Bring Me to Life | How to Write Realistic Fictional Characters

As mentioned in my guide to writing good dialogue, great literature requires that we, the readers, do not see the wizard behind the curtain.

In order for a reader to become absorbed and enraptured by a work of fiction, he or she has to believe in the reality of the story’s world - despite the fact that logic tells him or her that it is all a figment of the author’s imagination.

A fancy term for this surrender of logic and, albeit temporary, belief in a factional world is called ‘willing suspension of disbelief’. As the phrase suggests, it is our willingness, usually unconsciously, to suspend the, “Oh c'mon, that would never happen!” reflex and engage in the fantasy of a creative work.

How do you get someone to willingly suspend his or her disbelief? Well, according to Samuel Taylor Coleridge (who coined the phrase), a work of fantasy must have “human interest and a semblance of truth,” in order for the implausible facets to be overlooked by a reader.

The benefit of observing and listening to people simply cannot be overstated. In order to write well-rounded characters, you’ll typically need more than your imagination to go on. And even if you think your imagination has been working out just fine, you’ll quickly see that truth really is stranger than fiction.

Opportunities for people watching are abound and you’ll be surprised what you can see and hear from people who are just going about their daily business. Most of the time, we don’t pay much attention to strangers and we tend to zone out the background noise of conversation. If you don’t already do so, I urge you to put up your antennae when you are:

• On public transport
• In a restaurant or café
• Doing the weekly shop
• Sitting in a park
• Or anywhere else for that matter

Turn off the ipod and really take the time to absorb the characteristics, speech patterns, foibles and eccentricities of the people that inhabit this peculiar world of ours. It’s a great idea to carry a notebook or some other writing tool, so that you can scribble down anything you find particularly interesting - don’t rely on your memory, because it may fail you.

In order to write a believable character, you must believe in him or her. Let’s face it, if you’re not convinced your characters are real, how can you expect any one else to? No, I’m not suggesting all authors have psychotic episodes, but it is a widely accepted truth that good characters take on lives of their own.

In my opinion, if your character begins to do things that you didn’t expect him or her to and takes the story in a different direction to the one you planned, that’s a great thing. You may have to rein the unruly character in a bit, but if they seem to be gaining a life of their own, it, usually, means that they’re going to read believably.

So, how do you get to the point where you believe a character is real? Well, simply enough, you just need to get to know them. And the good news is that, because the characters are your creation, getting to know them is a fairly straightforward business. I’m talking about giving your characters a life, a past - think about these things:

• Where did he or she grow up?
• What were his or her parents’ professions?
• When was his or her first kiss?
• What did he or she want to be when they were growing up?
• Which famous figure from history does he or she admire most?
• How tall is he or she?
• Does he or she have any brother or sisters - if so, where are they?

The list can go on and on. Chances are, some, if not all, of these things are irrelevant to the story, but they help you to build a picture of each character. Your reader will never know that your protagonist’s sister was horribly mauled by sloth on a daytrip to the zoo, but it helps you to get inside her head.

It may seem silly, it may even seem like a waste of time. However, by filling the blanks of your characters lives, they stop being just words on a page and start to be whole people. So, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when writing a fictional character is that no real person is straightforward. Every single person I’ve met has been complicated and, often, contradictory. For example, I knew a woman who was desperate to get married, but was frightened of commitment. I once met a man who loathed tomatoes, but loved tomato puree.

In order to create characters who are believable, they have to be equally contrary and complex. In fact, what you might find is that you have to tone down some of these peculiarities, lest they seem ’too far fetched’.

Above all, remember that your characters are your babies. You don’t have to follow any ‘rules’ for them to be realistic, you simply have to ensure that at their core there is truth and human interest. Have fun with them!