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Convincing Characters

© Sue Reichard

The most important elements of a story or book written for children are the characters. Anyone writing for children must learn to master the ability to develop interesting characters. Children react to the characters in a story. This is the challenge to the children's writer; to create compelling characters that will interest the child and also fit into the story.

A well-rounded character is revealed to the reader through their appearance, actions, thoughts and, of course, through their dialogue. Stories written for very young children should have no more than one or two characters. Older readers can handle more characters.

Characters will be the main focus of the story. The plot happens to the characters. The characters are those who will solve the problems in the story.

A writer must accomplish two goals in order to create convincing characters. The writer must create empathy for the character and create a character that the reader can "feel in their mind." Before a writer can do this, the character must be "real" to the writer.

Many writers use a character checklist to help develop their characters. One of these can be found here . A chart can be very helpful in creating a fully rounded character. Another device to aid in character development is a trait chart. The use of a trait chart will enable the writer to pin down the details that bring life to a character. Some traits might be name, eye color, eye shape, hair color, voice characteristics, skin tone and hair style. Remember, a character needs to become a "real" person to the writer and the reader.

The reader builds a mental image of the main character according to what the writer tells him/her about the characters appearance. The writer must give concrete details in the story about the character. The speech of the character helps to evoke personality. Is the character shy, outgoing, loud? Does the character have an accent or a lisp? The character's behavior reveals aspects of their personality. Are they kind, cruel, polite or crude? The character must have reasons for their actions. The writer must make the character's personality able to handle the story problem. The character must also undergo a change from their experiences in the story. If the character does not change in some way, the point of the story is lost. The character needs to grow, change or learn something through the events in the story.

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