Importance of Good Characterization, and How You Can Do It
One important part of writing that often doesn't get enough credit is the creation of good characters. When writing a story, people highlight the importance of a good plot, but in reality, many books are carried by their characters. It can often be hard to describe the pleasure that a book with good characters can provide, because their is rarely one thing that is catching about the story. Instead, it's simply the way the character makes you feel, the way you are able to relate to them.
Identifying Characterization
Working on characterization, I think the best way to get started is to analyze characterization in stories you read. This is a great activity for students, but it can also be a fun activity for aspiring writers. As you read a book, make note of the ways you would describe the characters. As you write words, make note of how you know these things. How do you know that the character is tall or fair skinned? What makes you think the character is funny or selfish? By making note of how the author is able to convey characterization, you can do it better yourself.
Once you've seen how authors do it, you can start to practice building your own character.s Build out a sheet that recognizes the attributes you'd like your character to have. When you build a character bio, not only will you have the history of that person, but you will also have the way they act. and the expectations a reader might have of them. Now, when you plot out scenes, you can keep these characteristics in mind and also plot out the way the reader will find out new information about the character and his or her personality in that chapter.
Implementing Effective Characterization
When trying to bring characterization into your own work, it is important to identify the ways in which you can use characterization. One way you can show your characters is through explicit information. This method is often best used for details that you can't "show" the reader. Things like physical attributes, or the character's name, must be provided directly. When you do it is up to you, though it's important to recognize that you don't want to barrage the reader with too much information at once or they might miss the information or fail to absorb it all.
However, for most characterization, explicitly telling the reader can be sloppy and will often give away your limited writing skills. Instead, it is better to highlight the character's attitudes and personality through their actions and past experiences. Flashbacks can be an effective way to show a character's personality as you will see what the character has gone through and the decisions they made in their past. Another effective method is to have the character interact with different people, and show how they handle those interactions. Placing the character around friends and enemies will help the reader see what kind of person the character is, and how they act.
Overall, this is just a basic template to start your work crafting new characters. The most important step in developing your characterization skills is awareness. Recognize as you read other books what makes you view a character in a certain way, and keep these interpretations in mind when writing your own book. By learning to build effective characters, you will position yourself better to build a following, as readers will be eager to see what happens next to their favorite characters.
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