Is it the intricacies of the Civil War that we remember, or is it Rhett and Scarlet?
And do you remember James Bond, or each of his adventures? And who was the
best Bond? Sean Connery? Pierce Brosnan? Timothy Dalton? Maybe
Roger Moore?
We could have an entertaining discussion about the various Bonds and what each actor
brought to the role. We might even have fun talking about the various Bond villains.
But how many of the plot nuances do we remember? I think it's James himself,
with his wit, cunning, tuxedos, martinis, technical savvy, in short, his character, that
keeps us coming back for more.
Many of us use charts to form an image of our characters (and to keep the pesky eye and
hair color details straight <g>). But creating charts and clipping pictures is
only the first step toward creating memorable heroes and heroines.
In order for a character to succeed in fiction, the reader needs to care about your
character, needs to have a stake in what happens to the character.
So how do we make the reader care? By having the courage to move beyond the
superficial and into the real. Our characters must seem like real people to our
readers. It's our job as writers to create characters so compelling that our reader
will stay up late at night, turning pages.
Here are some areas to consider when digging into your character's psyche:
*Values. Ask your hero and heroine what they value most. Is it peace of mind?
Justice? Adventure? Freedom? Security? Power?
Success?
Picture your hero's best friend from high school showing up with an airplane and
suggesting an afternoon of sky diving. After all, said friend earned his wings
yesterday, and he's sure he can figure out where to fly the plane so your hero can have a
great jump.
Your hero's decision may be based on what he values, rather than what he'd like to do.
If, for example, he values family and he's raising his parent-less niece, he'll say
no, even if his friend razzes him unmercifully. On the other hand, if your hero
values adventure and has no responsibilities, he may say, "Let's do it!"
Better yet, have him make a decision based on values and fears . . .
*Greatest Fears. Knowing what your character fears is great, that way you can make
'em face it, while gleefully rubbing your hands together in evil delight. I'm
thinking of Indiana Jones and his fear of snakes. Doesn't his fear make the snake
pit scene all that more chilling?
Going back to our previous scenario, consider that you have a hero who's terrified of
jumping from planes. But what if he has a friend (or the heroine) who has been taken
hostage in a remote country. Because he values duty, he will jump from that plane.
While phobias are a great area to explore, so, too are emotional fears, for example: the
fear of being alone, of being unloved, of not being accepted, of being out of control.
*The Past. The events of the past shaped us into the people we are today. The
same is true for our characters. Were they neglected as children? Did they
grow up too fast? Were they spoiled and pampered? And how does that impact
them today?
Going back to our hero, the one who doesn't want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane
. . . What if the last time he jumped from a plane, he broke his femur, was
unable to defend himself against the terrorists who tracked him and was taken hostage?
What if another of his fears is of being captured and isolated again? And
what if you, as the writer, force him to face that again?
In many romance novels, your hero and heroine's past relationships have left behind
emotional scars, and this is definitely an area you should mine.
If your heroine had planned a huge wedding, with three hundred people in attendance, only
to be left at the altar, would she be anxious to repeat the experience? If she
values family, she might be willing to face her greatest fear of losing her independence .
. . if marrying her godchild's uncle is the only way for her to keep in contact with the
child who means the world to her. All of this brings us to:
*Conflict. The heart of any good romance is conflict. Compelling conflict can
be created by taking each character's values, fears and past experiences and putting them
into action, against each other.
Conflict is not disagreements over day to day items, such as the hero being a vegetarian
while the heroine is a carnivore. Conflict is disagreement over something so
intrinsic to the characters that it cannot possibly be taken out and have the book still
stand. (That's one reason the land developer story-which I love <g>-is not a
great one for romance. If she wasn't a developer and he wasn't a conservationist,
their conflict would vanish.) Conflict equals emotional vulnerability. It
means that each character exposes his or her innermost thoughts and emotions to each
other, and to us, the reader.
As we remember Rhett and Scarlet, let's not forget that their backgrounds and
personalities made for wonderful characterization, the same kind we can create in our
novels . . .
Christy Lockhart is the award-winning author of nine books from Silhouette Books,
including her recent Desire, One Snowbound Weekend . . . . Christy will also be the
guest speaker at Colorado Romance Writers's July 14, 2001 meeting where she will discuss
characterization and plotting. She invites you to visit her website:
www.christylockhart.com or to email her at: christy@christylockhart.com