Thursday 2 August 2012

Types of Characters



DYNAMIC CHARACTER
The Main characters (heroine and/or hero and villain) are always dynamic characters. This is a character who changes during the course of your story into someone who is better (or sometimes worse).

They are well developed i.e. round characters and have both virtues and vices. No one wants a perfect heroine otherwise we’ll just want to tear them down to our level; readers just want someone they can relate to. A good dynamic character will;

  1. Be unique – the purpose is to have a character that people will remember beyond the book. What makes a Song of Ice, Wind and Fire incredible is the way all the characters are developed ridiculously well.
  2. Have goals – what do they really want. By giving your character a strong enough goal you can create powerful conflict.
  3. Have a history that will influence how they are going to turn out.
  4. Have flaws
  5. Quirks
  6. Support Characters
  7. A worthy opponent

STATIC CHARACTER

This kind of character will usually reveal just one or two personality traits that will not change over the course of the story. Even major events may only alter them slightly or make their character much more fixed. Minor characters are often static in nature and serve to complement the main characters. The static character can also be
  1. A foil character i.e. a character who is supposed to enhance and contrast the traits of another character. For instance Cinderella’s sisters are extremely evil to show how good and kind Cinderella is.
  2. A stock character i.e. a character who is instantly recognized by readers i.e. the monstrous mother in law, the wise old advisor, the ruthless businessman, the daft football player.

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