This week we’re talking about characterization — in particular, characterization in fiction. While the episode skews a bit toward writing, what makes a good character should interest everybody. We talk about some of our favorite characters, characters that don’t work so well for us, and how we go about tackling strong characters in our own writing. No matter how grounded or out there a story is, chances are, one of the things that keeps you coming back to certain stories are the characters. Find out why some characters have such a strong appeal in this episode.
Also, the five fictional characters each of us would pick to survive the apocalypse!
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Character sheets help me discover the connections between characters, and also give me an opportunity to show they way they communicate with each other. I generally use two different character sheets – ones I’ve formulated myself – for each main character. I consider the sheets part of the writing process.
For character names, I’ve been lucky. Most of my characters tell me what their names are right off the bat. 🙂 I agree on the fantasy names gripe, that’s one of the reasons I’m not so much a fan of the fantasy genre.
Dissin’ on Worf? C’mon, “Mr. Woof” is the man!
My five fictional “survive the apocalypse” characters would be the main cast of Hergé’s Tintin series: Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, and Thomson and Thompson (those last two come as a pair, and so count as one character). Cartoonish, yes, but the apocalypse would be one of the few times I would appreciate interacting with cartoons.
I break Worf down to build him up. I do it because I care.