BUILDING A MEMORABLE CHARACTER
Stories do well when they have memorable characters. But how to ensure this? Well, readers like to psychoanalyze characters. So, you want to give them plenty of sequences that showcase the character’s behavior.
For example, let’s say you have a character named Gary. Now, you could say “Gary is biased against SJWs. He always looks for hypocrisy in them, because they make him feel so guilty.” This is fine. There is some sense of who Gary is, but not enough to get those psychoanalytic juices flowing.
On the other hand, a dialogue exchange such as this:
“Hey will you help me out with this email? I need to take my dog out,” said Manny.
“Do it yourself. I’m busy,” replied Gary.
“You’re so selfish.”
“Yeah, don’t act like there’s anyone who isn’t selfish in the end.”
“What do you mean? I volunteer every weekend! It’s pretty clear I’m not selfish! Whereas, you can’t help your own brother with one small email.”
“Yeah, and then you score brownie points off it when you need something, like you’re doing now. I hate saints who keep score of favors and use it as leverage to attack others. Prick.”
Now THIS paints a much stronger image of Gary as someone who can be psychoanalyzed on just how much he is biased towards SJWs.
The general rule is to include lots of incidents that showcase the character’s behavior. Give the readers real, actionable behavior to psychoanalyze and you have yourself a memorable character.
MAKING SURE NO CHARACTER IS BAD FOR THE SAKE OF IT
Let’s use Gary’s example again. He’s being a dick to Manny, and the readers see that. But they also get a sense that he feels oppressed by SJWs and that’s what fuels a lot of that behavior.
When someone’s a dick, make sure there’s a reason for it. But don’t explain the reason so elaborately that it stops being fun for the reader to hate on the character. Save elaborate explications for the end of the story or for that one moment when a bad guy is supposed to redeem himself/herself in the eyes of the reader.
ENSURING CHARACTER CONSISTENCY
Consider the following dialogue involving a woman who does not want her son to be gay:
Suddenly, Matt sat down uneventfully on a rock.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
His legs had slouched so much that they dangled over the boulder’s edge. Resting his head on his thighs, he looked to his left, not saying a word.
“Come on. You want to pet those dogs, don’t you? I know that makes you happy; I have seen it. Hmmm?” I tried to get him to respond.
Still nothing. Not a sound.
“Matt?” I got annoyed. “Don’t treat your mother like this. Be a good boy, listen to me.”
I would’ve thought he was dead, had it not been for his diaphragm.
“Matt.” I said. “You can date whoever you want, okay? I’m sorry for what I said at the bar.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, finally, thank the lord!
“Why?” I put his five feet, ten inches body on my lap. “Why do you keep saying you don’t matter?”
“I’m dead inside, mom, and I’m tired of it.”
“What are you talking about? Can you explain it to me, slowly?”
“I can’t. I can’t explain it to you.”
“Please try, love. For me.”
“Well, imagine your life without anything except for me.”
“Okay, I’m imagining.”
“Do you feel like participating in stuff when you imagine that?”
“Well I have you. I would come home and play with you, or do something with you.”
“You say that now, but really imagine. No way to make a romantic partner, while everybody else is telling their stories of how amazing that can be. No way to make a friend, while everyone else is like ‘friendship is the first cornerstone’ and then the one time that you do get to try, you mess up so badly because you are not a real man, you are some sissy, some abominable creature that corrupts the journey, that takes the magic, like it’s meant to be, out of it.”
Matt, I told you. I’m extremely sorry about what I said at the bar. It’s okay to be gay. You don’t have to fit into the male gender stereotype. You are a man. You have balls. This is what I wanted to say, but I didn’t say it. Instead, I simply hoped that he would stick to girls next time and avoid this drama in the future.
Look at the above line.
It would have been tempting for you the author to make this mother suddenly be okay with her son being gay. Why? Because she can see him suffering. But, characters do not change over one conversation. It is vital to keep them consistent, even when there’s tension, until enough has transpired to make the change seem realistic.
Roy Editing and Critique 