Ensuring realistic character development in your writing.

Now we all know the story. JK Rowling was sitting on a train, dirt broke, with nothing but a golf pencil and half a legal pad. As if by magick, a character appears in the corner of her mind. An orphaned boy with a mop of black hair and a lightning shaped scar. So, do you have a four hour train ride in which to develop a character that will have a devoted following? No is probably your answer. In which case, I think these statements are the best thing to ruminate on in regards to creating a character that everyone will love, admire, and want to read more about.

1) Is your character omnipresent?

Yes, you are the narrator and the bringer of the fiction. This world in which you create will bring an orgasmic explosion of ideas we have never seen before in all of human existence. Your impatience is understandable. However, your main character? He shouldn't know how the story ends and he shouldn't be pushing the plot along. Your main character and your reader are pretty much on the same level, plot-wise.

Good example: Jim Qwilleran from The Cat Who series.

2) Can your character play every instrument known to humans and other societies?

Hey, look! It's Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Isn't he great at playing the guitar? Yes, he is awesome at the guitar. He can wail that bad boy. Wait! What is he doing? Is that Oz on the drums now? Well, that's awesome. But how is playing the trombone as well?

You see, in fandoms, Oz is a guitar player. That is what he does well. Likewise, your character should not be able to play every instrument known to all societies. Does he want to pick up another and learn it? That's great. But a ninja doesn't get a black belt in one day either.

3) Is your character carrying a little black raincloud over his head?

It's time to be emo! Oh whoa is me. My father and mother were run over by a horse cart. My puppy just ran away! I am the beginnings of a country song! Wow, your character sure has some back story to him or her. Yeah, and we get that there's a lot of ground to cover. But, you've got sequels to drop hints throughout and villains to exploit. Give it to me all in one shot? I probably won't be able to sit through a book that feels like a character encyclopedia.

A good example: Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.

4) Does your character like to rant?

Society sucks. We know this. There are lots of things we'd like to fix and a character is a great way to voice an opinion about marriage or abortion or religion or just whatever old topic grates your cheese. But, unless your character is a politician (and, lets be honest, even they take a break from rhetoric), the audience can accept things in small doses. Well, unless they are fans of a sparkly vampire of sorts.

An example of how to do it: Garfield, the lasagne loving cat from the comics.

5) My character is a fanboy...how about yours?

Okay, Martin Luther King Jr. You have a dream of pairing this original character with someone that seems vaguely familiar from your favorite show. That's good, that's a great start. But are you sure you want the pair to fall in love right away or fight right away (only to make up later)?

I totally understand. I create original characters all the time to pair with Angel or Chris Keller, but that does not mean that Angel or Chris Keller should totally melt at our awesome original characters either.

Now, while we're on the subject, lets discuss what I call the "Potter syndrome" when creating a vaguely familiar love interest: Such as these qualities in one "original" character: with hair like Tonks and Snape's patronus, don't forget to throw in that they are Harry's mysterious twin at Hogwarts that moved to England from America. Thats bad. Imagine Neville Longbottom like that!

An example of bad fangirling: Bella from the Twilight series

6) So, is your character going to fly through this room without getting hit by a bullet?

Imagine that you are on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Your continuing mission is to fight evil throughout the galaxy while never getting your unitard dirty. When your vessel comes under attack and you are space boarded, everyone gets into the battle! But what is this? Your phaser is on the other side of these deadly beam bullets? The answer is obvious! It's time to unleash your never before seen awesome mad kung fu skills that help you to weave between all these bullets and gives you time to shoot every enemy without wounding a single comrade! That is for the win, right? No, no it's not. Yes, you may be the main character, but you can't really do it alone.

A plot example: The end of the first half of the Deathstalker series by Simon R. Green, at the court of the Empress Lioncourt XIV.

7) What is that character's favorite color?

You know how we have those memes on livejournal where we talk about what ice cream flavors we wouldn't miss if the world ended or show pairings that make us giggle with glee like Japanese fangirls when a new pair of long stockings come out? Yeah, don't tell me you never fill one of those out. Likewise, for your main character or any character to be real, think about that. Perhaps they live on ramen noodles. Perhaps they obsess over vanilla scented candles. Perhaps the color red reminds them of Dad's old dirt bike. It's going to be the little things that bring a smile to your reader's face and help them identify with the character.

An example of an odd character I identify with: Rorshack from the Watchmen

8) Are we going somewhere with this?

Hey, so you totally just finished the trilogy of Lord of the Rings in one massive sitting. You are feeling uber-inspired to write the next 500 page American novel! You imagine the glamour of the awards and prizes being showered upon you! Then, you sit down to write. For the next three pages, you channel Margaret Mitchell and set the scene of the plantation without ever mentioning a single name or having a single conversation. Now imagine reading those first three pages. Do we even meet a character in this story?

A good/bad example, depending upon your point of view: The plot of Gone With the Wind (the book)

9) Is your character carrying a brick to hit us on the head with?

So, this door right in front of us is important. Having your character stare at the grain at wood with apprehension? This is a good thing. Spending four pages as your character has a flashback? You might want to rethink it. Eventually, whatever is on the other side of that door will come out. Even if it is just a duck of doom that takes all your jewelery, I'd rather the jewelery be gone. We can all be sullen and shout "Khan!" together in the next scene.

A good example of a reoccurring side character that does not carry bricks: Bob the Skeleton of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

10) Does your character look to please everyone?

My character is going to be a ninja robot from the future that was once a prize-winning Great Dane mystery solving murderer prison warden! That is an awesome idea for about nineteen characters. Am I going to relate to that type of person? Are any of your fantasies or actual fictions going to fit that character? Eventually, don't you think that it's going to get a bit nauseating with an air of superiority simply because they do know everything? Yeah. Don't be that author. In an effort to find the genre that fits everyone, you will also end up alienating everyone. Don't be that author.

An example of someone who was that author and made it work: Jessica Fletcher, the woman who takes a vacation (or not) and everyone dies around her, played by Angela Lansbury and into reruns on the Hallmark Channel.

The more observant among you will have noticed a theme here. That's because a theme like this bears repeating. I love reading awesome characters. But I love reading awesome characters with flaws. From the mad murderer Kid Carson in the Deathstalker series to Nikolai, the long haired shaman professor created by my dear friend lit_gal on livejournal, and even to Neville Longbottom, yes, that Neville Longbottom, I want to watch a character grow and change. I want to be surprised, I want to be intrigued. Most of all, I don't just want to read another character that seems homo-superior to my homo-sapien.