On Characters
I have a lot of problems with characterizations, but I think that's because I was looking at my characters from the wrong point of view. I always thought that my characters were separate from me in every single way, but as James Patrick Kelly puts it in the article/chapter we read: "As a fiction writer, your job is to sift through an array of possible motivations...and present only the ones that make the most story sense to you. The way to do that is not to ask, 'What would make one man kill another?' Unless you're a telepath, the answer to that question will always be unknowable." I guess that in a way, this is like putting yourself into a character's shoes. Instead of asking, "Why would he have done that?" ask instead, "If I were in his shoes, why would I have done that?" It's the only possible way for your story and your character to make sense. According to James Patrick Kelly, I've also gone wrong because I was taught and therefore I believe that every character must be a 'round' character, when in fact, to move the story along and not to confuse readers, you need round, flat, sympathetic, unsympathetic, spear-carriers, and of course, the traditional antagonist/protagonist. If every character was a round character, the story would have so many different branches in it that the reader wouldn't be able to tell who was meant to be who.
In doing my own characterizations, I learned that not only do your characters have personality and physical traits, but they also have complexities, especially your round characters. I realized that stereotypes don't cut it and going back to what I said earlier, think of yourself in your characters shoes. Would you want to be a Latino, middle-aged woman who was a maid and prayed a lot, or would you rather be a character with your own ideas? Looking at myself, I find that I am extremely complex and I even confuse myself sometimes. Most people aren't too astonished to learn that I love to read and write and that my favorite authors are nineteenth century, British, women writers because when I introduce myself to people, I usually tell them that I'm an English major and that I've always wanted to travel Europe. However, most people are usually astonished to find that I grew up in a garage, know how to put together an engine and that I love the smell of gasoline because it smells like home (not because I'm an addict or a freak).
In doing my own characterizations, I learned that not only do your characters have personality and physical traits, but they also have complexities, especially your round characters. I realized that stereotypes don't cut it and going back to what I said earlier, think of yourself in your characters shoes. Would you want to be a Latino, middle-aged woman who was a maid and prayed a lot, or would you rather be a character with your own ideas? Looking at myself, I find that I am extremely complex and I even confuse myself sometimes. Most people aren't too astonished to learn that I love to read and write and that my favorite authors are nineteenth century, British, women writers because when I introduce myself to people, I usually tell them that I'm an English major and that I've always wanted to travel Europe. However, most people are usually astonished to find that I grew up in a garage, know how to put together an engine and that I love the smell of gasoline because it smells like home (not because I'm an addict or a freak).