The Mysterious Magic of a Well-Written Character
What Makes a Good Character?
This post is a repost of a guest post that I wrote a while back about the importance of good characters in storytelling. I wanted to share it so that the many of you who have subscribed since then can also read it, and so that the many who will hopefully follow will be able to find it in my archive. Stay tuned for an update about upcoming content and changes in this newsletter’s content schedule, which I’ll be posting this Wednesday.
Ever since I can remember, I have been writing stories. The first book I wrote was in pre-school, when I was around 5-6 years old. My teacher had given me a beautiful empty hardcover book for me to write in. I still have it. From time to time, I still rifle through the pages.
How far I have come, I always think, and how much in my life has changed since then. One thing that has never changed, however, is my love of stories. I have written many more since then, and am currently working on my most ambitious story yet: a novel about two characters, thrown together by chance (or fate), forced by circumstances to try everything they can to avoid a disaster that threatens the very survival of human civilisation. Even though the story revolves around hefty and complicated issues, like the role of artificial intelligence in our society, at its core it is about two people looking for a purpose and trying to find their place in the world. The former would be meaningless without the latter. What I mean by that, is that if you were to ask me what the most important aspects of a story are, whether in book or in film, compelling characters would always top the list. Whether it is a story about two ordinary people falling in love or a story about an encounter with a race of telekinetic aliens, it does not matter. To feel involved in the story, you need someone or something through whose eyes you experience everything that happens, with whom to live, laugh, and love, through sadness, sorrow, and suffering.
So let's take a look at what makes a character good. This is by no means a definitive or exhaustive list, and I will always emphatically argue that no one can tell you what and how to write but you. Instead, regard the following paragraphs as a series of best practices based on my own experiences as a writer and reader.
Interesting and mysterious
This almost goes without saying, but a character should be interesting. But what makes a character interesting? Well, they might, for instance, have a touch of mystery about them. Something you just have to know. Let's do a little experiment, and make up a story.
Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived in a house, which was just like all the other houses in the street. Each morning, she would greet her neighbours and go to work. At the end of the day, she would come home again and worked in her garden, until the evening news began, which she never missed.
Do you feel like spending more time with this character if the story went on like this? Personally, I would keep reading for a bit longer, hoping for something to happen, something that would give me a reason to be interested in what happens to this person. Of course, I'm not saying this story can't get more interesting, or can't be made more interesting by describing more of the character's thoughts, but so far there's not really much to go on based on what you have read.
Let's try that again.
Once upon a time, there was a strange woman who lived in a high house on a hill. Why did she live there? No one knew. Each morning, when she left for who knew where, she had this very mysterious look in her eyes, almost as if she knew something that no one else did. At the end of the day, when she got home, she would stand on her roof and howl at the moon.
Much more interesting, right? The story invites you to ask a lot of questions about the character, like why the woman is strange, what that mysterious look is about, or, you know, the howling. A well-written character naturally draws you into the story, by making you feel involved in their lives. In fact, let's quickly move on to the next bit, before I want to further explore this strange woman's entire life journey, which undoubtedly holds the key to her midnight howling. My schedule is busy enough as it is.
Good and bad
Very importantly, a good character does not need to be good. Think about Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books, who in the first books is portrayed as a bully who is basically a proponent of racial purity. Only in the later books do you learn that he comes from anywhere but a loving home, is under immense pressure from his father to follow in his footsteps, and that he desperately wants to belong and live up to everyone's expectations.
In fact, a character can even be a complete psychopath, like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. It only makes such characters more interesting. Why are they like that? Why do they do or think the way they do? What will they do next? Later on, we are going to take a look at relatability. But before we get into that a bit more, think about what an interesting concept that is in this context. Patrick Bateman is (hopefully) nothing like you, yet while you are reading the story, you start to relate and even sympathise. From that we can conclude that a character does not need to be anything like you to be relatable. I could name more examples from literature. For instance, do you need to know what it is like to be imprisoned to relate to Edmond Dantès as he is falsely imprisoned in Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo?
Or do you need to look or behave like a Hobbit to relate to Frodo as he travels through Middle-Earth in the Lord of the Rings? Sure, it might help. But that is not why characters like these are so relatable. They are relatable because even though you have never met them—in fact they have never existed—and even though you have probably never experienced what they went through, you still feel what they feel, almost as if it is happening to you as well. That is the mighty magic of a well-written character.
Involvement and relatability
As we just established, you should feel involved in what is happening to the characters in a story. If you don't, then what is the point of anything that happens in the story? Any character conflict, deeper meaning, ingenious plot twist, or perfectly choreographed denouement will fall flat if the reader is not involved with the character(s) and their plight and tribulations. Chances are, most readers won't even get far enough to see it unfold.
So how can you get a reader involved in a character? A story can get the reader involved when they have something in common with a character, like a similar job or life, or something they identify with, like love struggles or an ideological outlook. There is a reason Tom Hanks is so popular. Playing an 'everyman' character that most people can relate with is a very effective way of evoking viewer sympathy.
Similarly, having a character who is flawed or vulnerable is a great way to involve readers. We are all flawed, after all, and who hasn't felt vulnerable at times? The inclusion of such a character also sets the stage for them trying to overcome their flaws. Regardless of whether or not they fail or succeed in the end, as a reader it can be an engaging journey to join them on. All these experiences and this character development provide further depth, thereby drawing the reader in ever deeper than before. To top it all off, when a character, after much hardship and many struggles, manages to overcome their problems, they can become someone whose experiences you want to learn from, someone whose perseverance, bravery, or fortitude you admire and want to emulate. In short, a good character inspires you to make the most of yourself.
Denouement
Writing a good character is essential to crafting an engaging and worthwhile story. Complex, interesting characters make the reader feel involved and care deeply about what they are going through. As I stated earlier, this is by no means a prescriptive guide or definitive list of what each writer should do, but is instead a deeper exploration of one of the most important aspects of storytelling. If you feel like I left out anything, or would like to join the discussion, feel free to leave a comment.