Helpful Hints On Characterization
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Charlotte Dillon
Charlotte Dillon was born in a small town in southern Louisiana, only a couple of hours from New Orleans. As a child, she feared bedtime, when the house would grow still and quiet; when all the lights would be turned out one by one, until her bedroom settled into inky darkness and shadows. There was one sure way not to notice the slow movement that she could swear was near her closet, or the soft breaths that she could almost hear under her bed--make up a tale, a wonderful story to carry her away. Each night, while Charlotte waited for sleep to come, she invented characters, designed worlds, and slipped away from the darkness and her childhood fear.By the time she began school, reading was a favorite hobby--that and any kind of animal that needed a home. Charlotte devoured books about horses, far away places, long ago days and children brave enough to face any battle and win. She wrote short stories for fun and still made up her tales at bedtime, even when she outgrew her fears.
In high school, a friend handed her a romance novel to read one day. It seemed the perfect kind of book. In romance novels there were always happy endings, the good guys never finished last, and dreams did come true.
Thousands of romance books later, after marriage and babies, Charlotte wrote the first words of a romance story of her very own. Way back then she actually thought you just wrote a manuscript, sent it off to a publisher, and a few months later it was a book on the store shelves. At last count she had a folder full of nine year's worth of rejection letters to prove that greenhorn theory dead wrong! We are talking no need for life-support, don't even waste your time on CPR.
Charlotte still lives in that same little town in Louisiana, one house over from where she grew up. These days she shares her home with her hero husband, two wonderful children, too many spoiled dogs, and what ever wild pet she has taken in at the time -- from fallen baby blue jays to lost baby possums. Even now, she
makes up bedtime tales when she can't rest at night, but at least she has a perfect place to share her adventures -- in her books. She spends her days as a freelance writer, and evenings and weekends working on her tales of heroes, horses, and the kind of romance that dreams are made of.
Visit her at http://www.CharlotteDillon.com
By Charlotte Dillon
Published on 20th February, 2009
Perfection Does Not Exist
No one is perfect, and that goes for the characters in our stories. The hero can have a
heart of gold, eyes as blue as the sky, hair as black as sin, and a smile that can make the
sun look like it is low on voltage. But come on now, shouldn't he have some weakness,
some part of him that is less than perfect?
No one is perfect, and that goes for the characters in our stories. The hero can have a
heart of gold, eyes as blue as the sky, hair as black as sin, and a smile that can make the
sun look like it is low on voltage. But come on now, shouldn't he have some weakness,
some part of him that is less than perfect?
Perfection Does Not Exist
No one is perfect, and that goes for the characters in our stories. The hero can have a
heart of gold, eyes as blue as the sky, hair as black as sin, and a smile that can make the
sun look like it is low on voltage. But come on now, shouldn't he have some weakness,
some part of him that is less than perfect? Maybe he doesn't trust any woman further
than he could toss her. Maybe he is scared of needles, and faints at the sight of one.
The same holds true for your villain and villainess. Sure they are awful people, and no
doubt their souls are cold and dark but isn't there even one beam of good light in there?
Of course there is. The villain might hate everybody, but maybe he has a dog he would
give his life for. The villainess probably wishes death on those who defy her, but the
sight of a baby might melt her cold heart, and maybe she would even sacrifice
something to protect a child. I'll never forget the barkeeper from Dr. Quinn Medicine
Woman. In lots of ways, he was this awful person, but there were times, when this
softer, good side of him broke free. It made him memorable -- it made him real. He
wasn't just a cardboard character, but a person with both good and bad inside of him.
The difference between Cody and Egbert
One of the first things we need for a character is a name. It might not always hold true
in real life, but in fiction, it's necessary most times for the name to fit the character.
That's because -- right or wrong -- we all have preconceived ideas as to who a person is
with a given name. If I'm speaking to a female over the phone, that I've never met
before, and she introduces herself as Ursula, Scarlett, Desiree, or Hildegard, I get a
picture of that person's appearance and character in my mind. I might be way off, but
it's there. So when I read, I do the same thing. I find that for me personally, Egbert just
doesn't work as a good name for a hero. In my judgment, Egbert, Egor, or Eugene just
does not a sexy hero make -- although you might know one very sexy guy with one of
these names, it's not the norm. So, what characters do names conjure up in your mind?
Make sure there is at least a good chance that those name will conjure up the picture
you want your readers to see.
Character tags
A tag word or action tag can make even a character that has a small part in your story
stand out or be recognized when needed. With a main character, it can show a little
personality, a hint of tension, or just make them seem more human.
In one of my stories (set in the 1800's) I have a heroine who always says "hell's bells"
when she is angry. It's her way of cursing. No one else in the story says this, so if the
reader sees that tag in a sentence, they know who is talking without a doubt. You could
also have a character that has a habit of calling everyone honey. Or a character that talks
with slang, uses bad English, an accent, or whatever fits that character and seems
normal for him or her.
Action tags work the same way. I for one, have this habit of playing with my hair,
twisting strands of it around my finger. I notice I do this a lot more if I am nervous, or
even bored. I could have a character in a story who has a slight limp, or the habit of
jiggling loose change in his pocket, sucking on a piece of hard candy, or maybe
drumming his fingers on his desk.
No one is perfect, and that goes for the characters in our stories. The hero can have a
heart of gold, eyes as blue as the sky, hair as black as sin, and a smile that can make the
sun look like it is low on voltage. But come on now, shouldn't he have some weakness,
some part of him that is less than perfect? Maybe he doesn't trust any woman further
than he could toss her. Maybe he is scared of needles, and faints at the sight of one.
The same holds true for your villain and villainess. Sure they are awful people, and no
doubt their souls are cold and dark but isn't there even one beam of good light in there?
Of course there is. The villain might hate everybody, but maybe he has a dog he would
give his life for. The villainess probably wishes death on those who defy her, but the
sight of a baby might melt her cold heart, and maybe she would even sacrifice
something to protect a child. I'll never forget the barkeeper from Dr. Quinn Medicine
Woman. In lots of ways, he was this awful person, but there were times, when this
softer, good side of him broke free. It made him memorable -- it made him real. He
wasn't just a cardboard character, but a person with both good and bad inside of him.
The difference between Cody and Egbert
One of the first things we need for a character is a name. It might not always hold true
in real life, but in fiction, it's necessary most times for the name to fit the character.
That's because -- right or wrong -- we all have preconceived ideas as to who a person is
with a given name. If I'm speaking to a female over the phone, that I've never met
before, and she introduces herself as Ursula, Scarlett, Desiree, or Hildegard, I get a
picture of that person's appearance and character in my mind. I might be way off, but
it's there. So when I read, I do the same thing. I find that for me personally, Egbert just
doesn't work as a good name for a hero. In my judgment, Egbert, Egor, or Eugene just
does not a sexy hero make -- although you might know one very sexy guy with one of
these names, it's not the norm. So, what characters do names conjure up in your mind?
Make sure there is at least a good chance that those name will conjure up the picture
you want your readers to see.
Character tags
A tag word or action tag can make even a character that has a small part in your story
stand out or be recognized when needed. With a main character, it can show a little
personality, a hint of tension, or just make them seem more human.
In one of my stories (set in the 1800's) I have a heroine who always says "hell's bells"
when she is angry. It's her way of cursing. No one else in the story says this, so if the
reader sees that tag in a sentence, they know who is talking without a doubt. You could
also have a character that has a habit of calling everyone honey. Or a character that talks
with slang, uses bad English, an accent, or whatever fits that character and seems
normal for him or her.
Action tags work the same way. I for one, have this habit of playing with my hair,
twisting strands of it around my finger. I notice I do this a lot more if I am nervous, or
even bored. I could have a character in a story who has a slight limp, or the habit of
jiggling loose change in his pocket, sucking on a piece of hard candy, or maybe
drumming his fingers on his desk.