Pick a Number - Develop a Character: PICK a NUMBER, #3

By sue viders

CREATE unforgettable HEROES and HEROINES

 

This workbook explores the nine components that must be considered when creating and developing a truly memorable character.

• Characters
• Name
• Occupation
• Appearance
• Background
• Positive traits
• Negative traits
• Attributes
• Personality types

With 16 different categories in each of the nine component and 500 movie examples, all writers will easily be able to give birth to new and unforgettable characters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: sue viders
• Release date: Nov 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393394235

sue viders

Sue is the author of numerous nonfiction books. She has also written extensively for a variety of magazines and newspapers. A national columnist for many years on art marketing in The Artist’s Magazine, Sue has spoken to various groups and organizations both nationally and internationally on marketing and writing for over thirty-five years. She continues to lecture and teach writing onsite at colleges and universities as well as at national conferences. She regularly teaches online through numerous writing groups and organizations throughout the world. When she isn’t busy churning out a writing book for aspiring writers, she explores the complexities of everyday life with her “light bulb” thoughts in her essay book, Out-of-the-Box, now up on Amazon. On the drawing board is the next PICK-A-NUMBER book Finding a PLOT in this series and should be finished soon.

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Copyright © 2022 Sue Viders

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying form without written permission of the publisher. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher.

Paperback ISBN 978-0-942011-47-0

Cover and book design by NZ Graphics

Ebook services by YellowStudios

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

A Note from the Author

Getting Started

CHARACTERS

NAME

OCCUPATION

APPEARANCE

BACKGROUND

POSITIVE TRAITS

NEGATIVE TRAITS

ATTRIBUTES

PERSONALITY TYPES

SUMMARY

Nine character summaries

Four character profiles

Five character worksheets

About the Author

Books for Writers

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Every character needs to be carefully developed, especially if you have given the character a name.

Some characters need more background than others, but those characters who are the backbone of your story need to be well developed and have interesting backgrounds so they can become real people with fascinating flaws and traits that will give them a memorable personality.

However, how you develop your characters will be a combination of the elements in this book and bits and pieces you borrow from the various personalities you have known.

Take your time. Many of your characters will develop their individual personality as your story progresses and might even change a bit along the way.

Remember, you can start anywhere in this book, but as Louis Carroll said,

It is always better to start at the beginning.

Sue Viders

[e-mail]

GETTING STARTED

Which came first … the chicken or the egg?

Who knows as you can’t have one without the other.

Which comes first … the plot or the character?

The answer is, once again, either one because you can’t have one without the other.

It all depends on the story idea. But, because many writers tend to develop the plot as the characters develop, this book is dedicated only to characters. The next book in this series will tackle the plot.

So, how does one start creating a great character, a character that everyone instantly remembers, a character that remain in our minds long after the book is read or the movie seen?

Everyone knows who Indiana Jones, James Bond or even Cinderella is. But have you ever wondered why these larger than life fictional characters are so well remembered?

It is a combination of an interesting story (the plot) and an even more interesting character who just happens to have a personality that you can relate to.

But how to achieve that perfect blend of looks, traits, beliefs, and strong attitudes that go into making up a distinctive personality?

Some things to consider giving to your character:

a touch of jealousy

perhaps stingy with money and compliments

too assertive with his/her views

too prejudice against a number of things

too arrogant and conceited

different beliefs

Characters need interesting, quirky aspects to their overall personality and the memorable characters have these attributes. Here is what we remember about …

Indiana Jones - swagger and charm

James Bond - shaken, no stirred

Cinderella - shy and submissive

We remember because they all had problems: all sorts of fascinating habits, quirks and flaws.

You may not like all memorable characters, and even some villains, but you do remember them.

CHARACTERS

There is no great story without a great character.

So, how to make the main character, the protagonist, and perhaps some of the secondary characters interesting and memorable?

The thing to remember is that no one is perfect: not the hero or the heroine, not the superman character, and not even the villain. No one.

Because … perfect characters are boring.

But first, before you get to the guts of creating their personalities you need to have a good idea of who you are talking about: how they look, what type of work they do, and a bit about their past history. You need this background because all these factors will influence what traits, habits and attitudes