Sunday, August 19, 2018

The Best Character Ever Written by Elizabeth Alsobrooks


Recently I’ve been thinking about characters and what they are like. What makes for an interesting character that people would like to read about isn’t as easy as one might think. 

When asked where they get ideas for characters, authors often state dreams, real life, a photo that gave them an idea for a character, or a current event.

However, characters who make you think of them long after you finish the book are remembered for what they did and how they felt about it. They make you think about your own lives and they make you feel. Emotion drive actions, no matter how logical one may feel they’re being. A need to be perceived as good or even professional are all based on personal beliefs and stem from a response to internal, emotional stimuli. Whether or not a character openly acknowledges it, the reader wants to see the character struggle and fail and try again and overcome chaos and disasters, and pick themselves up from disappointments, and have wants and needs and strive to achieve them.  Simple right?



I’ve heard people say that most genre fiction is plot driven and most romance is character driven. Makes sense, but some of the best romance has complicated plots and fascinating supporting characters. Plenty of wonderful genre fiction has fascinating characters who have healthy sex lives and interesting love entanglements. In all fiction I think it’s vital that the main characters are interesting and complex. They don’t have to be rock stars or fashion models, and can even have emotional or physical disabilities. Marked for Greatness and the Tell-Tale Heart come to mind. Imperfections help create character. More books with characters who have mental illness are certain to come in this nation of anxiety-ridden millennials. Prozac Nation, The Bell Jar, and Fan Girl come to mind. 



Whatever else they may be, the main characters in fantastic novels are complex, interesting, and outside the box when it comes to ordinary or mundane.

So what do you look for in a great character when you read or write?

2 comments:

Maureen said...

Even my paranormal/fantasy characters have to be 'real' in that they stay consistent to their character, don't act 'too stupid to live' and have some depth to them. Great post!

Diane Burton said...

Interesting post, Elizabeth. Since I'm a reader first, I want to read about characters who appear ordinary (think they're ordinary) then are surprised by their strength, characters who grow during the course of the story. That's true of the stories I write, too. Characters that have (forgivable) faults make them seem real.