CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION
by albert and merlito
ICEBERG THEORY
The idea being that what’s unstated must nonetheless exist clearly in the author mind for a character to have sufficient depth. Much of what readers know about any given character is never stated explicitly but is rather submerged in a way the character speaks and moves and thinks- and all this, in turn, is shaped by knowledge of each character.
IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH
Good fiction reveals worlds previously unknown, or sheds new light on the familiar. Perhaps the most important truth to begin with is the authentic transfer of emotion from author to character.
HISTORICAL INSPIRATION
Sometimes the authors take the idea of using a true fact or a true line one step further, and use an actual historical character as an inspiration for a fictional one.
FOLLOWING VOICE
The choice of voice is crucial to establishing character. Voice reveals perspective and personality traits. The effect of voice is easiest to see in first-person narration, where word choice, syntax, pacing and emphasis all establish the speaker’s character.
LETTING CHARACTERS SURPRISE
Like the real- life counterparts, personal characters have habits, personality traits, and framework of beliefs, all of which determine their reaction to situation. Yet, there is no single way for each character to behave. Just as we sometimes astonish ourselves, our characters, too, must have the capacity to take us by surprise.
LIVING IN THE WORLD
Fictionist and their characters both don’t live in a vacuum. Our interactions with the events of the world keep us in a continual state of discovery about our own hidden selves, so, too, our characters reveal themselves through their exchanges with others.
BREAKING THROUGH THE ICE
Characters are the beating heart of any s tory. Who people are defines what they do, how they respond to a given situation. They must step out of the icy region between the unknown and the imagined, melt through barriers and emerge into the world, vibrant and radiant and alive.