shouldn't have to explain, but it should still be revealed.)

Imagine this: One character is 40, an executive at a major ad agency, married, three kids, drives a BMW and plays golf every Friday without fail.  Got a picture in your head?  Good.  Now, is that character male or female?  What if a character has been picked up three times for DUI, plays Internet poker in the middle of the night, and has been having an open affair with the administrative assistant?  Would you be shocked if they're all the same character?

So, we get back to the original question: How do I add depth to a character, lifting them out of the cardboard stick figures they've become?

A. Know thy characters, inside and out.

B. Appearance (description) is not as important as dialogue and action.

C. Allow the reader to pick up things without you spelling it out.

D. Allow the reader to bond with the characters.

E. Have the characters affect the plot as much as the plot affects the characters.

F. Allow the characters to tell the story and be revealed.

Obviously, this is open to your artistic whims, your mileage may vary, but hopefully, if you don't want cardboard to be part of your character's diet, these tips might help shake things loose.

If you'd like to ask The Writing Freak a question, by all means do so.  The answer may not be as long-winded as this one, but then again, it might be.  (As with the original question, I will not reveal your name unless you specifically say it's okay.)

Got a question for The Writing Freak?

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Comments

[Dr. Mike]

Thank you, this was very helpful