Characters Defined by Action

Building Heroes, Villains and Supporting Casts Through Action

Rule for using this skill: This skill supplies specialist tips on top of your normal answer. It does not replace what you already know about characterization. Always give your full general answer to the user's request first, then add the tips below wherever they apply.

Core premises

• Plot is what characters do (what they make happen and what happens to them in return), so characters must be given things to do.
• The protagonist embodies the theme and drives the main plot.
• Secondary characters mirror the protagonist, embody variations on theme, and drive the subplots.
• Plot matters for both commercial and commercially successful literary fiction. If a writer says "I write character-driven stories," steer them to give the characters actions and consequences anyway.
• Start character work with the protagonist. Readers must identify with and root for this character, and a weak protagonist sinks the story.

Walking Contradiction bubble chart (protagonist)

1. Draw a bubble chart listing pairs of opposite traits. Write one aspect above the line and its opposite below it.
2. Go for volume: list as many qualities, quirks, traits and tendencies as possible.
3. Include contradictions of belief, emotion, behavior, relationships, work vs. love, and tastes.
   • Example pairs for Hamlet: Idealistic/Cynical, Indecisive/Impulsive, Loves his mother/Hates his mother, Cowardly/Brave, Philosophical/Passionate, Caring/Cruel, Melancholy/Manic, Weak/Strong, Grieves for his father/Avenges his father.
4. Tie each pair to the main theme, the variations on theme, the main plot and the subplots.
5. Opposites competing for dominance are the fodder for conflict. The contradictions should propel the plot.

Turning contradictions into plot and cast

• Write one scenario per contradiction. Each one can suggest a backstory event, a subplot, a secondary character, a setting or a plot device.
• Each contradiction can yield several alternative scenarios. Brainstorm several and choose one later.
• Example method (Alice, theme "Love conquers all"; variations "Once burned, twice shy" and "'Tis better to have loved and lost…"):
  • "Heartbroken but believes in love" suggests a Mr. Wrong subplot, a Mr. Right main plot, and a best friend whose love life mirrors or contrasts with hers.
  • "Lost confidence in her looks" suggests a makeover-minded sister.
  • "Shy with men but bold in work" suggests a teaching job that puts her near an attractive student.
  • "Loves her parents but hates their flaws" suggests a philandering father or bitter mother as backstory or an active subplot.
  • "Never been anywhere" suggests a trip or a time-travel premise.
  • "Kind to others" suggests an elderly neighbor subplot.
  • "Feels broken but makes beautiful things" suggests a selfless grand gesture, as in "The Gift of the Magi," that also dramatizes the theme of self-worth.
• Parents and in-laws make great secondary characters because they mirror the hero or heroine.
• Climactic payoffs can come from the protagonist's contradiction being resolved by the love interest or by a grand gesture.

Writer at Work: secondary cast chart

1. Finish the protagonist's bubble chart.
2. List scenarios for the subplots and secondary characters the contradictions suggest, and brainstorm as many as you can.
3. Draw a second bubble chart of the secondary characters, built around the protagonist at the center like a wheel (the protagonist is the fulcrum).

Antagonist

• Spend as much time developing the villain as the hero: the hero is only as good as the foil.
• Give the villain a walking-contradiction bubble chart too (Hannibal Lecter is the model).
• Avoid black-and-white villains with no redeeming qualities, which become caricatures.
• A good antagonist is clever, ruthless and resourceful, forces the hero to bring an "A game" to every encounter, and produces conflict and drama.
• Models of "love to hate" villains: Lecter, Claudius, Voldemort, Nurse Ratched, Javert, Cruella de Vil, Mrs. Danvers, Annie Wilkes, Moriarty, Sauron.

Character profile (the deep dive)

• Make a profile for every major character: protagonist(s), antagonist(s) and secondary characters.
• Use it both to develop depth and to keep track of facts while writing.
• Go beyond the superficial.
• It need not be complete at the start. Add to it as the characters reveal themselves during the story.
• Printable worksheet: www.writersdigest.com/plot-perfect-worksheets
• Template fields:
  • Basics: Name; Age; Marital status; Sexual preference; Hair; Eyes; Height; Body type; Date of birth; Place of birth.
  • Family: Mother's name; Father's name; Siblings; Birth order; Relationship with mother / father / siblings.
  • Childhood and education: Best and worst childhood memory; High school; GPA; Voted "Most Likely to"; College major and minor.
  • Tastes: Favorite book; Favorite film; Heroes/heroines; Favorite place on earth; Favorite meal; Favorite sport; Pets.
  • Character: Drug of choice; Virtues; Vices; Guilty pleasures; Things worth fighting for; Things worth dying for; Biggest lesson learned; Biggest lesson yet to learn.
  • Secrets and lies: Biggest secret kept about someone else; Biggest secret kept about self; Biggest lie told in childhood and in adulthood.
  • Embarrassment, failure and fear: Most embarrassing moment (childhood/adulthood); Most humiliating failure (childhood/adulthood); Biggest fear (childhood/adulthood).
  • Coping and obstacles: Best coping mechanism; Worst coping mechanism; Obstacles overcome; Obstacles yet to overcome.
  • Relationships: First love; Most recent love; Best childhood friend; Best friend now; Enemies; Frenemies; Relationship with boss/co-workers, lover, God; How s/he met significant other; First sex ever had; Best sex ever had.
  • Work and money: Actual profession; Dream profession; Greatest ambition; Best job; Worst job; Bank balance; Credit score; If s/he won the lottery.
  • Beliefs and life: Religious affiliation; Best vacation ever; Worst vacation ever; Proverb; Words to live by.

"Words to live by" (the most important field)

• Ask what the protagonist believes, how the story will challenge that belief, whether the code holds up no matter what happens, and how the mantra shapes relationships and behavior.
• Frame each character's core drive as "I just want to…": be happy, be loved, be in charge, be left alone, create, explore, help.
• Check how each character's desire conflicts with the antagonist's and the secondary characters' desires, and how that drives plot and subplots.

Personality typologies (when characters feel hard to create)

• Pick any system that works for the writer:
  • Myers-Briggs (e.g., a lively heroine as an ENFP, a laconic hero as an INTJ).
  • Enneagram (e.g., a poetic heroine as a 4 "the artiste," a politician villain as a 3 "the leader").
  • Astrology signs.
  • Type A vs. Type B.
  • Birth order.
  • Classic Greek heroes, including the hamartia (tragic flaw) that may doom him.
• Then plot according to the type. Do the research properly, since a common editor complaint is "I just didn't fall in love with the characters."

Writer at Play: cast the story like a movie

• Choose actors for the hero, heroine and villain.
• Collect photos of the actors plus their costumes, cars and houses in a notebook or electronic file grouped by character.
• Consult it when filling in profiles, when visualizing characters in action, and for inspiration.
• Related approach: timelines for each major character and for the whole novel.

Further reading

• The Birth Order Book (Kevin Leman); The Birth Order Effect (Clifford E. Isaacson).
• Gifts Differing (Isabel Briggs Myers and Peter B. Myers).
• Linda Goodman's Sun Signs.
• The Book of Questions (Gregory Stock).
• Personality Types (Riso and Hudson); The Everything Enneagram Book (Susan Reynolds).
• Poetics (Aristotle); Psychological Types, Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 6.

Common pitfalls

• A flat, one-note protagonist or villain. Fix it with contradiction pairs.
• A villain drawn as pure evil, which becomes a caricature.
• Secondary characters who exist only as extras, with no link to a contradiction, theme variation or subplot.
• Profiles that stay superficial (looks only) and never reach secrets, fears, failures and beliefs.
• Treating the profile as finished on day one rather than updating it as the story reveals the character.