It is so important for a reader to form an attachment to the characters right away. You may have a great plot, but it is the characters that are going to carry the story, it is through the characters' eyes that the reader will view the world you're creating. If I don't care about character, or what happens to a character during the course of the novel, then I am less inclined to continue reading. I'd like to share a few thoughts about connecting with a character.
1. I will often find that a character feels "stagnant." That is a character(s) will stay the same throughout the story. The MC needs to have goals and motivations, and those goals/motivation need to realistically reflect the personality/voice of a character. Why are they doing what they are doing?
2. The voice for each character should be different!!!!!! For example, a grandmother shouldn't sound like a teenager (that might be an extreme example, but you get the idea). Also, if the voice is too similar for each character, they become almost indistinguishable. The voice should reflect: age, gender, education, and social/economic background...pretty much the voice should show us almost everything about a character.
These are 2 of the biggest things I've noticed, and I hope you'll find this post helpful!
~Jordy
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4 comments:
I totally agree with you. Characters make or break a story for me. Even a stellar plot won't hold me if the characters aren't engaging. Coming up with a unique "voice" is hard if it strays far from the author's natural voice, but totally worth the effort in the end. Great post.
Great post, thanks Jordy!
So true! Characters are definitely the most important! We need people to root for :)
I think writing characters with different dialog habits is so much fun, and it gets even more interesting when you write in deep third person POV. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)
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