Creating characters who live

 Jeanette Grant-Thomson

Have you ever written a story and found one of your characters stays alive in your mind afterwards?

Once I would have been a bit cynical about this concept but since writing Lantern Light, I’ve had Dave and his trek on my mind occasionally. Of course, I loved the PNG jungle. But Dave feels like a character who has more to say. Perhaps this is why some authors write series.

Actually, when I first read Jane Harper’s The Dry, the first book with Aaron Falk as the protagonist, I found him a bit flat, too many closed doors in his emotions. A rather boring central character. So I was delighted when he began to develop emotionally in Force of Nature and then came right through to being real in Exiles.

Apparently the first appearance of Don Tillman (Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project character) was in the short story The Klara Project, which is typically funny. Presumably Simsion considered Don a character with plenty more to say.

Of course, many authors have created wonderful characters who really live right from their first novel. For example, McCall Smith’s Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are very ‘alive’, even with their exaggerated quirks. And I always enjoy Dorothy Sayers’ Peter Wimsey, who develops a lot more depth in the four books covering his relationship with Harriet.

I remember chatting with a friend about McCall Smith. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I don’t know. Sometimes I think a lot of my prose is almost as good as McCall Smith’s. (Oops, pride!) And he’s making millions and I’m … not.

Friend (smiling): Well you didn’t create Mma Ramotswe!

Hmm! And I do like character-driven dramas. Time to try harder. Some of my characters have been more real than others. How about you? Do you feel yours come to life?

Some people prefer writing in the first person, so we know the protagonist’s innermost thoughts and feelings. This can be a way of making characters come alive but it’s important to make the narrator likeable, so people want to spend book-length time with him/her – except in rare cases where the narrator’s character adds something different to the plot.

But briefly back to Dave. I can't tell you where or how Dave is at the end, without spoiling the story. But what if ... and there are so many 'sliding doors' moments (you know, the 1998 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow) with Dave and his crazy jungle trek.


Of course this is all imagination and he's only a character in Lantern Light - but I like to imagine various other outcomes as well.


So I'll probably deal with Dave in a short story or two. Lay him to rest - or give him eternal life if the stories end up a roaring success! Tessa deserves another story as well. They may turn up with different names in short stories, like whole new characters.

For those who may find character building is NOT your strongest point, here are a few suggestions I find helpful:

I find it good to have a few salient points, but not too many details, about the characters’ appearance so I can visualise them easily but quickly. Other writers may prefer to leave it to the reader to create the protagonist themselves. That may seem more real to them.

But for me – for example, I love Janette Turner Hospital’s book, Due Preparations for the Plague. The main protagonists in this complex novel are Lowell and Samantha. Although we follow them through hair-raising adventures, I don’t think we are ever given any hint to their appearance. JTH has left it to us readers to create these characters’ appearance as we read. I’d prefer a few hints as we are well acquainted with their motivations, emotions, thoughts and actions. But the novel is good enough without the externals. It’s probably a deliberate ploy on Hospital’s part to go in-depth. For example, what’s Samantha like? She’s a hurting, determined, loyal, driven girl. Her eyes and hair? Well …? (Incidentally, for those readers like me who prefer a cleanish read, if I had edited DPFTP, I’d have deleted one revolting image.)

I find it best to introduce aspects of the characters’ appearance naturally, rather than giving a deliberate detailed description of them. E.g. Ali combs her long wet hair after her shower. Tessa gets a traditional description as one of the important things about her role in this story is her beauty and attractiveness. Dave’s appearance comes in little phrases like ‘a wavy brown lock’ of his growing-longer hair.

Of course, the traditional questions you ask about your characters are: what is his/her main goal at the moment? And what are his biggest obstacles and fears?

If you’re doing deep POV with your character, try to use as many of your five senses as are suitable. What can she see? Hear? Smell? Touch? Perhaps even taste? And is she feeling at peace inwardly? Or does something niggle? And other aspects of her emotions, e.g. fears.

If you’re not sure about how real your protagonist is, you may wish to try putting him/her into a totally different situation and then writing about the character in this situation. Deal with her reactions, feelings, thoughts, what she says, does, etc. It’s fun to choose a dramatic scene like: She is swimming with several friends. The lifesavers call a warning over the loud speaker that a shark has been spotted, so ‘Get out of the water immediately’. One of the girls or boys is a poor swimmer. What does your protagonist do, say, feel, think?

Do you feel your characters live? I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on this whole subject.

Jeanette Grant-Thomson is a Moreton-based author who has been writing and having work of various types published since her early childhood. River Song is her seventh published book-length novel. Her favourite of her own novels is Lantern Light, but Jodie’s Story, in its third edition, is a best seller.

Jeanette enjoys the country, mountains and beach as well as having coffee with friends. You can find her books at  www.facebook.com/jeanette.grantthomson or in many shops including Koorong.