Let's start with the one element that is absolutely crucial to a solid story: believable, convincing characters. Even if the driving force for your story is an idea and not a character, the characters you create must be more than mere pawns to carry this idea out. Yes, your fiction must be rich with ideas, but characters attract most readers to fiction—strong characters; and I don't mean heroes or heroines. I mean characters that are richly developed—complex characters.

In this part, we will look closely at key revision issues for characterization with an emphasis on main characters, but with some attention to secondary characters as well.

Rethinking Characterization

Your main character must be a strong character—one who captures the reader's attention. Strong characters are complex; they exhibit range as well as depth. And because of this range and depth, we find them compelling.

They are also called "round" characters. Like human beings, round characters are multifaceted: in their overall make-up, their motivations, and their actions. They are believable to readers because they possess the fullness of life and all of its wellsprings and depths.

But how do you achieve such characterization? This part of the book will address the techniques you need for solid character revision. Beginning with roundness...

The Round Character

Creating a Fully Human Character

A character's overall make-up includes physical appearance, personality, attributes, habits, quirks, mannerisms, speech intonation, and typical behaviors—pretty much everything that makes a fictional character. A character without any of the above is merely a series of actions and a disembodied voice with nothing distinctive about it—hardly a character at all.

But even a draft without a shred of characterization could be substantially improved by adding details to help the reader visualize this character: his or her physical appearance, maybe a few gestures, or a distinctive tone of voice. How much more is needed? You must add whatever it takes to make this character a living, breathing human, so alive to the reader that she could step right out of the pages of the story.

So, as you revise, consider these two methods of characterization:

• The direct method: You write up description and exposition to capture your protagonist's appearance and distinctive qualities or attributes. Two things to consider: 1) If your point of view is third person, be as careful as you can not to intrude as the author—keeping the reader as much as possible inside your character. 2) Be sure that your character's actions match up with, and don't seem at odds with, any descriptive passages about this character—or any expository passages covering character attributes.

• The indirect or dramatic method: You rely almost exclusively on scene; readers depend on the details of action and speech to visualize your protagonist. Expository passages do not directly mention key character attributes; instead, you impart them via character thought.

You may decide to combine parts of each method. Describe your character physically but do not explicitly name personal attributes. Or don't describe your character physically but do explicitly name personal attributes. It's best to try these things out, and then decide.

Now that we've looked at two useful methods of characterization, let's look for specific ways to make your character fully human. As you revise, give your character:

• More than one primary goal, behavior, or attitude.
• Several interests—practical, romantic, intellectual, etc.
• Some inner conflicts—about goals, about self, about others.
• A personal quirk, odd gesture, or noteworthy habit.
• Distinctive speech patterns or qualities.

In other words, individualize your character—but don't overdo it. The character must be multidimensional but not global in dimensions. If you pile on too many inner conflicts, the story will lose focus. If your character possesses too many distinctive traits or quirks, he may seem over the top. IF this is what you intend—if you're writing farce or satire, for instance—that's a different matter. But generally speaking, more is not necessarily better. Develop range and depth, but be selective.

Believable Motivations

As you revise for character motivation, keep in mind three things, each of which has to do with predictability. Strong characters with range and depth are not predictable—at least not generally.

First, characters, like real people, are not governed by the laws of logic. We feel in the presence of a true-to-life character when the character's motivations are complex and even contradictory—but nonetheless believable because they are contradictory. Humans, after all, have contradictory impulses. We have two sides: the emotional and the rational. We are driven by both egoistic and altruistic concerns. Conflicts between these needs are inevitable.

When you revise, make sure that you look for the possibility of contradictory motives in your character—contradictions that can be explained or understood in some way.

Second, be cautious regarding notions of improbability: Some readers might not believe your character would do what she, in fact, does. Make sure to built the context fully enough so your reader will believe that this character would do this thing at this particular time, even if it goes against conventional wisdom. Who can say what a character might actually do, given the right motivations or the right circumstances?

Third, like real people, characters might not be clear themselves as to why they do certain things. As complex human beings, we often try to figure out our own motives. If we analyze our past actions, they might make some sense; yet, we can't fully account for why we did what we did. Were our motives mixed? In human motivations, there are always gray areas—areas not defined by reason or logic—and that's what makes round characters more interesting than flat, predictable ones.

Having ended on the above note, I don't mean to suggest that it's all up for grabs as to what a character will or will not do. Several factors and influences help to explain character motivation, however ambiguous such motivation might at times be. Think about each of the following as you revise:

• Character's personality and temperament: Depending on the conflict (for example, speaking in public) an introvert may react one way, an extrovert another. We can't be sure, of course. People surprise us, and characters should surprise us, too. But personality is certainly a contributing factor in character motivation. So is temperament.

A person who is easily riled may react differently than a person who is slow to anger. A person who is easily frustrated may react differently than one who takes things in stride. Can you connect your character's motivations to his personality or temperament in some way?

• Antagonists: Antagonists of every stamp—personal, societal, natural—are an important factor in character motivation. Is your character affected enough by this antagonist to react in the way you have shown? Do the antagonist's beliefs or actions affect your character in convincing ways?

This raises, at least in part, the question of character make-up. Different people react differently to different events. Some people are vulnerable to certain statements made by particular antagonists. Others would not be. As readers, we should see connections between a character's basic make-up and her reaction to an antagonist. A complex character may or may not react in predictable ways toward antagonists. Whatever the outcome, we should see a deeply human engagement between opposing parties, and the protagonist's personality, attitudes, and personal attributes should be evident in some way—if not crystal clear.

• Character's past: A character's past can affect how she acts in the present and can help clarify certain choices. But be careful not to oversimplify cause-effect relations. Did this past even really cause your character to do what she did? Cause and effect is, of course, a complicated matter, and it's easy to make hasty conclusions. But if you've made this past event, as well as your character's psychological reactions, compelling enough, the reader may suspend disbelief. Look for opportunities to link backstory, if you provide it, to character motivation in a believable, convincing way.

• Character's actions themselves: It may seem paradoxical to say that actions can both reflect character (motivations) and affect or develop character. But actions have effects, not only on others but also on the person who performs these actions.

Ask virtue theorists. Once one acts, one's character may change in some way. Minor crimes, if they are committed often enough, can certainly change a person. More serious crimes can certainly affect one's thinking about oneself, others, and the world as a whole. If one commits murder, isn't it credible to say that this person may never be quite the same person again?

In a complex character, we see how actions aren't simply rooted in given motivations—they're more complex than that. Characters given to edgy behaviors have a way of spiraling out of control as one action leads, almost lockstep, to the next.

As you revise for character motivation, make convincing ties between your characters—their complex make-up, what influences them, affects them, and so on—and their resulting behaviors and actions. But convincing doesn't mean utterly logical—so allow for surprises. Don't nail everything down like the answer to a math problem; leaving your reader with some questions is a good thing to do.

Speech That's Real

To make your characters real, you must make your dialogue convincing. Perhaps your character is complex and real in all the ways we've discussed so far, but if he speaks in calculated phrases, he won't seem human or real.

We explored dialogue in much more detail in the second section of dialogue, but for now, let's look at the issue more generally. How do you revise your dialogue so that it creates strong characters? Consider the following:

• Make sure your dialogue doesn't sound like a prepared speech: Unless your character speaks this way—perhaps to comic effect—the character will be very flat. How does "real" speech sound? Dialogue is artifice, as is all art, and yet it must have interesting speech rhythms that hook us and make us feel like we're in the presence of a real human being.

• Be careful with dialect: If you try to capture an accent, whether it's regional or ethnic, you will probably need to do some research. Otherwise, you risk the character coming off as both unbelievable and unoriginal. A true-to-life character imparts a distinct air of reality. Well-researched and accurate dialects, accents, and colloquialisms (common phrases/lingo) will help achieve this realism.

• Make sure your dialogue isn't canned: If the dialogue seems typical of what everyone says all the time about this subject or conflict, your character won't seem very unique—or complex.

• Reveal character attitude: Look for ways to let dialogue illuminate character traits and motivations. And think about this as well: Sometimes what is not said is more revealing than what is said.

Dynamic Versus Static

A round character is one who changes, while a flat character isn't likely to change—this may mean a change in behavior or a change in vision, or both. Oftentimes, it's a new way of seeing things. Sometimes it's almost imperceptible, and yet we know this character will never be quite the same.

It isn't necessary for characters to change significantly. If they change too much, the reader will wonder how it happened. Even in dire circumstances, people may learn something new about themselves and others, but it's unlikely that their entire outlook on the world or personality will change. It's not easy to gain a completely new vision overnight or to change old habits.

Ask yourself, is your reader likely to buy that your protagonist suddenly becomes an absolutely new somebody in the source of ten to twenty pages, perhaps spanning a few weeks or even a year? You must make the transformation convincing and real. When characters are granted a new insight, this realization must be earned. Also, it can't be over some utterly trivial event. The stakes must be high enough that the reader cares.

Here's a revision checklist to consider for the dynamic character. Look for seeds of this change in:

• Your character's overall make-up.
• Your character's past, if relevant.
• Other characters, including antagonists.
• Major incidents and how they have affected your character in terms of emotions, behavior, and so forth.

As you head into revision, allow me to harp on it again: Don't attempt to work out character change with mathematical certainty. That your character would come into this new insight, whatever it is, should be believable. But if it's a little vague or obscure, that air of mystery will be interesting to your reader and probably more satisfying than a totally obvious ending—or worse yet, a tidy explanation.

The Compelling Character

A round/dynamic character grabs our attention and holds onto it. We care about this character's actions. If we don't entirely sympathize, we at least empathize. We find the character engaging—compelling.

If the character is sympathetic, then this is a real plus, but be careful. Is this sympathy based on sloppy sentimentality? Stories about teenagers dying in car wrecks or children dying of cancer, though tragic and horrible in real life, tend to be thin in fiction because they can quickly turn sappy. The desired emotional response is not genuinely earned; there needs to be an intellectual component within the story.

It's when readers can neither sympathize nor empathize that characters need real attention. If readers can find no human qualities within your characters with which they can relate, you must find ways to impart these qualities. This takes us back to the question of a complex character—a complex character will certainly be emphatic, if not sympathetic.

Yet, what about those characters who commit despicable acts? What about murders? We don't have to approve of what a murderer does, yet on one level, what he does, though monstrous, can be understood in human terms. What can keep the reader interested, in this instance, is deep psychological study of his crime and punishment that the author invested time into researching and writing about. The treatment is dramatically intense and realized fully in human terms; the readers want to discover more and more about this character because they find him compelling.

Largely, then, roundness, sufficiency of motivation, and adequate dramatic treatment produce compelling characters. Be attentive to the following in your creation of a compelling character:

• Make sure your main character is complex: Very likely if your character is complex, he will be empathetic; if not sympathetic, he will at least be interesting.

• Know this: Even if the ideas in your story are compelling, if the character is a turnoff, the reader will likely put your work down.

Secondary Characters

Thus far, I have discussed only main characters, or protagonists. Main characters must be developed with range and depth, but secondary characters are a different matter. Secondary characters that are developed too much overshadow main characters. The possibility of doing so is always a risk.

Sometimes we might feel that our secondary characters are actually more interesting than our protagonists. And that's fine, as long as the main character engages the reader and is quite compelling. The opposite—when the protagonist is not engaging or compelling—is certainly a problem.

The same fictional techniques apply to creating secondary characters as to main characters, expect secondary characters are far less complex. But you certainly do not want one-dimensional secondary characters unless they play really minor roles—or perhaps serve some comic role. Give them a few dimensions.

Those with a somewhat important part in the plot deserve some range and depth—as much as they need to fulfill their respective roles in the story. The greater the role, the more sides of that character need to be seen. But add just enough to support their secondary part in the story.

The end of this part will feature a great list of questions and exercises to consider when revising for strong character. It's written by Jack Smith, author of "Write and Revise for Publication," and it's brilliant.

1. Do you use concrete description to capture key features of your main character? If so, what are they? Who provides the description—the author or another character? Do you see any need to use more concrete description to capture key features of your character? Where might you use it?

2. Do you use exposition (or expository prose) to capture key features of your main character? If so, what are they? Do you see any need to use more exposition to capture key features of your character? Where might you use it?

3. Which of the two—prose techniques (descriptions and exposition) or dramatic revelation (scene)—do you rely on to reveal the nature of your main character? Do you rely too much on prose techniques? Would it be better to rely more on dramatic revelation? Where might you do this?

4. What basic features of your main character help explain his motivations? Do you see any new ways to link personality and temperament of your main character to his motivations? Where might you do this?

5. Which events, if any, from your main character's past help explain her motivation? Do you see any ways to link your main character's past with her motivations? Where might you do this?

6. What are your main character's chief antagonists? How do these antagonists motivate your main character to do what he does? Are there ways to show more fully how antagonists' actions, attitudes, remarks, and the like, account for your main character's motivations? Where might you make ties or connections?

7. Do you find places where your main character's speech or dialogue seems more like prepared speech than lively dialogue? Make note of these places and plan on fixing them later when you can refer back to the second section of dialogue in this book.

8. Do you find places where your character's speech or dialogue sound canned? Which places? What plans do you have to liven up the dialogue so it's not so predictable?

9. Where does your main character's speech or dialogue reveal about her key features, personality, and so on? What changes, if any, do you propose to make your dialogue reveal more about your character?

10. Is your main character round or flat? Explain. If she's flat, what plans do you have to make her more complex?

11. Is your main character static or dynamic? Explain. If he's static, what plans do you have to make him a dynamic character?

12. Is your main character compelling? If so, in what ways? If you find problems here, what plans do you have to make your character empathetic, if not totally sympathetic?

13. What is your take on your secondary characters? Are they one-dimensional or stereotypical? If so, what plans do you have to make them less so?

That's it! Please give this part a vote if you learned something new, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below!