interesting characters

by Gustavo
(the hague,netherlands)

Think of how you would you be if you were the character you describe. Make him/her as interesting as possible by adding unnecessary and funny facts about him/her. It will make your characters much better.

Comments for interesting characters

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Jun 20, 2012
Character revealed
by: Audrey

Humour often adds an engaging element to your story.

I'm not so sure what you mean by "unnecessary facts." In general, I don't encourage writers to use one unnecessary word. Everything in the story must serve a purpose. Details help to build an image of who a character is.

Not all details are equally important. I think so often of Paulette Bourgeois who writes about Franklin, a young turtle. Her books begin, "Franklin could count by twos and tie his shoes."

These are facts of great interest to the child audience. They tell the reader a great deal about Franklin: his age, his intellect, and his manual dexterity. They also tell the reader that Franklin is working on growing up. They young reader immediately identifies with Franklin as a possible classmate or neighborhood friend. What follows in each story, is something Franklin is not so good at or a worry he has. This also helps the reader to identify with Franklin, only this time, with his weaknesses.

I would not call these facts unnecessary, but carefully chosen and edited down to the bare bones to get the job done.

Well chosen details about characters reveal something beyond them actual details themselves. Readers like to know what someone looks like and how old the character is. Readers need to know those things early enough to keep the readers from creating in accurate images that have to be erased. Beyond the basics, readers enjoy facts that reveal important aspects of the character without having them spelled out through telling.


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