Why?
In an earlier article WIMPS, WACKOS AND WINNERS: THE THREE W'S OF WRITING BESTSELLING CHARACTERS, I asked, "who are the heroes of bestselling novels?" Well, from the stack of six books I currently have sitting on my desk to help me write this article, four of them mention Scarlett O'hara. Why is the heroine from Margaret Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND such a remarkable person? Celia Brayfield, author of BESTSELLER: SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL WRITING, describes Scarlett like this:
"Her cardinal quality is courage and her selfishness opposes it. She wants her own way, especially in the matter of marrying Ashley Wilkes. Behind her is the Old South and her mother's notions of honour and ladylike conduct. Above her is her best self, a truly heroic woman who can sacrifice herself and save lives, even the life of Ashley's wife. At her worst, she's a callous grasping bitch who steals her sister's man, causes his death and can't love her own child. At the end, although she changed when the Old South died, although she took up all the early challenges of her journey and won, she refuses the last fight. She will not love Rhett. She does not change until it is too late for him, and the end is tragic."
So what is the difference between Scarlett and our Brad Pitt look alike?
Scarlett is "character," not merely "characterization."
Characterization is the human qualities that we ascribe to a person: age, intelligence, sex, mannerisms, speech patterns. Are they rich, middle class or poor? Good natured or grim? Greedy or generous, brave or a coward? What do they do for a living, how educated are they? Are they nervous, confident, religious, pretty, ugly, fat, thin, morally good or corrupt? These traits make each one of us unique, but they are simply that- traits. Not character.
