Character Building: Learning To Mold Your Creations In Ways That Spark Intrigue

We all have our favorite heroes, villains, cartoons, leaders, parents, and gurus. Some of them happen to be fictitious and some of them happen to be real. In this message to all the hungry writers out there, I am going to touch on what traits make characters popular and methods to make them both believable and unique. As with any of my work, to fully grasp the scope of my advice; You must let go of anything related to a rule or belief. At least for a little while...

Regardless of what type of character you want to create, you must practice patience when introducing them to your audience. If you just blurt out all their characteristics in one chapter then it becomes too much for your reader to take in and inside the next couple chapters they will become uninterested because they find your characters to be too predictable and boring. Take your time. Tease your readers. Give them the physical traits enough to where it draws a picture in their mind but leave a few things to the imagination. This is especially true if you are writing a series where the character will be reoccurring. Leave some details in waiting until the perfect surprise scene comes that is just right to wow your audience.

Another equally important aspect to remember is that almost everyone wants to feel like they know their characters closely. Their words must pull the reader into their world, making every street they turn down and every enemy they fight seem as if they are in danger as well. This requires keeping boundaries infinite in your thoughts as you write. If you impose any predispositions to your beliefs then it is sure to hinder your story. Capturing your readers attention with every sentence as best you can, making them take the book into the bathroom with them and staying up hours and being late for work is what any successful author instills in their fan base.

In terms of personality, it is important to exacerbate their traits and make them stand out in unique ways. Add in mannerisms that add extra poignancy to their minds. If your character is evil then make them have a hobby that disgusts the reader and create malice within your fans. Make a victim so shockingly vulnerable and lovable that when they fall prey to your villain that a sincere sense of loss is birthed in the minds of your fans.

                                                                           If your character is a hero then make them have a life that oozes peace and justice in all they do. You don't have to form a new superhero to make them loved. You simply have to make all their actions and words compliment the story you are telling and create a sense of compassion and make your readers wish the character was a real life person. It doesn't matter if they are children, teens, adults, or senior citizens; Heroes, or villains for that matter, need to be introduced over time and their deeds done in ways that build tension and make the reader wonder what they are going to do next.

For characters that are not central to your story, it is good to focus on their appearance or make one specific trait stand out above all the rest of them. This makes them memorable without clouding the rest of the story with questions or details that make it feel that something is missing by the time the book is over. There are exceptions of course. Such as in mysteries or crime novels, it is important to have other characters who are candidates as suspects for the crimes or scenes in question. Even then it is good to give them a trait which makes them memorable without the need to keep them in constant interaction with central characters.

From a twitchy wink in an alluring femme fatales' eyes to a nefarious love for collecting children's fingernails; Building characters in your story should always be the number one focus of your writing endeavor. Without them, the story is but a scene without words. A world without personality. Remember that when your fans want to marry your superhero or slowly torture your villain it makes them come back for more and tell their friends about the book they just read and threw against the wall multiple times because they couldn't believe what they just read.

By Christopher Storm
-aka- "The Stormcaller"

Post Script: If you enjoy my work and want to learn more about the growing interest in global corruption and the problems that affect us now as well as the threats that will affect our children in the future then check out my other blog, Stormcalling.

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J.R.R Tolkien: Founder of Modern Epic Fantasy

Many know him and love his work. Some have never read any of his books, yet have seen all the movies. Regardless, Tolkien's work inspired a movement of modern writers who opened up their minds to a world of elves, dwarves, trolls, and the war between good and evil. Of course there were others before him that approached the subject but, Tolkien pioneered into the realm of blatancy in regards to such things. His work inspired many great writers of today. Science fiction evolved because of his work as well. When anyone wants to pursue a career in writing fiction; Tolkien is a required read in order to establish a solid foundation of getting the creative juices flowing.

The undertones and overtones of the spirit world and all the things heavenly and hellishly go hand in hand with the world that he brought to us all. He was initiated into the occult and his work reflected this. The occult receives many misinterpretations. The occult simply means things unknown. I could go on and on about religion and how the occult ties into it but I digress.

His writing style is outdated by today's standards, but his message is resoundingly complex and full of imagination and pure creative, yet wise symbolism. When I write fantasy; I feel almost as if I am channeling from another dimension a force that is sending a message through me. I feel that Tolkien felt much the same way when he was writing. Fact of the matter is that some people are literally born with a predisposition to write and create in certain ways according to the influence of stars themselves. I realize this may not be believed by the vast majority of the world but, I have free will to believe what my own spirit guides me to.

Tolkien's stories are the epitome of a true mastery of story weaving. His allusions to the real world have been studied by many and philosophies have been examined from his work. Whether or not you are a fan of his; the effect of his work on our society is impossible to deny. The idea of super beings stemmed from his books. It is my opinion that his ideas were the basis of influence that created comic books. Comic books were the basis of video gaming. Just like any other concept; it only takes one domino to fall in order to spark a movement. His works are a perfect example of this.

Whether you write non-fiction or mystery. fantasy or how-to books; I highly recommend reading Tolkien's works. You just might be inspired to create a work of your own that emphasizes your inner writer in ways you never thought possible.

By Christopher Storm
-aka-The Stormcaller