Creating Leading Characters In A Novel

A novel’s success ultimately depends on the quality of its leading characters. No matter how interesting the story, or how vivid the description of specific scenes, readers will quickly lose interest unless they feel a deep affinity with the main protagonist. This is no mean fete for the author. Breathing flesh, blood, guts and spirit into a character takes, not only great writing ability, but also a deep understanding of human nature, and an awareness of powerful archetypical characters that inhabit our psyche.

Autobiographical

Most authors create characters that are a blend of fact and fiction. Since authors already have a rich source of data from their own lives, it is little wonder that when it comes to creating life-like characters many of their own traits, dreams, fears, and experiences are transferred to their fictional creations. While research allows authors to go well beyond their own limited experiences, there is little doubt that direct experience of events lends a definite authenticity to a novel.

Areas of Expertise

It is particularly important for an author to have had prior experience of careers or areas of expertise that the character is involved in. In my first novel, Winter Solstice, the main protagonist, Marion, works as a psychologist. When I wrote the novel I was studying psychology, so I had developed a fair knowledge and interest in that career. In my second novel, The Transformation of Yvette, the leading character, Yvette, works as an accountant when the story begins, but later develops an ability to heal and becomes a spiritual healer. In my first job I worked as a trainee accountant and was fully immersed in the world of corporate finance. Much later when I moved to Dublin I trained with the National Federation of Spiritual Healers, and channelled healing for clients for several years. Certainly an author could have researched all of these careers and given a fair account of the character’s work environment and duties, but actually having worked with competitive co-workers in the corporate world, and with vulnerable clients as a spiritual healer, I was more than happy that I had created a realistic work environment for my characters. When an author has had direct experience of working in a similar area to his or her main characters, there’s an ease and fluidity in the narrative that may otherwise be lacking. However, when creating minor characters the attention to detail is usually less important, and research may well provide sufficient information to make the character’s background appear believable. The Internet provides an incredible amount of information that may be sifted through to create realistic careers and experiences for less important characters.

Physical Characteristics

Some authors paint incredibly detailed pictures of their characters, while others mention main details, such as hair colour and height. The main requirement for physical characteristics is to give sufficient information so that readers can visualise the main characters. Also, making sure that characters have some kind of distinguishing features is vital, as readers can easily get mixed up and confused if you give so little thought to physical characteristics that characters simply don’t stand out from each other. Even minor characters need something to distinguish them physically. In Winter solstice, the cameraman who appears several times is described as having a beer-belly, while in The Transformation of Yvette, Joe Green, a retired officer who is obsessed with Yvette, has the annoying habit of dragging the few remaining hairs over his bald head. It is often in the description of individual idiosyncrasies that characters begin to step out of the page and become breathing, living men and women with a past, a present and an unknown future.

Emotions

The key element of all romantic and dramatic novels is the emotional complexity of the characters. Emotions run deep and wide through most literary classics. Readers readily identify with the sobbing, jilted lover, with the innocent young woman who is beguiled by the charismatic older gentleman, with the tormented bride who fears that she is about to marry the wrong man. Most authors choose to describe extremes of human behaviour, and thus the full spectrum of human emotion must also be revealed. Characters usually change and grow through these challenging situations and intense feelings. In The Transformation of Yvette, the main character experiences deep pain and feelings of worthlessness when her boyfriend leaves her. Yet Yvette passes through this dark night of the soul and suddenly emerges as a transformed, joyful woman who becomes a source of inspiration to many.

When an author creates characters who are portrayed as feeling deep, troubled emotions, he or she must have an innate understanding and awareness of his or her own emotional makeup. It is true that even emotional states may be researched and developed based on third party accounts. However, it is difficult to write in sufficient depth about bereavement, separation, rejection, despondency, hatred, or rage, unless these emotions have been felt or at least witnessed firsthand.

Character Development throughout the novel

The plot and character development of dramatic and romantic novels has probably changed little over thousands of years. Deep in the human psyche there are archetypal characters that still invade our nightmares, our dreams, and our creative endeavours. The Goddess, the hero, the witch, the wicked mother, the tyrant, the fairy Godmother, the innocent maiden, the wonderful prince, and the arch-villain all inhabit our subconscious world. Myths and fairytales still intrigue us with their virtuous heroes; with the impossible tasks they must accomplish to save a beloved, a village or a way of life; the raging battles that must be fought against tyranny, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

In today’s novel, character development is as vital as ever to make the reader fall in love with the hero and to seek the destruction of the arch-villain. Leading characters must be shown to grow in strength and stature during the course of the novel. In the early stages an author will describe the character’s current living situation. The main character will be described in terms of physical characteristics, emotional state, and his or her relationship to other characters. Challenges or problems that the main character must battle against are then outlined so that the reader can identify with the character’s predicament. Perhaps like Marion in Winter Solstice, the protagonist needs to discover deep inner healing so that she can finally break through her pain, and awaken to the possibility of a new healthy love. Whether or not the protagonist can triumph over these obstacles, and become stronger and wiser throughout the ordeal, is often the core of a dramatic or romantic novel.

Lucy Costigan is an author and therapist from South-East Ireland. Lucy has written eight books, including Winter Solstice (http://www.wintersolstice.eu), and The Transformation of Yvette (http://www.transformyvette.com). The leading characters in her novels were created to be breathing, flesh and blood people, with deep complex emotional lives, who battle against inner demons to discover their own innate strength and light.

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