3. Develop the characters
Let's go with the third of these ten tips for writers.
In addition to writing a first paragraph that captures the reader's attention and encourages him to continue reading, the way in which you are going to develop the characters is important. They are the ones who lead the action, therefore you need to start working on the characters. characters in your story from the start.
The true work of the writer is to create complex personalities and place them on a stage, then making them speak, suffer, think, love, laugh and, ultimately, live, in the space that the novel or story lasts. Maybe that. What they do will have a meaning beyond the passing circumstances that allows - in the words of Chekhov - to glimpse what the human being is.
To develop a lively, breathing character with a well-faceted personality you need to gather more information than you will eventually use in the play.
Here is a partial list of the details that should be worked on to get started. A good one The idea is to arrange them in the form of a character sheet:
- Name
- Age
- Job
- Physical appearance
- Birthplace
- Place of residence
- Pets
- Hobbies
- Religion
- Marital status
- How is your family
- Temperament
- Friends
- Manias
- Failures
- Secrets
- Diseases
For example, let's say we want to develop the character of a college student. What should we know about her?
Her name is Carol, short for Carolina Perea Davo. She is 21 years old. She is Spanish, was born in Valencia, but lives in Madrid. She has white skin, brown eyes, long brown hair, although she is dyed red. meter seventy. She is quite calm and shy. She likes cats and has one called Café. She usually rides a bicycle and likes photography. She lives in a shared flat with two other students: Isabel and Maria.
She studies Biological Sciences. She is single And she doesn't have a boyfriend. She loves potato omelette and black tea. She bites her nails when she's nervous. Her mother just committed suicide.
Imagining all these details will help you get to know your character, giving credibility to her actions, her dialogues and her way of reacting to the conflicts that arise in the narrative. Now, it is not necessary that you enter all that information in the text.
(especially if it is a story), since it will be enough for the reader to know what is referred to four main aspects:
Appearance: which will give the reader a visual understanding of the character.
Action: the reader will understand the character better through his actions than through a list of adjectives.
Personality: you must develop the character's personality as if she were a real person, including her way of speaking. The character's character should not be derived solely from her actions.
Thought: take the reader to the mind of your character to show him unspoken memories, fears and hopes.
But above all, take care of the naturalness of your characters. Always bear in mind Chekhov's advice:
In life people do not commit suicide, they do not hang themselves or fall in love, or say great things every minute. They spend most of their time drinking… or talking nonsense... Life on stage should be what it really is, and people, therefore, should walk
naturally and not on stilts.不是踩高跷
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