giving your character a soul
I really thought I had the characterization of my current protagonist Guillermo down until I let my friend and crit partner Peter Cooper read the first three chapters of The Garden. He commented at the end of chapter one that he didn't feel like he knew enough about Guillermo--what were his hopes and his dreams?
Huh.
I hadn't thought of that. I was so wrapped up in Guillermo's inner angst, setting the dark mood, getting the description down, that I forgot he just might have something like hopes and dreams.
During an eight hour round trip to the coast, I thought about Guillermo and his dreams. What did he want out of life? What made getting out of bed in the morning worthwhile to him?
So I gave him a girlfriend. Then I took her away from him.
I'm mean like that.
Yet by giving Guillermo that dream of marrying a woman he loved made him more vulnerable. He blinds himself to her faults; he believes he is just as worthy of her attention as the next man, that he can overcome class distinctions to make her his wife. He wants to be valued for the person he is and in his desperation to be loved, he allows himself to believe he has a chance to win her hand.
Dreams glimpsed then forfeited. All beyond the power of his control.
What about you? What do you do to give your characters a soul? Do you use love or hate? Jealousy? What characters have you read that you felt were well-rounded with hopes and dreams?
9 Comments | Share Article Email Article | tagged characterization, fiction, writing in Writing | Teresa Frohock Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 8:06AM
Reader Comments (9)
Good point. I think sometimes we're so busy giving our characters hurdles to overcome that we forget to give them a reason to run. I think I start to understand my characters when I understand their families. Then they have a past, a set of coping mechanisms and usually some sad little skeleton in the closet.
This is what I always mean by stakes! What's he going to lose? Why does he want to get out of the garden?
The girlfriend est tres bon suggestion!
I am so guilty of this--of thinking I know my character and being so certain that knowledge is somehow understood as I write, but then another reader says: "I don't know this guy at all" and, as you say, you respond with, what?
But soul, yes. I tend to gravitate toward love (requited then unrequired) as a way to show vulnerability and draw empathy from the reader. Absolutely, I do.
And there's nothing more satisying than fleshing out that character and seeing them take shape, their dreams and their sorrows included.
@Kelly, I like the "sad little skeleton." ;-) That's a perfect phrase.
@Weronika, w00T! Poor Guillermo.
@Erika, I think you're right--love works no matter what genre you write. And absolutely on fleshing out the characters. I LOVE when that magic moment arrives and I can say I have them now.
Giving them something to lose is always good. Giving them real scars (lost parent, backstory tragedy, alcoholism) or demons and watching them struggle against those issues is also a good way to give them a soul.
Dang, I don't ever think about it - but since my stuff is so 'character-driven' if I don't have a character people can relate to or feel something from, then I'm up poo-poo creek ...lawd!
I think you have that right, Kendra, it's the struggle that matters, which brings me to KAT!
VK wanted her mama and daddy to be together and wanted to be loved, but she was always cheated of that (Bk 1);
VK wanted a normal life with her husband and she wanted a baby (Bk 2);
In SWEETIE, Melissa just wants to be loved for who she is and Sweetie shows her how to love herself.
You just don't think about it, you do it. ;-)
This is such a good question because there's no formulaic answer--it would drive my techie friends crazy!
The way I do it is by isolating a piece of my own personality, or one of someone I know very well, and injecting it into a character. This means I am generally relying on a feel for myself or another person, a sensitivity you could call it, that gets more vivid over time.
Hi, Hans,
I like that. Sometimes I use personality traits from people I know, but they always morph into something different!
Thanks for stopping by.