Creative Writing 101

Lesson 5: Character Building.

Fantasy, Science Fiction and Animal Characters.

The characters discussed so far have been ordinary human beings. What if your characters are aliens, fantasy beings or animals?

Much of what you have learned so far can be used to create rounded non-human characters. The comments on motivation and relationships are relevant, and so (especially) are the tips on understanding and showcasing a different point of view.

FANTASY CHARACTERS.

Fantasies come in several different sub genres, some of which were discussed in Lesson 2. Here are a few comments on fantasy characters.

If you take a human protagonist into a fantasy world, you can use the character to introduce the reader to that world. Just as the protagonist stares at his first unicorn, so the reader will stare. What the protagonist learns will be passed on to the reader through terms of references they share.

If you bring a fantasy protagonist into our world, s/he will be just as astonished. Describing our world as it appears to an elf or some otherworldly creature is interesting. You must walk a fine line between letting your character recognise and understand too much and letting him/her understand nothing. Your reader will not share terms of references this time.

If you are dealing with a fantasy protagonist in a fantasy world, the world will seem "normal" to the character, but your reader will find things new and strange. It is helpful to assume that some concepts such as candles, inns and horses remain the same. If you make up an elaborate world where nothing is familiar you will leave readers floundering.

TIME TRAVELLERS

What about time travellers? Characters who come forward to our present will understand less of the world than the reader. Characters who travel back to our present will understand things academically and theoretically. A present day character who travels forward will be puzzled along with the reader, while a current character who travels back will have some idea of what to expect. Beware of letting an accidental traveller recognise and understand too much in the past. Most people know a few dates and battles, but have fairly vague views about the reality of ordinary life in different periods. For example; just because Angie has been to the museum of costume, it doesn't follow that she will be able to put on armour or a crinoline. Human characters thrown into a fantasy world or situation, or into another time or reality must be treated with caution. If this happened to real people, they would probably spend hours disbelieving their eyes. In fiction, characters must get used to changed circumstances quickly, or else the readers will be bored and impatient.

STOCK CHARACTERS

Some of the stock characters in fantasies include warriors or knights, who live to fight and/or protect, and witches and mages, who change reality for good or evil purposes. Pages and princesses are common.

Gods and goddesses, demons and monsters may roam fantasy worlds. These are seldom protagonists, but may be friends or enemies or just a fact of life.

Elves and gnomes and goblins are usually treated as human-statured folk with tribal or ceremonial ways. Again, they are usually not protagonists.

Unicorns are not treated as horses-with-horns. They may be symbols of purity and innocence, or endangered species. Some of them have magical powers and human speech.

Dragons can be friends or foes, of any size, winged or not.

Centaurs, fauns, nymphs, merpeople and other part-humans are usually "good" characters.

From the list above, you can see that most fantasy characters derive from existing stock. This means most of them will have attributes already. This is useful for the familiarity factor. (When a centaur gallops onto sight, the reader knows already what it looks like and has an idea of its nature.) Quite often you will have opposing traditions to call on, and can use any blend you choose.

Most fantasy protagonists are human or quasi-human. This helps with reader identification.

GHOSTS, WITCHES, VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES.

These characters can be portrayed as aggressors, victims, heroes, lovers, natural or unnatural. If you are writing in the magic realism mode, they may be just part of the scenery. If writing a novel set in what is ostensibly our world, you will need to anchor them somehow to reality and explain their presence.

'Translations in Celadon' offers a series of fantasy characters. Rafe Winter's Celadon self is the werewolf, Wolf Shield; he is a shape-changer, and although he shows the loneliness of his kind he does not display the violence. Rosanna's Celadon self is Hrosannah, a werehorse; when the horror of knowledge begins to overwhelm her human self, Rosanna slips into the simpler thought-patterns of the mare. The other three selves are more human in appearance, but they lack the duality that helps Rosanna and Rafe survive.

These characters, Princess, Faithful Retainer, Wisewoman, Werewolf and Steed, all act according to their true characters; there is little of the traditional about them.

When creating fantasy characters you will need to think around the lines, seeing the world through very different eyes. What do these characters want, and why do they want it? How do they see human beings? What are their fears? When you understand this, you should find that a fantasy character is as easy to picture as the woman down the road.

SCIENCE FICTION CHARACTERS.

Science fiction usually happens in our future, so characters may still be human. However, you must remember that just as we accept inventions and conventions unthinkable a hundred years ago, so people of the future will have different viewpoints from ours. They may look back at us with amusement or disdain or incomprehension. Perhaps they never think of us at all.

They will probably not have solved human problems, but their fears and concerns may be rather different.

Just as we have moved from smallpox to AIDS and from gramophone to DVD, so future people will have moved on. However, they will still fear disease, difference, and the unknown. They will still have friends, entertainment and schooling.

Science fiction characters need not be human, but most protagonists need human-like sentience. Robots, androids, aliens and cloned species can still be drawn in broadly human terms.

In some ways, science fiction characters can be likened to historical characters. The pioneer on a new planet is not so very different from the frontiersman of the Old West.

ANIMAL CHARACTERS.

Animal characters come in different types.

Animal protagonists are viewpoint characters. Wild animals such as deer, tiger or kangaroos are usually seen in naturalistic form, so that their activities and concerns remain realistic even if they are endowed with human-type thought and speech. If creating a wild animal it is important to do as much research as you can beforehand.

Domestic animal protagonists are different. The cat or dog hero probably retains the physical capabilities of the average cat or dog, but also probably interacts with humans. S/he may see humans as masters or slaves or just as companions, and much of his/her concern will be with evading interference during adventures.

These are the easiest animal protagonists to create. Anyone who keeps cats and dogs will have observed their different personalities and will have a good idea of what their pet/companions like, hate and want.

Humanised animal protagonists are more or less humans-in-animal-disguise. Thus Mr and Mrs Mouse may live in a house and drive a car. Sometimes the animal "disguise" is used to create amusement or distancing as animal siblings act out jealousy or affection, go to school or visit the circus.

Humanised animals are less common in modern times, so before you create one, think seriously about whether you would do just as well to use a human child instead.

ANIMAL COMPANIONS.

Animal companions can be very important characters. Lost, hurt, denied or longed-for pets have played big parts in many plots. Sometimes an animal companion helps define human character. A businessman who keeps a large sporting dog will come across as a different person from the one who favours a talkative Siamese cat or a pet rat.

Penelope Warren's cat, Mycroft (aka Mikey, Big Mike) is a powerful presence in Garrison Allen's 'Cat' series. Big Mike acts as co-detective, uncovering clues (usually by accident). Penelope uses his behaviour as a barometer when judging character. Some scenes are given from Mikey's point of view, but he is, and acts like, a cat.

Animal companions can act as friends for lonely characters and they can also function as "conversation characters", giving a lone human protagonist someone to talk to during long narrative treks.

If introducing an animal companion, make sure you know the species in real life. You should know the size, capabilities, likes and dislikes of the animal. For example, don't show someone riding a pony for forty miles without a break.

Animal characters can also appear as part of the novel's furniture. A herd of cows, the yapping dog down the street, a fleeing deer, a vanishing peacock - these are usually not particularised, but form part of the plot. It is not the animals who are important in this case but the reactions of the humans.

  1  2  3  4  5  6