Characters Post One

For the next four weeks, I would like to discuss and create characters in several of the primary archetypes. We will define what creates an archetype, what each archetype is, and give each type a chance to dance for us. Think of yourself as a god of the ancient pantheons, your character, a bit of clay, softened for your molding. The characters we create can be new performers to keep on file for future stories or current characters in need of more depth and development.

I will try to find a variety of websites, magazine articles, blogs, podcasts, and books on the subject of character development, as always though I am open to suggestions. If you have a point to raise or an example please feel free to post comments and links.

How important is character in a story? In my writing, the characters do seem to drive the story more than anything. I revel in backstory, maybe a bit too much, I love to manipulate relationships and personality clashes to push the plot. Before we even begin to tear down characters and build great foundations, tell us, how important are the characters in your story? Do the characters matter? How important is your hero? One of the worst pitfalls is to have a hero or primary character whose presence is optional.

Look at a piece you are currently working on and ask; who really needs to be here? Change the genders of primary characters, their relationships, or remove the hero completely, does the story go on? Find an example of a story that contains poor character usage. Find an example of a story that makes exemplary use of characters.