Creating Characters (15 page)

Has he traveled enough to form a strong opinion about motels, hotels, airports, bus terminals, train stations, dining cars, tourist spots, rural roads, or phone booths?

And is he a true character if he does not have strong feelings about gas stations, banks, post offices, waiting rooms, public toilets, and dentists' chairs?

How does your character feel about politics? Has he become a cynic? Is he disgusted by smear campaigns, special-interest groups, influence peddling, wire pulling, and bombastic press conferences? Or does he in fact like all the things that go into electioneering—that is, the primaries, the nomination process, conventions, the newspaper and television editorials? Does he prefer one political party over another? If so, would you say he favors the conservative or liberal line?

(See also
Entertainment; Relaxation; Sports)

To "get away from it all," what does the character like to do to relax himself? Does he, for example, read? Work puzzles or riddles? Play computer games, pinball, pool, or solitaire? Go on camping, fishing, or hunting trips? Does he go walking, dancing, or boating? Are there any of these things he doesn't like? And if so, why?

What some characters find to be a pleasant fragrance, the senses of others may define it as objectionable. Your character might like or dislike any of the following smells: perfume, incense, disinfectant, hay, pipe tobacco, or cigarette smoke; the frying of bacon, sausage, onions, fish, or chicken; turkeys roasting, cakes baking, coffee brewing, peanuts roasting, popcorn popping, pies baking. What about freshly mowed grass? Honeysuckle? Fresh paint, furniture polish, or air freshener?

(See also
Entertainment; Non-athletic Competition; Relaxation)

Is the character greatly attracted to some sport? If so, does he like to watch it or participate in it? Among the more obvious spectator sports are baseball, basketball, football, rugby, ice hockey, soccer, auto racing, motorcycle racing, boxing, and horse racing. Or maybe he likes to watch the Olympics.

Some of the athletic activities in which a character may participate include running, tennis, swimming, touch football, softball, handball, racquet ball, squash, golf, skiing, water polo, badminton, cricket, fencing, ice skating, field hockey, wrestling, lacrosse, polo, roller skating, sledding, volleyball, bowling, diving, hang-gliding, and discus throwing. On the other hand, are there sports activities that the character does not like?

Any novelist, playwright, or screenwriter knows full well the powerful impact that fear can have on a character—indeed, upon an entire population. Fear is one of the devices authors use most frequently, and those who know how to use it well are able to make readers or viewers squirm, or perhaps feel protective toward at least one of the characters. Horror-story writers are particularly adept at employing fear to frighten the living daylights out of their audiences, and there is no comfort in knowing that the hero or heroine in the story is scared witless as well.

However, with no offense intended toward those who (1) write spine-tingling tales filled with dark shadows, echoing footsteps, creaking doors, and screams in the night, or (2) concoct adventure stories that leave heroes dangling from moving airplanes or running down alleyways to escape sword-wielding headhunters, this section focuses instead upon the kinds of fears with which most people can identify. The kinds of fears, for example, that silently creep up on us, begin gnawing away, and make us feel helpless. The kinds of fears that help to build plots around interesting, believable characters.

Character-centered fears may build slowly, but eventually they gain momentum and cause the character to make some kind of a decision. In determining a character-centered fear, first ask yourself this very important question:
Is the fear justified?
If it isn't, then it is probably self-inflicted. That in turn will introduce a whole new set of circumstances, but it does not make the fear any less important to the character. For example, a woman may fear that her husband doesn't love her anymore, though in fact he may adore her more than ever—but he's a salesman in debt and he must work a great deal just to pay the mortgage and keep food on the table. Obviously this situation presents numerous plot possibilities. If, on the other hand, her fears are justified, the plot will take entirely different avenues—all just as plausible.

After the writer has determined whether the fear is justified, more questions naturally follow. The following list of possible fears suggests the types of questions that each brings to the table.

What would make the character fearful of being abandoned, and who does he think will do it? Has that person threatened to leave him before? Indeed, has the character ever been abandoned by anyone? If so, who did it? What were the circumstances? When and where did it happen?

If his fear is realized, does he know anyone who might come to his assistance? If so, who is it, and would that person actually help? Is the character afraid of being left to fend for himself in an environment that he views as hostile to his safety?

Or is his fear of abandonment not that he will be left alone physically, but rather emotionally? Has he been assured by others that they will stand by him if he decides to challenge someone's authority regarding some issue? Nevertheless, is he afraid that they would go back on their word, leaving him alone to face a serious threat?

What will happen if he is abandoned? What will happen if he is not?

If the threat of change frightens the character, what is its precise nature and why would it threaten him so? Or is he simply afraid that change
might
take place? If change were indeed to take place, who would gain and who would lose?

Assuming a change is imminent, does it promise to be a sweeping one or just a minor modification? Does change scare the character because he has become comfortable with the way things have been and he does not like the uncertainty that accompanies change? What aspect of the prospective change fills him with the most dread? Is he afraid, for example, that change will cause something to be irretrievably lost? Does he see change as a catapult toward disaster?

Has he always been afraid of change? Is being a holdout a part of his history? Does he cling desperately to vestiges of a time long since past? What will happen if the change takes place over his objections? What if he is successful at preventing it?

While it's true that almost everyone fears death, does that fear drive the character to desperately avoid death within the story? In what way does he avoid it? Has the fear of death always been front-and-center within his mind, or has it increased in prominence because of his age or because of a set of unfavorable circumstances in which he now finds himself? In the latter instance, does he perhaps fear execution, or losing his life in some other unnatural way?

Is he afraid of taking his last breath because he is convinced that the body he has will become worm food or because the darkness of "nothingness" is too frightening for words? Does the "great beyond" terrify him because he is afraid he will have to answer for what he has done in this life? Is he afraid that he has the same genetic disorder that killed one of his parents and a grandparent?

Has the fear of death rendered him a coward? Put him in a position where he is in perpetual retreat? Deprived him of peace?

What does the character fear will be destroyed? Is it something he has revered, always tried to protect, been a part of? Is it something with a real dollar value, or does it have an intrinsic value that makes it irreplaceable (or both)? If it is destroyed, what does the character think will be lost? Who or what threatens this destruction, and who will lose if it takes place?

Has the threat of destruction been coming closer, and has the character tried to warn others? Has anything like this ever happened before? Does it portend something that the character fears even more?

What will happen if the destruction occurs?

Has the character done something that he fears could bring dishonor upon himself? Who has evidence that could undo his reputation and lead to his being held up to public ridicule? Perhaps he has done nothing to be ashamed of, yet someone in the story threatens to tell a lie about him and there is a possibility of it being believed. If so, what will that fear cause the character to do?

On the other hand, is he afraid that he will be dishonored if he
does not
do something? Will this fear cause him to become involved in something that is contrary to his nature? Is he in a social climate so heated with self-righteousness that he is given no alternative but to act indignantly—and with force? Will he desperately look for a way out, while at the same time, to satisfy onlookers, appear to be heeding honor's call?

Or does he fear dishonor not for himself but for someone who is close to him, such as a dear friend or a member of his immediate family? And what will he do to protect that person's reputation?

But what if he fails to protect his honor, or that of a friend? What exactly will happen?

(See also
Truth)

What is the character afraid will be discovered? Is it a secret, such as his true identity? A piece of valuable evidence? The missing link? His life savings buried in a box? Love letters that will expose an affair?
Who
does he fear might find what he prefers to keep hidden, and what steps will he take to try to prevent it?

Or is the fear not about what others might discover, but rather what he himself might find? If this is the case, why must he keep looking? Why not be vanquished by the fear that surrounds him and abandon the search for good? What drives him to find what he is fearful of finding?

In either case, in what way will discovery affect the character? How will it affect those who know him? And would everyone be better off if no discovery occurred?

Why is the character afraid to fail? What will be the consequences if he does? Is it just a matter of his self-esteem, or is it far more serious than that? For example, has he made a promise that he believes he dare not break? Or would failure mean the loss of wealth, the disintegration of fame, a great loss of respect, or perhaps the abandonment of future opportunities? What exactly is on the line if failure should come? To what lengths will he go to ensure that he does not fail? Has the character placed himself in a position where failure is unthinkable? What if failure comes anyway?

No one, except perhaps a masochist, wants to be harmed. But if your character has a greater-than-average fear of harm, does it mean that he will avoid all kinds of confrontation? Will it then be easy for others to taunt him, or for one character to make him look cowardly or foolish in front of others?

Is he the type that says in all seriousness, "I don't want any trouble"? Does fear of harm make him an appeaser, or perhaps a bootlicker? Does it keep him in a perpetual defensive position?

Is the character afraid that someone will harm him by taking his money?

Separate him from possessions or friends? Or is he fearful of becoming ill or disabled, and as a result become a prime target for every health craze that comes down the road? Is he always on the run from something that he thinks may hurt him?

If the character is fearful of Hell, then he apparently believes there is a place where sinners are sent after they die. What, then, is his conception of it? Is it fire and brimstone? A black bottomless pit from which no one ever returns? A trek over endless fields of wretchedness?

Does his fear of Hell cause him to go to church more than he would like? Is he likely to ask for the Lord's forgiveness for even thinking about sinful things? Does his fear prompt him always to look for signs of the Devil? Is he constantly in a wrestling match with his conscience? Does he frequently find himself in an internal sweat, wanting something that is forbidden and, at the same time, cursing himself for having the desire?

How far will his fear of damnation chase him?

First of all, why would an abstraction, such as an idea, make the character fearful? If it is only an idea and not yet a reality, why not simply ignore it? Or is it an idea too threatening or significant to ignore? Does it promise to upset the status quo? Get people to talking? Does the idea contain principles or information that directly contradicts almost everything the character has been led to believe is true? Does it undermine the position he holds? Threaten his friendships or family? Contain elements that may affect the whole of his society? And what will happen if others take the new idea seriously?

Does he fear the idea because it is based upon unsound or malevolent principles? Is he afraid that if the idea is allowed to spread, it will become infectious and do great harm?

If he is fearful of the idea, what can he do to stop it? And what if he does not?

What has happened in the story that makes the character fear injustice?

Or what has happened
before
the story begins that has led him to fear Is he familiar with the sound of its footsteps? Has he perhaps felt its sting in the past? And has that experience made him forever fearful of its return?

What is the nature of the injustice that he specifically fears? Or is it injustice by any name? Does he fear it because it threatens him, someone else, or everyone? Has injustice reared its head in the wake of accusation? Is it possible that he or someone else will not be treated fairly, become guilty by association, or be given no chance to explain? Is there someone calling for justice, when it's really injustice that person wants?

Perhaps the injustice the character fears is more in the nature of neglect.

For example, is he afraid that someone will be forgotten, someone who greatly deserves reverence?