“The whole thing is you’ve got to make them care about somebody.” - Frank Capra
People respond to stories, not because of cool plot twists, but because of an emotional investment in the main characters. We don’t care so much about what’s happening - we care about to whom it is happening to. Stories live and die, succeed or fail, are remembered or forgotten based on the characters that populate it. The longest-running live-action franchise of all time is James Bond. The name of the movie is the name of the character! He gets played by different actors, he gets supplied different gadgets/accessories, and he goes on different missions, but he always prefers his martini shaken, not stirred and he always introduces himself last name, first name, last name.
Marvel is printing more money than the Treasury Department because it is bringing to the screen characters that have been around for 60 years and having them show up in each other’s movies across a shared universe rather than just wait for the sequel with their name on it. The Intellectual Property race going on in the industry right this second is about built-in brand recognition, but it is also about nostalgia for characters that already have some degree of everlasting love. And if you step on that nostalgia, Twitter will come for you. Fans will loudly voice their concerns because they feel an emotional connection to these characters. Just look at what’s happening with the Sonic The Hedgehog release date.
But what if you don’t own any characters that have already been introduced into the marketplace via a bestselling book, cult comic, antique toy, or dusty video game cartridge? What are the next creators, storytellers, and visionaries supposed to do? Build new characters that at least stand the chance of permeating even the smallest corner of pop culture! How are you going to do that? By working just as hard on your characters as you do on the story. Everyone loves to talk about “breaking story,” sometimes they do it in public at their local caffeine depot, sometimes they do it in complete privacy. Writers love to debate their method: Whiteboard or cards? Which software? Which brain food? What kind of music (if any)? But there isn’t enough discussion about how to build a character, until now…
“Stories become complex through the influence of character. It’s character that impinges on the story, dimensionalizes the story, and moves the story in new directions. With all the idiosyncrasies and willfulness of character, the story changes. Character makes the story compelling.“ - Linda Seger
Some folks write character biographies. Some fill out character worksheets. Some write the character in a sample story, before injecting them into the actual story you want to write. A few like to keep a journal in the character’s voice. Great. They are all great. It’s whatever works for you. Really. Try each one, try them all, or try one of the other ways that aren’t coming to mind at the moment. I don’t care. And the audience doesn’t care. We all just want great characters.
Let’s assume you have something in place. Hopefully, you did the work. Nobody wants to see you sweat, they are not interested in how the sausage is made, only how it tastes. The audience/reader will double-check your work when they consume the media you presented to them and, in the end, they will either leave or click away feeling satisfied or empty. So how do you know if you are ready to start writing these characters and set yourself up for the best possible opportunity to succeed?
“Everything I learned about human nature I learned from me.” - Anton Chekov
Who is the character? Do you know their Passion? Fears? Positive traits? External traits? Flaws? Dark Side? Traits admired in others? You better know this and a whole lot more, because analyzing a character this way, you will have a much easier time knowing how to write dialogue for them and how they would react in different situations. That’s how you know if you are ready to start writing those characters, if you can see and hear them talk. Because if you can that means you know their behavior and attitudes. It means you have achieved a level of total empathy and intimacy with your characters that will allow them to come to fully-realized life.
It’s not easy. But that’s the challenge in front of you. And if you want to rise to the occasion and write better characters that’s what you need to do. One of the ways you can check to see if you are on the right track is to apply the thumb test.
The thumb test is when you cover a character's name in your story and you read the dialogue and you challenge yourself to identify which character is speaking based on what they are saying. The test is specifically designed to see if your dialogue is ready or if it still needs to be rewritten, BUT it should also be a part of your character checklist. If you have done the work ahead of time, you’ll know the education, income, family, hobbies, etc. of your character and since all your characters should be different, there’s no way they would all talk the same, right? Don’t be one of those writers where every character sounds just like you. That’s not real life and that’s not writing strong characters.
Think about your favorite characters of all time. What did you like about them? What didn’t you like about them? Did you agree with all the choices they made? What about how they handled themselves when presented with an obstacle or problem? Or how they treated those around them? Did they make you laugh, cry, angry, confused?
Your favorite character is there in your head right now for a reason. And part of the reason is that when they were created, the proper time, preparation, and care was put into making them strong, fully-formed, and nuanced.
Keep this in mind, next time you take a deep breath and exhale it into your next creation.
Parting Thought
Which characters have stayed with you in the days, weeks, and months after you encountered them on paper or on-screen? Leave a comment below!
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Note From Tongal: “Write Stronger Characters" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
