Developing characters
The following approaches are developed from Arvon tutorials in 2012 with Don Paterson and Anne Macleod.
Once you have written about them, you have some 'ground material'. Now you can start 'ploughing'.
- Think of someone you know well. You may hear their voice, see them moving - where are they? what are they wearing? what are they drinking? what are they doing? what are they thinking? If you can't find a starting point to write, it may help to close your eyes and hold a picture of them in your head. It may help to jot down quickly a number of objects associated with them - places - books - mannerisms - and then, when you feel you have more to say, write at greater length. Be prepared to be led off-track. The diversion may be instructive - as may be the flow and the voice and the metaphors. Questions can help re-orient and deepen what it is you want to say - to allow a refinement/ qualification of thought. "How could he tell her? ...Why hadn't they answered? ... Would she still be there? ... Would you believe it? ... and where was that wretched screwdriver?"
- Catch your character in characteristic activity. Describe their appearance, actions and reactions - their surroundings. You may show their values and attitudes through their actions and words and thoughts rather than explaining them. Let the flickering smile, the impatient cough, the loose button or the broken cup tell its own story.
- Surround your character with, say, 5 photographs, objects, books. These may open up a different window on your character.
- Unpack 5 memories - before school, outside, inside, alone, in a crowd, at school, at work - at a loss, in a rage, cold, tired. What is their history and provenance? where have they come from - and what do they long for? what are their dreams and hopes and fears? Where were they yesterday and may happen tomorrow?
- Provoke characters until they respond. They enter their room and find things turned upside down. They come home to find an unwelcome visitor waiting at the door. They are delayed and miss their train. They are falsely accused of staring/colliding in the street. They wake late and rush out, forgetting something vital. What annoys them?
- More rounded characters show different sides. There will be repeated, 'hard-wired' characteristics, but they may change over time and in relation to different people and contexts. How would they show themselves in the full range of emotions - in boredom, in anxiety, in celebration, in love, in grief, in despair ...?
Once you have written about them, you have some 'ground material'. Now you can start 'ploughing'.
- Who are, were or will be their enemies, acquaintances, friends and relations?
- Re-work third person narrative as first person or vice versa. I found that by shifting time or perspective, I was able to think around my subject better, and to layer my writing - or at least explore the possibilities.
- Think of someone close to your character. What is their perspective of your character - the parent, the friend, the teacher, the daughter, the neighbour, the colleague? Maybe the character is now dead, how are they remembered? Write their obituary.