Stephen Hanrahan

I killed a man recently. I am probably not going to get into trouble. He is a fictional character. It struck me when I killed him is that I actually felt really sad about his death. (oh, by the way, spoiler alert some dies at some point.)  I grieved because I grew to like him. I watched him go from a throwaway character to one who I actually grew to care enough to not want him dead. and part of me wants to know why?

When I was studying classical studies in school a teacher said there are three ways to look at a character. what they say, what they do and what others say about them.  so I am kind of looking at this character in this light. I think it is important to figure this out because I have other characters. Some I want you to love others I want you to hate and controlling that is important for writing.

Since it’s weird to talk about the character without his name his name is Thicket, or at least that’s how he introduces himself

what gives this character life?

• History this character though minimal kind of revealed a history both explicit and implied out about Thickets relationship with his father and participation on the losing side of a war . though we don’t know details we see how it influenced his future decisions. it made me curious about the character.
• Thicket is introduced at the start of a mission that our main character is forced into. He separated himself from the rest of the minions immediately partly by being first but immediately showing skill and after a rough start kind of takes the protagonist under his wing,
• He is quirky. Thicket lived alone for years in a forest, it gave him odd habits that inform his actions.
• We meet people from his past people who assure us of how good he is despite being mixed up in the mission he is someone who some people in the past considered Nobel. Which magnify the small acts of kindness that we see.

Ultimately I think what makes this character interesting is that he is a well-rounded character. Has his good points and his flaws. and they are shown how he behaves and what other people say about him is consistant. I don’t think he is a character who would be likely to jump the shark.  he is consistent.

Takeaways

This post is about making a likeable character. I want this to be more of a reminder to myself about what made him stand out. What made him real. because at the moment I think he is the standard that I am going to be holding most of my characters too.

When I go to look at villains. I need to make sure what the villain is consistent and the perception of him is consistent.  Though not to the point where villian is flat. he or she is going to need to match up. For example, some plotting to overthrow the regime will need to be ambitious and smart. There may be other qualities that they have but

In the next draft, I will spend a lot of time working on characterisation. I would like to be able to see everyone in this world as clearly as I see Thicket.

 

 

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