Creating Memorable Characters, Part 10

Space Invasion


An aspect of culture of which most people are aware is personal space. In America, our space bubble is big in comparison to cultures like India where there are so many people. To give you a visual, the population density of the US is 84 people per square mile. In India, it is 954 people per square mile. How might population density affect one’s personal space bubble?

Depending on the situation, a person who invades our space can make us feel uncomfortable in the least and terrified at worst. Even if there is no cultural difference between your protagonist and antagonist, you can use the concept of personal space to your advantage.

For a fun, 1:40 minute video that illustrates personal space, visit here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecDH5uqsKLA. Be sure to watch all the way to the end to see how one man resolved having his personal space invaded. It may just give you the idea for which you’ve been looking for that scene that’s giving you fits.  

Personal space invasion. Use it to your advantage.

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012

Creating Memorable Characters, Part 6

Special note: Christian Writers Guild is offering a webinar on June 28 presented by Liz Curtis Higgs on creating characters for your novel. Find out more here:

http://www.christianwritersguild.com/store/webinars/creating-characters-worth-caring-about-6-28-2012

A Name Is Not a Name

Did you know the name Dobby, a character from the Harry Potter series, was a real word? I discovered quite by accident one day playing Scrabble that the word is a British dialect meaning fool. No doubt J.K. Rowling’s British readers knew the importance of the word. To me it was just a strange name to match a strange little creature, until I learned its meaning.

Like a computer organizes files, a person's brain begins to classify people by certain qualities the instant one meets, and that includes a person's name. Let me offer an example: "I just met Sean O'Malley." If you know nothing else about this person, what possible clues have I given you about the character?

You want to be as particular about the name you give your character as you are about his or her physical build and personality. Names carry meaning and speak of the culture of origin. If your character is from Ireland wouldn't it seem rather odd if she had a Chinese name? Of course it would, but when we learn she has one parent who visited China as a child and fell in love with the country, then it makes sense.  

Every reader may not catch the importance of a character’s name, as I did with Dobby, but the point I want to make is that in writing you need to make every word work for its space on the page.

Visit here to discover more about the meaning of names: http://www.behindthename.com/

Make your characters' names work for you.

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012

Creating Memorable Characters, Part 5

Go Beyond the Obvious

The obvious physical features we all use to immediately qualify a person when we meet him or her are eye and hair color, height and weight. You may think this is easy to decide, but you can use these obvious features to make your characters more memorable while also advancing your story line. In Sandra Balzo's Maggy Thorsen series, character Jake Pavlik has eyes that change color according to his mood. Once Maggy discovers this, she uses it to her advantage.

When creating the features of your characters, consider the less obvious qualities such as voice (think Fran Drescher) and bone structure (Hulk like). Does he/she have a striking feature? A nose that rivals the black diamond downhill at Aspen? Hands the size of cantaloupe? Of course, if you’re going to create such a feature, don't mention it once and forget about it. Allow it play a role--those cantaloupe hands are your antagonist's weapons.

Use appearance to accent personality.

Sanguine personalities tend to like the glittery and colorful, so maybe your protagonist always wears Hawaiian shirts or carries a glitzy purse the size of a great Dane. A melancholy more often will wear subdued colors like black and navy blue. Is your character quirky? Maybe she wears reflector vest orange lipstick. Is he phlegmatic? Have him wear clothes that always look like he slept in them. In fact, maybe that’s exactly what he does. You get the point. Use these things to create features your reader will remember. For example: Harry Potter and his round eyeglasses, Columbo and his rumpled overcoat, Snow White and her snow white complexion.

Utilize appearance to grow your character'sith appearance.ses,e allow it to play are part in moving your plot along its way.  personality.

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012

Creating Memorable Characters, Part 4

A Winning Personality

We've all met them: Miss Sunshine, Mr. Easy Going, Mrs. Bossy, and Ms. Perfectionist. We often chalk it up to "that's just who they are," but the above titles describe specific personality/temperament types. The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Collegiate Dictionary defines temperament as "characteristic or habitual inclination or mode of emotional response."

I use the following four personality types the most: sanguine (cheerful), melancholy (perfectionist), choleric (bossy), phlegmatic (easy going). Visit here for a detailed overview: http://fourtemperaments.com/Description.htm

There are other ways experts classify personality/temperament.

Keirsey Temperament Overview: http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/overview_temperaments.asp

Take the Keirsey test: http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2.aspx?partid=0  

Myers-Briggs test: http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html

DISC: http://www.discinsights.com/whatisdisc.asp

Enneagrams: http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/

Each temperament has its own strengths and weaknesses, mode of communication, and specific qualities that affect the way we think and act. Like many things in life, the boundaries blend. In other words, no one is purely just one temperament. Having even a rudimentary understanding of personalities opens the door to variety in your characters and adds potential points of conflict. The more you know, the more you can develop and manipulate your characters' thoughts and actions.

Give your characters personality.

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012