Original Character Guide
So, you need to create an original character. Great; when done correctly they serve a purpose and fit seamlessly into the story. When done horribly the story reads awkwardly and the reader tends to wonder why this new character was introduced in the first place. When creating a character it is most important to build the person. Sometimes the physical aspect arrives in the author’s mind first. Sometimes it’s a single trait or habit they have. However they arrive in your head it starts the building process.
Personality factors strongly in an original character. With established characters, the readers know what to expect; they know and understand their motivation because they’ve been given a chance to get to know them. With your original character it will be like introducing a new friend to your old friends. You want to show them why they should like them, or pity them, or hate them.
Of course no character could be considered as such without a firm mental picture of how they look. Long, curly, red hair? Piercing blue eyes? Mousy brown hair? Your first inclination might be to make him or her a knock out; absolutely beautiful if they’re meant to be a love interest or supremely hideous if they’re to be hated. Stereotypes aren’t fun, neither to write nor to read.
When creating a new character it always helps to imagine someone you know with similar traits or physical appearance; a nice balance between pros and cons balance out a character and gives them credibility. You want people to read your original character and not only want them there, but believe that they could be there in the thick of things with the established characters.
There are quite a few different types of original characters, and we’ll discuss just a few of the common ones.
- 1. Background/Unimportant Character
This person might need to fetch some coffee for Bill. This person might bump into Simone at the grocery store and ask about her sons. This person might be an old friend of Gustav’s that he hasn’t seen for ages. This person might reach for the last bottle of specially flavored vodka at the same time as Georg. Whatever this person does it is minor and usually begins and concludes within a few paragraphs.
Usually these types of characters don’t require a lot of physical description. You might not even get to reveal their name; that’s not their purpose. They are plot devices or means to progress from one scene to the next. Not much is required to allow them to make an impact.
2. Friends
Everyone knew and hung out with people before their current circle of friends; old friends come in and out of our lives at random or after careful search. Friends of established characters usually share a point of reference in the established character’s history. Perhaps they were a childhood friend or neighbor? Maybe Gustav’s parents knew the original character’s parents and they hung out a lot? For whatever reason they are friends and, as such, would share history with an established character.
While six degrees of separation works in real life… it doesn’t translate as well to text. An ex girlfriend of Andreas’ chemistry partner in the ninth grade wouldn’t be best friends with the band. They wouldn’t know Bill and Tom just because they knew Andreas. When considering how they became friends, keep it simple. Keep it reasonable; credibility lends an air of realism to your original character.
3. Relatives
As with most established characters’ history… we’re not privy to everything. This is especially true with Real Person Fiction. So, as we are a creative bunch, we make it up. Need a grandmother? Make one up. Remember who her children are, whether they be Gustav’s mother or Georg’s father.
Cousins are nice to have and include in the story; it allows for the established character to interact with a family member of approximate age. As with any original character, a young relative still has to be believable. Your cousin might have annoyed you to no end, but that’s not everyone’s reality. Avoid using traits as plot devices. If the cousin is annoying… realistically think how much someone could take before they involved an adult. There was only one Dennis the Menace and even he was lacking in credibility.
4. Enemies
So you need an antagonist to your protagonist. That’s great. Struggle in literature create excitement and conflict resolution at the end of a story leaves the reader satisfied. We’re all for it.
Interestingly enough, building an enemy is a lot like building a love interest. The level of animosity towards someone should always have a motive. Motive is what drives a person to do anything. Why does Malcolm hate Tom? Why does Susan want to break up Gustav’s relationship with his girlfriend? Why did someone put poison in Saki’s water?
These questions will hardly ever be answered outright. It’s the job of the author to slowly reveal the reasons why and the best way to keep it all straight is to get it down somewhere other than in your head. What caused the chain of events that lead to their animosity? How strong is it? As much fun as a truly insane villain can be… unfortunately it’s rare. They do insane things but they’re totally cognizant of their actions and subsequent consequences.
5. Person of Authority
A cop who has to investigate Bill’s kidnapping. A doctor that helps Gustav recuperate after a nasty fall from his drum riser. A therapist, a fireman, a politician, a record label executive. People of authority are not always the most important or stick around for the whole story, but they deserve their own category.
Most have a specialized reason for appearing in your story. As in my examples in the preceding paragraph, each particular character requires their own job knowledge, jargon, and ascetics. You’ll have to make sure to pay attention to details with these characters; when people read them they’ll pick them apart easier because they have/knew someone who had contact with that particular person or service.
6. Love Interest
Let’s face it, anyone you pair with one of the band members is going to be met with scrutiny; a lot of scrutiny. They will be picked apart and judged and agonized over like a real person. This is why this particular original character is addressed last. It is the most used original character and the most misconstrued. It’s an easy trap to fall into, creating a Mary Sue. You want the best possible person for whomever and the desire to make them perfect is strong.
Let your resistance be stronger.
Everyone has flaws, even people who are destined to be. Not everyone is drop dead gorgeous, or fall in love at first sight. Maybe they even experience a bit of indifference towards each other at first. It happens to everyone in real life. Sometimes you end up in a great relationship with a person you really didn’t have an opinion on or perhaps didn’t even like much.
Regardless of how well you got along with each other, very rarely do people have absolutely everything in common. Even down to what drink they order at Starbucks. Come on people, how many times have you read the intro and groaned when the established character and the original character had the same thoughts, inadvertently had the same habits and from the word jump just seemed perfect for each other?
Yes, I gagged too.
Self Insertion is discussed in the Mary Sue article; another trap of original characters is the desire to make her like you, but with two or three variations. Usually this type of original character is easily spotted and quickly hated. If you realize a character you’ve built seems eerily like you… scrap it and start over. I know that might sound harsh but no one likes self insertion fics, except the author.
Here’s a small checklist:
- 1. Dialogue
Does the way your character speak match well with their particular lot in life? A cop isn’t going to use quite a bit of slang when dealing with a professional situation. A two year old isn’t going to be able to converse with someone in perfect language. Remember the character’s age, education level, background, location, and profession when they engage in conversation.
2. Clothing
Just as you expect a certain mode of dress from a particular part of society, as does everyone else. The same goes with dialogue; you have to be mindful of a person’s personality, creed, age, location, background, and profession. No one wants to read about a wife and mother of four dressed in hot pants and a halter top. Avoid dedicating a whole paragraph to what the character is wearing. For most experienced fanfiction readers, the purple prose of an outfit screams ‘Mary Sue’ and chases them off. I know because I’m one of them.
3. Hair/Eye Color
Not everyone has blond hair; not everyone has blue eyes. When you build your original character, you might find its easier to picture someone you’ve met with similar color combinations. Violet eyes, no matter how beautiful, are exceedingly rare. Sometimes people are plain. More often than not they are. Brown hair, brown eyes are a normal combination. Not particularly exciting, but normal. Look up color combinations when you decide to make your character; red hair and green eyes come together quite often, and is usually paired with pale skin. That is a normal occurrence in nature. Olive skinned people are more prone to be raven or mahogany haired. When you take into account location, family history, and nationality, you will be able to build a more credible character.
4. Family History
You may never reveal this to your readers but a family history for your character will help you keep your original character in character. Give them a history and you’ll find motivation, likes and dislikes, old friends and habits. These are things that help flesh out a character. No, you don’t have to do a detailed write up on your character before you use it but it’s nice to know something about them before you write them into a story. Does your character like peas? Why not? Are they prone to fall asleep with the television on? Just small things like this will give your character three dimensional credibility.
5. Name
Yes, everyone likes exciting names. They make a character seem… interesting. Worth knowing. Enviable. But someone has to be a John. Or a Mike. Laura. Kirsten. Jamie. Not everyone can be Alexis or Rebbekah or Isabel. Look at Bill and Tom? Their personalities pop and they have their own very distinct style that stands out in a crowd. Their names? Boring. With an original character you have a chance to give your character a name that fits. Think of their family history, age, location, and nationality when you consider a name. Also keep in mind the appearance. You’ve met people and said, “Oh, she looks like a Stacy.” “He looks like a Greg.” You feel that way for a reason. The best places to find great names are baby name sites. Thousands of names at your disposal and they’re usually grouped by genre and have meanings.
6. Quirks
Everyone has that weird habit that they’d like to keep to themselves but are wholly incapable of hiding. It’s a fact of life that most have come to accept. Your character will have to deal with that reality. No quirks whatsoever is not considered a quirk. It’s just abnormal. Maybe they’re anal about leaving the refrigerator door open for too long. Perhaps they refuse to sit in a restaurant where they can’t see the door. So we all have weirdness, feel free to add some to your characters.
Now, we’ll move on to what is a very crucial part of building an original character. You’ve already gone through the steps and you’ve created someone that you feel could walk right off the page. Wonderful; it sounds like someone people would love to read about. Now the only thing left is to bring your character into the story.
That’s a bit more difficult than you’d think, if you want to do it believably. We’ll take the example of the most used original character, the love interest, and look back on how he/she is usually introduced. I’m sure everyone’s familiar with the band playing a show and the original character is plucked from the crowd for a night of debauchery and love… But how realistic is that? Happens every once in a while, and when it does it’s usually just a one night stand. If you’ve built a love interest then you’re going to want to give him/her a solid intro.
What’s an interesting way to meet? Avoid the clichés of running into each other (literally), spilling drinks on the established character, or knowing someone close to them. I know from experience that you rarely introduce new people to famous people you know.
Keeping in mind the hectic and busy schedules of the Tokio Boys, you have to figure out a way to work your character in. How would she/he manage to spend time with them? How would they get to communicate? How often is reasonable? These things are essential questions to ask yourself before you get to that point. The more plotting and planning you’ve done, the easier it is to write credibly.
As the Mary Sue Article states, it is important that the original character has realistic social interactions with the established characters. No relationship, friendship or otherwise, is without some conflict. The amount of conflict varies from couple to couple, from friendship to friendship, but it’s important for emotional growth and solidarity with another person. Friends fight, spouses fight; what makes your original character any different? They’re not different. They have hopes and dreams, fears and worries, jokes and tears like every other human. When you think of them like that they cease to be plot devices and become Original Characters.