How to Make Your Characters Unforgettable – Strenth of Character is not what it seems
You have probably heard a lot about the importance of characterization. Yet, considering the strength of the characters gives a more direct insight into what it means.
Even a character with a weak personality has to strongly come out as weak.
There is where the rule “Show, don’t tell” is essential. Describe your character as “Willy was weak-willed and easy to push around” just does not do it. His personality has to show through his actions and interactions. Entire libraries have been written about that, so there let’s not harp on that point.
Another aspect of the strength of character is the relative strength of the main characters compared to the supporting characters.
This does not concern only checking that the main character’s personality is at least as well defined as that of secondary characters, it also applies to the relative power of supporting characters.
Let’s imagine that Willy goes to the market to buy fish. This minor part of the novel is mainly there in order to show the reader that Willy is a wimp, and the idea is to show that through his interaction with the fishmonger.
It is a nicely written piece, which got the writer acclaim from his writing workshop fellow members. The fishmonger’s personality is very strong in that piece, as opposed to Willy’s wimpy side that is outshined into oblivion. It is a brilliant piece of writing, but it is the only time we see the fishmonger that we got to know so well.
In addition, the trip to the market does nothing to advance the action.
The editor will have to decide whether this piece has to be slashed entirely despite its intrinsic value, or whether it should remain in place. There are no absolute rules about this type of dilemmas, but a good editor will be able to decide whether the type of book, the general style, the narrative rhythm, etc. allow for that passage to stays, requires fine-tuning to restore the balance between Willy’s personality, or lack of thereof, during the interaction or has to be eliminated altogether.
This has to be done for every single supporting character in the novel, each time evaluating both the quality of the writing, the relevance of the passage to the general plot or the subplot, and the added value of the passage.
The editor then has to find ways to convey his opinion to the writer without bruising the writer’s ego, and that is mission impossible 🙂