Using Character Bios to Deepen Your Writing

Often when I'm completely stuck in revising a novel, or when I'm in the depths of NaNoWriMo hell and have no words left in me, yet I have to pump out another 10K in order to "win," I will turn to character bios to help me flesh out my work-in-progress.

Usually I use these for my minor characters (mC), a non-lead, because those are the ones whom I am unsure about. Those are the characters I haven't spent enough time developing, and so I need to go the extra mile with them and make them real. I can't do that if I continue to ignore them to focus on my main character (MC). So a character bio is an invaluable tool for me.

What is a character bio?

I define a character bio as the protagonist's story from a mC's point-of-view. This may not be the "best" or the "correct" way to define it, but in keeping this definition in my mind, I can approach the mC as I need to. Although a mC's backstory will obviously influence them as much as a MC's backstory influences the MC, their story only concerns me in so much as it concerns the MC.

So with that definition in mind, I sit down to write my mC's bio. I'll begin where the MC begins--the beginning of the novel. I'll tell the story, trying to keep it brief, from the mC's POV, without worrying about whether I'm telling or showing or if this is coming out right. I'm only concerned with how this mC sees things. So I don't stop until I get to the end. This usually comes out as a far abbreviated version of the overall story--the mC can only tell the story as much as he/she knows it, and as he/she is a minor character, that's usually not much.

However, this tactic really allows me to make those minor characters much more real to myself and (hopefully) to the reader.

I always feel that a novel is at its most powerful when the mCs live and breathe as strongly as the MCs.

~I.E.

How do you make your minor characters come alive?

Under-Developing Your Novel

This month I'm participating in the A to Z Blogger's Challenge, found here. Every day of April (except for Sundays), we are posting a blog with the theme of A to Z.

U is for Under-developing Your Novel 

We've all heard about underdeveloped characters and plots and how that's a total faux pas. However, there are times when under-developing, or under-explaining, is preferable.

What do I mean by this?

Let's start with character development. We all want a well-developed character. We need to know enough about the protagonist, or even the antagonist, in order to identify with them and to find their actions believable.

Revealing a character can be done in two ways:

1. Showing

2. Telling

Was that too obvious?

Allow me to explain a bit. Showing the reader your characters means that the reader is being asked to discern what the character is like by the character's actions and reactions, thoughts and beliefs.

Telling the reader about your character means that you use narrative, other character's dialogue, or the character themselves to explain to the reader exactly how the character is.

We've all heard the adage, "show, don't tell," which by now has become cliché. Yet all clichés, just like all stereotypes, have a vein of truth in them.

In this case, as with most of your novel, showing is the preferable way to reveal your character. However, that's not to say telling is never acceptable. Telling must be done with caution and in keeping with the voice of the novel. 

For example, an omniscient narrator can better reveal a character trait of the protagonist (and especially the antagonist) than a first person narrator can state about him- or herself. I don't walk around telling people, "I can be vindictive and hold a grudge." If your character does that, your reader is going to be surprised or even skeptical. But I may very well reveal this character trait about myself when someone wrongs me. (And I'm just using those traits as an example...I like to think I am neither vindictive nor a grudge-holder.)

As much as possible, show the reader your character, revealing them through actions and reactions, thoughts and beliefs.

Under-description

(or "sometimes, less is more")

This is the: "what was that about under-developing a novel?" section.


Part of the reason that showing the reader your character, asking them to discern what that person is like, is better than telling is because when you lapse into telling, it can quickly get repetitive and boring. 


The reader doesn't need to know every inch of a character's body, nor every twitch of their muscles. All we need to know is enough to put a picture in our mind—and one reader is allowed to have a slightly different picture than another. This is why so many readers watch the movie version and say, "that wasn't how I pictured it."

I mean, really--how annoying is it when you're told every single action of a character?

E.g.

"John pushed his barrel-chested body into the air, his dusty brown hair falling into his eyes. He brushed it back impatiently with a meaty hand, then crossed to the door with a determined stride. His feet made heavy thuds on the carpeted floor in his irrational anger."

Too much? Definitely.

How about:

"John stood up, his brown hair falling into his eyes. He brushed it back impatiently, then crossed to the door with a determined stride. His feet made heavy thuds on the carpeted floor in his irrational anger."

Too much? Maybe.

What about:

"John rose and brushed back his hair impatiently. His feet made heavy thuds as he crossed the room in his irrational anger."

Too little? It certainly doesn't seem like too much.

And yet, I'm willing to bet that there would be someone out there who might disagree and say that it still is too much. (And that may very well depend on whether John rising and crossing the room is important at all!)

But therein lies the difficulty of writing. When is enough? When is too much? Unfortunately, there is no magic formula, like subject + adverb + adjective + verb can only be used be used once a page, or once in 250 words. No, writing is far too subjective for that kind of formula. But therein also lies the art of writing, which is what I love the writing craft for.

As authors, we need to leave some of the picture up to the reader's imagination. The amazing thing about reading is that when we reread a book, we can picture the story slightly different every time. As authors, we must give the reader enough to offer a picture, but refrain from over-describing the world.

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section. 

Is there such a thing as under-development? Or over-development? What makes a novel or its characters under- or over-developed to you? Have you ever read a book that didn't satisfy because of under- or over-development?

~I.E.

A Worksheet for Creating and Developing Your Characters

In case you didn't know, National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, isn't Camp NaNoWriMo goes on during the months of April and July. As I've been preparing for Camp NaNoWriMo, I am reminded of how much about my protagonist and antagonist I need to know before I write my first word today.

I always like to have a worksheet for my characters, and these get constantly updated with pertinent information as I write. Since I use Scrivener, I can directly link new information to my character worksheet.

So I've developed a worksheet to use for both developing and keeping track of my characters.

NAME:

If female--Maiden name?

ROLE:

Role in story (protagonist, antagonist, minor character, etc.):

Goal in story (i.e. what is my character trying to accomplish?):

WORK

-Occupation:

How long have they worked at their current job?

Is this their dream job, or would they rather be doing something else?

How does my character get along with his or her co-workers? Boss?

-Education:

Where

What subject(s)

Experience

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

-Clothing: 

What does my character wear to work?

What does my character wear at home?

How does my character come off to others by their dress? Polished? Rumpled? Enviable?

-Hair:

What style of haircut? 

How does my character wear it to work? 

How does my character wear it at home? 

Do they dye their hair or keep it natural?

-If female--Makeup styles (day and night):

PERSONALITY:

Reaction in a Crisis or Under Stress?

Interaction with someone he/she doesn't like?

Interaction with someone he/she does like?

What does my character value in his/herself? Is it the same as what they admire in others?

What is my Character's Biggest Fear?

How Does my Character Speak?

-What kind of vocabulary does he or she have?

-What does his or her voice sound like?

What is my Character's Biggest Strength?

What is my Character's Biggest Weakness?

Fatal Flaw(s):

How does it influence the story?

Does my Character Come off Differently to Men and Women--in either personality or appearance?

INNER CONFLICT(S):

-What does my character really want?

Can they ever have it? Why or why not?

EXTERNAL CONFLICT(S):

-What or who is keeping my character from their goal in this novel?

BACKSTORY:
-Here is a place to summarize anything about your character that might be applicable to the story.


This worksheet should give you a solid start to your character. You don't have to fill out all of it, but it helps to think about these questions so that you know most of these things about your characters. A lot of this may not be written into your novel (and probably shouldn't be), but the more you know about your character, the more real they will appear on the pages.


~I.E.