Without characterisation,
story cannot exist. In his book On
Writing, Stephen King states, “For me, what happens to characters as a
story progresses depends solely on what I discover about them as I go along.” He
goes on to say that if his characters grow a lot, they begin to influence the
course of the story instead of being influenced themselves (King, 2000).
Owen Marshall takes the viewpoint that “characterisation is fundamental in
fiction for reader and writer” (Marshall, 2005). This essay will expound on a balance
of both Stephen King’s and Owen Marshall’s points of view—that character and
story are interdependent factions.
A novel needs a story, and
story is the character’s context. Whether the story is an epic novel or flash
fiction, the medium must be explored and exploited for what it can do. For
Stephen King, the story comes first. “The characters—always flat and
unfeatured, to begin with—come next.” While it is not always necessary to map
out exactly what is going to happen chapter by chapter, it is important for a
writer to know what has gone on previous to the starting point of the story. In
her book Writing from Start to Finish,
Kate Grenville recommends that in planning your story, you write what you know.
“If you try writing about characters and situations you don’t know anything
about, your writing will end up thin, flat and full of clichés.” (Grenville, 2001) This can be true;
however it can also lead to talented writers becoming stuck in a limited pool
of stories and characters. Stephen King addresses this problem, suggesting that
“you begin by interpreting ‘write what you know’ as broadly and inclusively as
possible. ...the heart also knows things, and so does the imagination.” Heart,
imagination, and careful research must go into creating a story for the
character to develop in. Add dimension and drama to the story and the
characters will be forced to come alive.
Character is the particular qualities that make a
person or thing an individual and different from others (Hawker). “Particular qualities”,
whether good or bad, often arise through conflicting situations. Erik Erikson
(1902-1994) developed a theory of social and emotional development which
surmises that conflict is present in every stage of life. In infancy a person
must deal with trust versus mistrust: “Is my caregiver reliable?” If through
each successive stage of life the person works through the conflict, he is able
to build on the “virtues”, as Erikson calls them, and become successful. If,
however, the person fails to confront each conflict, he will develop feelings
of guilt, inferiority, isolation, stagnation. The writer should have a clear
picture of every character’s character. Bret M. Funk, author of the Boundary’s Fall series, writes that “the
characters are the story, and it is through them that authors attempt to hold
the reader’s attention” (Funk, 2003).
If a writer draws from both internal and external sources when imagining
characters, using things they know, things that are realistic to the reader,
things that could happen in real life, then the reader will connect with the
character. Stephen King implores the writer not to let the characters “seem
like characters instead of real people”. After all, as Owen Marshall observes,
“Character is story, and even more—it’s life.” In the best of stories, it is
actually characterization that moves the story along, because a compelling
character in a difficult situation creates his or her own plot (Bernardo, 2009). Characters must be
treated like human beings.
The major or central
characters are the ones the plot and resolution of conflict revolve around (Welch, 2011). Ursula Le Guin
explores this, asking, “Isn’t Romeo and
Juliet about something else, and isn’t it the something else that makes the
otherwise trivial tale of a feud into a tragedy?” But the characters of Romeo
and Juliet have been mirrored many times. Take, for instance, Malorie
Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses. What
details make this Romeo and Juliet retelling stand out, if any? As well as
disapproving families and social status, there are also strong overtones of
racism and martyrdom. Janet Frame admits, “Martyrdom is immensely powerful,
whether we sympathize with it or not.” The perhaps stereotypical themes of Noughts & Crosses are steeped in
character and plot dimension. “With dimension comes distinctiveness, not
because the character type has never been seen before, but because the sum of
all parts leads to a unique individual.” (Funk, 2003)
Adding dimension, not just to the major characters but to the supporting cast,
the minor characters, and the man who walks by in the park creates a story with
a life of its own. Many of these characters might never even receive names, but
this can be beneficial as even names have become stereotypical. Owen Marshall
states that characters can be revealed to a reader simply by “the fact they are
given no names” (Marshall, 2005). Patricia Grace’s short story Butterflies recounts the tale of a
grandmother, grandfather, granddaughter and their neighbour without ever giving
away their names (Grace, 1987).
Similarly, David Eddings’ epic fantasy Pawn
of Prophecy finds the main character observing “the storyteller, who seemed
not to have a proper name as other men do” (Eddings, 1983). No character is a vessel or a means to
an end, and if a character has no purpose, it should not exist.
Dialogue is the most natural
way to reveal information about a character.
“It’s dialogue that gives your cast their voices, and is crucial in
defining their characters.” (King, 2000)
Dialogue has been used for centuries to convey information subtly. Book I of
Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is composed mainly of a conversation
between King Agamemnon and Achilles. Through the dialogue we learn that
although Agamemnon and Achilles share a mutual respect, they have no great love
for each other. Partway through the conversation Achilles declares, “We have
followed you, Sir Insolence! for your pleasure, not ours. ... I will not stay here
dishonoured to gather gold and substance for you.”
Agamemnon replies, “Fly if
you will, I shall make you no prayers to stay you. I have others here who will
do me honour.” (Homer, c.800 BC)
A recent commentary of the Iliad speculates that the Iliad has become the dominant survivor
of the epic tradition “because of its...portrayal of...the full range of human
nobility and meanness” (Morford, Lenardon, & Sham, 2005). The Iliad’s insistent portrayal of the truth
continues to give it contemporary value; after all, “what age has not known
war, despite our condemnation of it?” In story, good dialogue can give the
illusion of reality. Stephen King recognises, “Some people don’t want to hear
the truth, of course, but that’s not [the writer’s] problem.” If a story is to
last, the truth must be spoken.
Charlotte Grimshaw,
allegedly a writer of stories about awful people, understands that characters
can also be developed through point of view, and she has explored this in her
novel Opportunity, a collection of
short stories all narrated in the first person. In a recent interview she
stated, “[I wanted] to be able to write in the first person without having that
problem where the reader thinks that the fictional voice is the voice of the
author.” (Lea, 2009)
While it may seem narrow-minded to fill a book with stories that are in danger
of sounding the same, Grimshaw thinks of Opportunity
simply as a novel with a large cast, “a collection of bleak fragments of
Auckland life...knitted together by recurring characters and incidents”. And
while each story is stand-alone, the characters tie them together, and the
reader is able to see a bigger picture from the different points of view. A
writer must choose a point of view for the story they are writing, but each
character also has a point of view—and an opinion on each of their fellow
characters. “Once the story starts telling the author what must happen,” says
Bret M. Funk, “it has enough dimension.” A writer must listen to every voice if
they are to give dimension to their story.
Stephen King summarises, “Skills in
description, dialogue, and character development all boil down to seeing or
hearing clearly and then transcribing what you see or hear with equal clarity.”
Story is dependent on characterisation, but both depend on the writer learning
and adapting in our world.
Works Cited
Bernardo,
K. (2009, January). Characterization in Literature. Retrieved from
Storybites: http://www.storybites.com/characterization2.htm
Burroway,
J. (2000). Writing Fiction. Addison Wesley Longman.
Eddings,
D. (1983). Chapter Two. In Pawn of Prophecy (p. 36). London: Corgi.
Funk,
B. M. (2003, December 13). Writing Three-Dimensional Characters.
Retrieved from AuthorsDen:
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=12513
Grace,
P. (1987). Butterflies. In Electric City and Other Stories (pp. 61-62).
Penguin.
Grenville,
K. (2001). Writing from Start to Finish. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen
& Unwin.
Grimshaw,
C. (2007). Opportunity. Auckland: Random House Limited.
Hawker,
S. (Ed.). Compact Oxford Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Wordpower Guide.
Oxford University Press.
Homer.
(c.800 BC). The Iliad. (S. Butler, Trans.)
King,
S. (2000). On Writing. Hodder & Stoughton.
Lea,
R. (2009, November 2). The fictional world of Charlotte Grimshaw.
Retrieved from The Guardian:
www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/02/charlottegrimshaw
Marshall,
O. (2005). Showing some character. Booknotes #152 .
Morford,
M. P., Lenardon, R. J., & Sham, M. (2005). Commentary. Retrieved
from Oxford University Press: http://www.oup.com/us/companion.websites/0195153448/about/authors/?view=usa
Welch,
C. (2011). Types of Characters in Fiction. Retrieved from Lexiconic
Resources: http://learn.lexiconic.net/characters.htm
