3-D Characters (continued)

When writing fiction, character creation and development are central to the author’s task.

Given the importance of characterization, it’s worth closer analysis.

First, the author creates individual characters. For each character the author develops what the online world now calls a “Profile”. Some authors may do this formally. Others simply digest it in memory as they write. However, before or after writing the story, it’s essential for the author to possess a distinctive image for each character, including physical characteristics and important elements in personality.

Second, the author juxtaposes two or more characters as the story moves ahead. Here the writer accesses the character’s profile, perhaps formally or more likely as an element in story creation. As a result, it becomes essential to keep each one “in character” throughout the work.

Finally, and this is so often neglected, the author needs to establish the reader’s internal Image of each character. Typically, we assume the reader’s view is the same as ours as we write, but this is not so. In fact, much of the reader’s reaction to characters depends largely on the reader’s own background.

The challenge for emerging writers is to develop skill in discerning what the reader’s point of view is likely to be. As always in fiction, it is the reader – not the author – who matters. (As a caveat, this conflicts with assumptions often made in literature courses which emphasize historical context.)

As a truism, always write for a reader. That’s the basis for fiction that engages an audience.

- Bruce L. Cook