What a Character

What makes a compelling character?

It would be great if there were a definitive answer that question, but of course there’s not  Nonetheless, there are some tried and true things you can do with your characters to make them and their fictional world more engaging for readers.

One of things that it’s useful to remember is that your story is about your characters.  Alfred Hitchcock taught us that the audience—or the reader in our case—cares about the characters. The plot, he continued, is there to give the characters something to care about.  So, one of the tricks to a compelling character is to have your characters care about their story.

This leads to the related ideas of goals, stakes, and obstacles which connect the characters to the action of the story.  

Characters need to have a goal.  Vonnegut once said that every character should want something, even if it’s just a glass of water.  A character drifting through life with no purpose or goal might be realistic, but it’s not going to make a very compelling story nor an interesting character.  At first glance, Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye seems to such a purposeless character, except he does have a goal. It’s revealed in the metaphor of the title, to save children from the corruption and phoniness he sees everywhere in the world.

Next, the goal needs to matter, at least to your character. Something bad needs to happen if the character doesn’t achieve their goal.  These are the stakes. Your character could want something destructive, but must have compelling reasons to desire the goal. An addict seeking a fix, for example, could have competing goals which are both compelling.

Finally, there has to be something standing in the way of achieving the goal, an obstacle.  This could be an internal obstacle, such as the potentially conflicting goals of an addict.  Or the obstacle could be external and structural, such as poverty or social pressure. In Flowers for Algernon, the obstacle arises from the protagonist’s own limited abilities. Of course, the obstacle could be another character, an antagonist, who works against your protagonist. 

Goals and obstacles give rise to conflict.  The outcome of the conflict matters because of the stakes.  This gives rise to tension, the engine that drives your plot. With these in place, readers will understand your characters, what they want, what their challenges are, and why it’s important they succeed.  That connects your characters to the action and is a big step in making them credible.

Not all characters have to be likable.  In some ways, evil antagonists can be the most compelling characters in a story.  Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca comes immediately to mind.

It’s important to reveal character traits, good or bad, through the actions of the characters.  Having your character perform a gratuitous good deed—a “save the cat” moment–is one way to show they are benevolent and thus encourage readers to cheer for their success.  When Evelyn, in Fried Green Tomatoes, decides to befriend the lonely Ninny Threadgoode, she has such a moment.

For an antagonist, the opposite—a “kick the dog” moment—might be the way to go.  The first thing we see Darth Vader doing is torturing the Princess, for example. 

Of course, a “kill the dog moment” could reveal a positive trait. In Old Yeller, for example, it’s an act of mercy that shows strength of character.

Tropes like “save the cat” and “kill the dog” are well-known to screenwriters.  There’s a whole website of TV Tropes that’s well worth scanning.

Goals, stakes, and obstacles are fundamental building blocks for characters, tension, and plot.  Showing character traits is a way to delve deeper and help readers understand who your characters are. Never forget that readers want to get to know your characters they way they get to know people in the real world, through their words and deeds. 

Who’s your most memorable character from fiction?  What makes them memorable?