Big Things and Little Things
Calling All Authors - who want to write incredible characters! Here's a tip from one of my upcoming workshops:
What can you do to make a character unique and memorable? Big things and little things.
Big Things
Memorable, larger-than-life characters do big things. They do things that we ordinary human beings only dream about. This means they could be doing things like saving entire nations, standing up for a local or personal injustice or just mouthing off to the boss the way you'd love to but know you can't get away with because you'd lose your job. You can help your readers live vicariously by creating characters who CAN get away with these kinds of extraordinary feats. When you think in terms of big things, let the character do the thinking for you. For big things take advantage of the character's internal thoughts and feelings. Thinking big and dreaming big are usually things characters do with their internal thoughts because saying them aloud can bring on ridicule from other characters or give away the character's ultimate plan to overcome an antagonist. You can start generating big things by finishing these sentence starters for your characters:
"I will always..."
"I would never..."
For example, suppose your character thinks, "I will always keep this cottage in the family." or, "I would never sell this family heirloom." Then, under pressure and conflict your character must give up the family cottage or sell the family heirloom. This is a big thing. A thing that shows the reader the extent to which the character has been pushed to the extreme level to resolve the conflict. Big things like this rivet readers because they wonder what they would do in a similar situation.
Little Things
Look through the ordinary to find the unusual in your character's experiences. Notice I didn't say to look past the ordinary as in look for something out of the ordinary or something extraordinary. That's the big thing (see above). Instead start with something ordinary, something any reader could connect with and use it as a lens to look through to find the one small thing that points to the character's inner conflict, or if not a conflict then an outlook. A view the character has of himself and what he wants to do right now, or a feeling the character is wrestling with. Often this is an attitude or emotion the character knows he must overcome in order to become a better person or to reach a goal. Most of these are internal things. The little things that have, over time, become obstacles to the character's success or happiness.
For example, what if it's a holiday and the character's family is exchanging gifts. He fusses and is reluctant to open his gifts. "I do it later." Or "You open your gifts. I'll wait." Or "Not right now. I want to eat dinner first." It's a little thing. An ordinary thing. Any character should be able to handle this situation. Just open your gifts. Everyone else is opening their gifts. Eventually, the character is persuaded to open his gifts. He smiles and nods his thanks. What is the reason this character is having so much difficulty with gift-opening? Perhaps it is not explained, but when you read about this scene you will understand that something is bothering this character. You will want to know why he's reluctant to open his gifts.
Your character's voice will come through strongly if you pay attention to these big and little things.
For more great lessons (and personalized feedback on your work) register for my upcoming workshops on Character Voice or Dialogue at Savvy Authors.
