At the end of last year, I completed the first draft of a novel. When I returned to edit the manuscript a few months later, I discovered that several of the characters felt a bit one dimensional, and I needed to develop them further.
But what was the best way to make them truly come alive on the page? What ingredients did my characters need?
I’ve studied many books on plotting and the craft of writing, but I realized that I’d never done a deep study of characters. So I decided to examine the techniques of masterful writers across the ages.
What makes characters like Bilbo Baggins, the March sisters, Peter Pan, and Ebenezer Scrooge unforgettable, even apart from their stories? My study of various classics revealed that there are certain attributes the great writers employ to make their characters feel fully human.
A character’s name, hobbies, clothing, catchphrases, and so much more are all important aspects for giving a window into their soul, advancing the plot, and developing the themes of the story.
I studied how writers use each of these elements to create characters that readers deeply care about. For example, Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland is one of the most famous characters in children’s literature. His waistcoat, watch, and spectacles have become iconic.
In an 1887 article “Alice on the Stage,” Carroll explained that he wrote the White Rabbit as a contrast to Alice. He notes,
For her ‘youth’, ‘audacity’, ‘vigour’, and ‘swift directness of purpose’, read ‘elderly’, ‘timid’, ‘feeble’, and ‘nervously shilly-shallying’, and you will get something of what I meant him to be. I think the White Rabbit should wear spectacles. I am sure his voice should quaver, and his knees quiver, and his whole air suggest a total inability to say ‘Bo’ to a goose.
Notice that Carroll says the White Rabbit should wear spectacles as an indication of his personality. It is through these articles of clothing, his manner of speaking, and his nervousness that Carroll is able to bring his character to life.
I’ve been organizing the notes from my study and writing them up as essays for a guide on how to develop characters for fiction or even for nonfiction memoirs. At this point, it’s starting to grow into a small course. I’d love to hear if you have any particular struggles or questions about developing characters that I can explore in an upcoming blog post or in the guide.
It’s a fun adventure, and I’m looking forward to sharing more in the coming months. And I’m also planning to dive back into my fiction writing over the holidays and experiment with what I’ve learned.
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