Slipping Beneath the Skin: Thoughts on Conjuring Characters

Originally posted on PORTALS AND PATHWAYS:

Every author has favorite parts of the writing process, or particular strengths or weaknesses. One of my passions in storytelling is characterization. I don’t like reading books about one-dimensional characters who act like their personalities came off of statistic sheets in a Dungeons and Dragons game, and I don’t write people like that, either.

Yes, I said ‘write people.’ That’s the key to good characterization—don’t ‘create characters.’ Characters are the marks that appear on your screen when you strike the keys on your keyboard. The men, women, or creatures in your story should be more than that—so write people.

“How do I do that?” you might be wondering. “They’re made up, right?”

The people in your stories might not be literally walking around in flesh and blood and three dimensions, but if your reader can’t believe that they could be, then your story is on the way to being dead…

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