The Hero in My Novel Is Dead at the Beginning and I Want to Make Him Mortal Again

You've settled on the idea for your novel. You lot've narrowed it to a sentence or ii, and you're ready to tackle what seems an insurmountable task—developing your lead graphic symbol.

If you're an Outliner (one who outlines your novel get-go), it's time for graphic symbol development, an endeavor not for wimps.

Spellbinding stories feature believable characters who experience knowable.

Yep, fifty-fifty if your genre is Fantasy or Allegory or Futuristic. Your grapheme may fifty-fifty be a superhero, but he* must exist real and knowable inside your premise.

[*I use male pronouns inclusively here to represent both genders only to avoid the awkward repetition of he/she or him/her, fully recognizing that many lead characters are female person and and so are a majority of readers.]

I'd dear to impart some gem that would magically make you an expert at graphic symbol evolution. Only, sorry, no shortcuts. This is every bit hard as information technology sounds. Fail at this task, and it shows.

You cheat your readers when your lead character doesn't develop and grow. No growth, no grapheme arc. No character arc, fewer satisfied readers.

How Exercise Pantsers Develop Characters?

Our name comes from the fact that we write by the seat of our pants. No outlines for us. We write by procedure of discovery. Every bit Stephen King advises, "Put interesting characters in difficult situations and write to notice out what happens."

I place as a Pantser, so I'g sympathetic if yous tin't imagine creating a character and giving him a personal history before starting to write. My characters introduce themselves to me and reveal their histories as the story unfolds.

To a new writer or an Outliner, it may sound exciting and dangerous to wade into a story counting on characters to sally and take over. Believe me, information technology's both.

Frankly, Outliners accept some advantages over Pantsers here. They know a lot near their lead characters before they outset writing.

Fellow Pantsers, don't ignore or discount this grooming. We must offset with some thought who'south populating our stories. And when we go stuck, there'south no shame in going back and engaging in this exercise.

Regardless which kind of a writer yous are, character development—character arc—tin make or suspension your novel.

Consider some of literature's nearly memorable characters—Jane Eyre, Scarlett O'Hara, Atticus Finch, Ebenezer Scrooge, Blueberry Finn, Katniss Everdeen, Harry Potter. Can yous proper noun the novels they come from and what they have in common?

Larger than life, they're also universally human
They see courage not as lack of fear merely rather the ability to act in the confront of fright
They learn from failure and rise to slap-up moral victories

Compelling characters similar these brand the departure between a memorable novel and a forgettable one.

So, what are the keys to making a character unforgettable?

Need help creating your characters? Click hither to download my grapheme arc worksheet.

What Is Character Development?

It's how your character responds to obstacles—both internal and external, and how he changes by the stop of the story.

In the most memorable classics—peculiarly those with happy endings—the character develops skills and strengths that make him heroic.

The more challenges he faces, the improve for your story and for his arc. Resist the temptation to make his life like shooting fish in a barrel. Only the toughest challenges transform characters.

Steps to Character Development

Introduce him early, past name
Give readers a look at him
Give him a backstory
Make sure he's human being, vulnerable, and flawed
But too requite him archetype, potentially heroic qualities
Emphasize his inner life as well as his surface issues
Draw upon your ain experience in Character Development
Show, don't tell
Conduct thorough inquiry

Character Development Step 1. Introduce him early, by name

The biggest mistake new writers make is introducing their main character likewise late. As a rule he should be the first person on phase and the reader should be able to associate his name with how they encounter him.

Naming your character can be almost as stressful as naming a newborn. You desire something interesting and memorable, but not quirky or outrageous. Leave Blaze Starr and Goodnight Robicheaux to the melodramas. (Actually, I wish I'd thought of Goodnight Robicheaux; Ethan Hawke plays him in The Magnificent Seven.)

Allegories call for telling names like Prudence and Truth and Pride, but modern ones should be more subtle. I wrote a Christmas parable where the main character was Tom Douten (get it? Doubting Thomas), and his fiancee was Noella (Christmasy, a believer in Santa) Wright (Miss Right).

For standard novels, typical names are forgettable. Ethnicity is of import. You shouldn't have a Greek named Bubba Jackson.

Your goal is to connect reader and character, so the name should reflect his heritage and perhaps even hint at his personality. In The Green Mile, Stephen King named a weak, cowardly grapheme Percy Wetmore. Naturally, we treat heroes with more respect.

Give naming the time information technology needs. Search online for baby names of both sexes, and most lists volition categorize these by ethnicity.

Exist sure the proper noun is historically and geographically accurate. You wouldn't take characters named Jaxon and Brandi, for case, in a story set in Elizabethan England.

I oft refer to World Almanacs to find names for foreign characters. I'll pair the first name of a current government leader in that land with the concluding name of 1 of their historical figures (but non i and then famous that the reader wonders if he's related, like François Bonaparte).

Grapheme Evolution Step two. Give readers a look at him

You want a clear picture of your graphic symbol in your mind's eye, but don't make the mistake of forcing your reader to run across him exactly the way you lot do. Sure, height, hair and heart color, and physicality (athletic or not) are of import.

But does it really matter whether your reader visualizes your blonde heroine as Gwyneth Paltrow or Charlize Theron? Or your dark-haired hero every bit George Clooney or Ben Affleck?

As I teach regarding descriptions of the sky and the weather and settings, it'south important that your description of your main character is non rendered equally a divide element. Rather, layer in what he looks like through dialogue and during the activity.

Hint at only plenty to trigger the theater of the reader'south listen so he forms his ain mental image.

Thousands of readers might have thousands of slightly varied images of the character, which is all right, provided you've given him plenty data to know whether your hero is big or small, bonny or not, and athletic or not.

Whether you're an Outliner (in essence interviewing your character equally if he were sitting right in front end of yous) or a Pantser (getting to know him equally he reveals himself to you), the more you know almost him, the improve yous will tell your story.

How old is he?
What is his nationality?
Does he have scars? Piercings? Tattoos? Concrete imperfections? Deformities?
What does his voice sound like?
Does he accept an accent?

Readers often have trouble differentiating i character from another, so if you can requite him a tag, in the form of a unique gesture or mannerism, that helps fix him autonomously.

You won't come shut to using all of the data yous know about him, but the more you know, the more plot ideas will occur to you lot. The better acquainted you are with your character, the better your readers volition come up to know him and care.

Character Development Footstep 3. Give him a backstory

Backstory is everything that'south happened before Chapter 1. Dig deep.

What has shaped your character into the person he is today?

Things you should know, whether you lot include them in your novel or not:

When, where, and to whom he was born
Brothers and sisters, their names and ages
Where he attended high school, college, and graduate school
Political amalgamation
Occupation
Income
Goals
Skills and talents
Spiritual life
Friends
Best friend
Whether he'southward single, dating, or married
Worldview
Personality type
Anger triggers
Joys, pleasures
Fear
And anything else relevant to your story

Character Development Pace 4. Make sure he'south man, vulnerable, and flawed

Even superheroes have flaws and weaknesses. For Superman, there'due south Kryptonite. For swashbucklers like Indiana Jones, there are snakes.

A lead grapheme without human qualities is incommunicable to place with. But make certain his flaws aren't deal breakers. They should be forgivable, understandable, identifiable.

Exist conscientious not to make your hero irredeemable – for example, a wimp, a scaredy cat, a slob, a dunce, or a doofus (similar a cop who forgets his gun or his ammunition).

You desire a character with whom your reader tin relate, and to do that, he needs to be vulnerable.

Create events that subtly exhibit strength of character and spirit. For case, does your character show respect to a waitress and recognize her by name? Would he treat a cashier the same way he treats his broker?

If he's running late, but witnesses an emergency, does he stop and help?

These are chosen pet-the-dog moments, where an otherwise bigger-than-life personality does something out of character—something that might be considered below him.

Readers remember such poignant episodes, and they brand your character's development even more than dramatic.

Information technology was George Bailey's sacrificing his travel-the-earth dreams to take over the lowly savings and loan that fabricated his standing up to the villainous Mr. Potter then heroic in the archetype movie It'due south a Wonderful Life.

Want to turn your Jimmy Stewart into a George Bailey?

Make him existent.

Give him a pet-the-dog moment.

Need help creating your characters? Click here to download my character arc worksheet.

Character Evolution Footstep 5. Just also give him classic, potentially heroic qualities

While striving to brand your main character real and human being, exist sure to also make him heroic or implant inside him at least the potential to be heroic.

In the finish, afterward he has learned all the lessons he needs to from his failures to get out of the terrible trouble you plunged him into, he must rise to the occasion and score a swell moral victory.

He can have a weakness for chocolates or a fear of snakes, simply he must show up and confront the music when the time comes.

A well-developed character should be extraordinary, but relatable. Never allow your protagonist to be the victim. It is certainly okay to allow him to face obstacles and challenges, only never portray him as a wimp or a coward.

Give your character qualities that captivate and compel the reader to keep. For example:

a character with a humble upbringing (an underdog) rises to the occasion
a character with a subconscious force or ability subtly reveals it early on in the story and later uses it in an unusual or extraordinary mode

Make him heroic, and you lot'll make him unforgettable.

Grapheme Development Step 6. Emphasize his inner life as well as his surface problems

What physically happens in the novel is 1 thing. Your hero needs problem, a trouble, a quest, a claiming, something that drives the story.

Merely just as important is your character'due south primary internal conflict. This will determine his inner dialogue. Growing internally will usually contribute more to your Character Arc than the surface story.

Ask yourself:

What keeps him awake at night?
What is his blind spot?
What are his secrets?
What embarrasses him?
What passion drives him?

Mix and friction match details from people you know – and yourself – to create both the inner and outer person. When he faces a life or death situation, yous'll know how he should respond.

Character Development Footstep 7. Draw upon your own experience in Character Development

The fun of existence a novelist is getting to embody the characters nosotros write nearly. I can be a young daughter, an onetime man, a boy, a father, a grandmother, some other race, a villain, of a dissimilar political or spiritual persuasion, etc. The list goes on and the possibilities are countless.

The all-time way to develop a character is to, in essence, become that graphic symbol.

Imagine yourself in every state of affairs he finds himself, facing every dilemma, answering every question—how would you react if y'all were your character?

If your character finds himself in mortal danger, imagine yourself in that predicament. Maybe y'all've never experienced such a thing, but you lot tin conjure it in your mind. Remember back to the last fourth dimension you felt in danger, multiply that by a thousand, and become your graphic symbol.

What ran through your listen when yous believed you were home lone and heard footsteps across the flooring to a higher place?

Take you had a child suddenly go missing in a busy store?

Have you lot ever had to muster the courage to finally speak your heed and gear up somebody straight?

There'southward cipher like personal experience to aid yous develop characters.

Character Development Pace 8. Evidence, don't tell

You've heard this i before, and you lot'll hear it again. If there's one Cardinal Rule of fiction, this is information technology.

It also applies to character development.

Give your readers credit past trusting them to deduce graphic symbol qualities by what they encounter in your scenes and hear in your dialogue. If you have to tell most your character in narrative summary, you've failed your reader.

Your reader has a listen, an imagination. Using it is part of the joy of reading.

As the life of your character unfolds, testify who your graphic symbol is through what he says, his trunk language, his thoughts, and what he does.

Would rather be told: Fritz was one of those friendly, gregarious types who treated everyone the same, from the powerful to the lowly.

Or exist shown this: "How'southward that grandson doing, Marci?" Fritz asked the elevator operator. "James, right?"

"Jimmy's doin' neat, thanks. Came home from the hospital yesterday."

"Holiday was the tonic, Bud," Fritz told the doorman. "Yous're tanned as a motion picture star."

Equally he settled into the backseat of the car, Fritz said, "Tell me your name and how long you've been driving Uber…"

Show and you won't have to tell.

For more on this, encounter my blog mail service: Showing vs. Telling: What You Need to Know.

Grapheme Development Footstep 9. Behave thorough research

Conducting Research for Character Development

Resist the temptation to write well-nigh something you haven't experienced before conducting thorough research.

Imagination can accept you lot only and then far. But yous can bet the first time you approximate at something, acute readers volition telephone call you on it. For instance, I tin imagine myself as a woman. I had a female parent, I have a married woman, I have daughters-in-police force and granddaughters, a female assistant, women colleagues.

So I can guess at their feelings and emotions, simply I'll always exist handicapped past the simple fact that I'm non a woman. I recently ran into an old friend who told me she was homeless.

I mentioned to some women friends that I doubted her because she looked put together, equally if she'd been to the beauty shop.

I said, "If yous were living in your car, would yous spend coin on getting your hair and nails done?"

Naturally that'south the last thing a man would recollect nearly. But women in my orbit said, sure, they could run across it. Camouflaging your predicament and maintaining a modicum of cocky-respect would be worth skipping a few meals.

Say you lot're writing about what y'all'd experience if you lost a kid. I hope you would only be guessing about such a horror, merely to write well-nigh information technology with credibility takes thorough inquiry.

You'd have to interview someone who has endured such a tragedy and has had the fourth dimension to be able to talk well-nigh it.

Is your character a teacher? A police officer? A CEO? Or the member of another profession with which yous have no personal experience?

Spend time in a classroom, interview a teacher, conform a ride-forth with a cop, interview a CEO. Don't base your hero on images from movies and TV shows.

The last thing you want is a stereotype readers cannot place with and whom some would come across through instantly.

You'll notice that well-nigh people beloved talking about their lives and professions.

Grapheme Evolution Examples

We all have a favorite (unforgettable) book, television, or movie character.

A well-written novel that follows a Classic Story Construction plunges its main grapheme into terrible problem quickly. Then it turns up the heat and fosters change and growth in the character from the beginning. That's the very definition of Character Arc.

A archetype instance is Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. So specific was the author's portrayal of this character that the very proper name Scrooge has become synonymous with a selfish, miserly, miserable curmudgeon.

Yet what reader tin can fail to thrill at the brilliant graphic symbol arc that sees him become an entirely new human—joyful, generous, and loving—who learns to feel once more?

In the popular rampage-worthy TV series Breaking Bad, Walter White begins as a nerdy, naïve, kind, and thoughtful loftier school science teacher who learns he has cancer.

Because his insurance won't cover enough of his treatment costs to keep from bankrupting him, out of desperation he uses his skills to develop and sell quality methamphetamine, which allows him to afford the treatments and dig his family out of a fiscal pigsty.

Even subsequently he finds his cancer is in remission, he embraces the illegal drug civilisation and in the stop destroys his own life, his family unit, and many other lives.

There's possibly no ameliorate example of character development than in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Marker Twain.

Huck narrates the tale with humor and brutal honesty. He escapes Widow Douglas's efforts to reform him and a miserable life with his drunken father, joining his new friend Jim, a runaway slave.

Huck lies, cheats, and steals his manner downwards the Mississippi River, learns to survive, perseveres through difficulty, and matures into a young man who chooses to exercise what'due south correct, regardless the consequences.

Grapheme Development Worksheet

If you're an Outliner, a grapheme arc worksheet similar this 1 tin help you lot get to know your hero.

If you're a Pantser (similar me), you may not have the patience for information technology and might rather dive correct into the writing. Exercise what works best for you.

Need help creating your characters? Click hither to download my character arc worksheet.

The #ane Mistake Writers Make When Developing Characters

Making a hero perfect.

What reader can identify with perfect?

Potentially heroic, yes. Honorable, sure. With a aptitude toward doing the right affair, yep!

Merely perfect, no.

In the end your hero will probable rise to the occasion and win against all odds. But he has to grow into that from a opinion of reality, humanity. Render a atomic number 82 character your reader can identify with, and in your ending he'll see himself with the same potential.

That fashion your Character Arc becomes also a Reader Arc.

You can do this.

Develop a character who feels real, and he could become unforgettable.

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Source: https://jerryjenkins.com/character-development/