How To Create Believable Characters In Your Novel
Actors – don’t you just love ’em? Well you should, as you can learn a lot as a writer from the people who are always asking, ‘What’s my motivation?’
Method actors will research the role they’re going to play. They’ll consider the nuts and bolts of the character – be it a policeman or an archaeologist – and they’ll also want to see what happens when the person goes home. What part of the job can’t they let go of? What’s it like to be married to someone in this profession?
When they act, the emotions and characteristics come naturally to them – such is their understanding of the role.
Other actors just turn up and read the lines. They need prompting as to what their motivation should be for a given scene.
Now consider your writing style. Are you a method author or one that turns up and needs to check the outline to be sure what the character’s motivation is during this scene?
Please don’t kid yourself that writers don’t really research characters the way that actors do. They do.
Many wannabe writers will hide behind the props. They’ll convince you that they’ve drawn up a character sheet and can tell you any fact about the character you want to know. Thy can tell you eye colour, date of birth and every distinguishing feature.
To these writers, creating a character is like taking part in a role-playing game. They’ve rolled the dice the prerequisite number of times and have filled in all of the boxes. Because they took this approach, the character ends up being one-dimensional. Just like in role-playing, the characteristics, skills and knowledge are all from the same school.
Real people just aren’t like that. Real people are complex, hybrid monsters that would put Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to shame. Good guys aren’t all good and bad guys aren’t all bad.
Role-playing games create classes of character and so do many writers. The author gets fixated on a single characteristic or iconic image and every aspect of that character is then moulded to fit the standard template for that type of personality.
So how does the writer progress from ‘Third Man with Suitcase’ to Oscar winning material? Well just like method acting, there are various schools.
The first step is to hold up your hand and admit you’ve got a problem. Yes, you. We’ve been talking third person until now, but you know this article is about you – even if it’s just a little bit.
The most popular approach to solving the three-dimensional character problem is close to home. Think about your friends and family. They’re real people aren’t they? Most (or at least many) of the characters in your novels will be ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations. Even superheroes have alter egos that have mundane lives.
So consider your friends, family and colleagues. Consider their strengths and weaknesses, their plusses and minuses. What are their emotional highs and lows? If your latest character is a highly trained government assassin, that’s fine. Give her the skills to do the job and then overlay the personality of a close friend.
One word of warning before we go any further. If the individual comes across any less that spotless, it’s best not to tell friends you based a character on them. Trust me, once you get published, every acquaintance will want to know if that brave and overworked police lieutenant was based on them.
Is it that simple? Well up to a point it is. You may have to exaggerate certain characteristics but believe me, when you really analyse your friends, family and work colleagues, there’s enough there without tweaking it too much. Real people – the ones you’ve been studying – aren’t one-dimensional. They have negative character traits, phobias and insecurities just as much as they have positive characteristics.
So the next time you are struggling to remember what a character’s motivation is during a given scene, remember this article and base your characters from real people. Now, move over John Joseph Nicholson.
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A manuscript is simply a book that is in possession by the author, is going through changes, has not been published, and is not finished yet.
If you want to write a book, just write it the way you see published books written with chapters etc…
After you are done writing, you need to edit, edit, EDIT!!!!!!!!!!! Edit it yourself until you want to throw it against the wall, then give it to a trusted adult like relatives or a teacher and have them edit it. Put it away for 2-3 months, and edit it again. When you finally feel it’s close to done, send out query letters to agents.
You will probably get rejected a number of times before you are accepted. If you manage to find an agent they will work with you on getting the manuscript to the publisher, which, I might add, will take a while because you will probably get rejected many times.
The key to all of this is to never give up, but right now, I would suggest you don’t worry about getting it published and just write.
How does one write a novel manuscript?
Is there a special computer program that you have to use? Is there a specific format?
how do i write a novel first book manuscript?
Guys I was thinking of writing a novel as I have lots of free time .Do I write a manuscript before I actually write a book What stuff do I need to know to get published , etc.???
You can use MS Word or something comparable.
The format will mostly depend on the agent and/or publisher. Usually, it should be double spaced 12 pt font (New Times Roman or Courier) with one inch margins.
Check with your agent.
where can i find out how to write a manuscript?
I’m writing a novel and I know I need a manuscript to present to a publishing company. However, I have no idea how to write one. Any info would be greatly appreciated
how do i begin to write a manuscript
How to format a manuscript novel?
Ok I am gonna start writing my novel but obviously while I’m writing I need to know everything about formatting it. What the hell is a margin and an indent. How do I adjust it. I think I’m supposed to use Courier New as my font, right? Oh and how do I write the cover of it? Just tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out. I looked online but it was hard to understand them. Maybe you could dumb it down just a little?
The margin is the white space around the page. The indent is where a new paragraph starts.
If you’re using Word, you want to go to File, Page Setup, and that will give you the place to set your margins.
Courier New is the font for Standard Manuscript Format, yes. You don’t need a cover.
All that being said, when I’m writing, I don’t use Standard Manuscript Format because it annoys the snot out of me and is distracting. Only after I’m done (and that means “done with all the edits too”) do I go back in and format it properly for submission. It just takes a couple of mouse-clicks to do that, after all.
Get the writer’s bible–the Writer’s Market. It’s probably about $20 on amazon or at the bookstore. It has info on all the publishers you can submit to, what kind of work they take, how to format manuscripts, how to write cover letters to submit with manuscripts, etc. Also, some companies want manuscripts submitted differently than others. The Writer’s Market will include that information for you. It also has sample manuscript pages and cover letters so you can see what it’s supposed to look like.
There’s also a lot of good advice from experienced writers in there, contests you can enter to make money, etc. You really would have a hard time putting together a manuscript for the first time without it, I think.
You might also subscribe to a writer’s magazine like “Poets and Writers” for example. Those have a lot of good advice and info in them. But “Writer’s Market” is essential. Get the newest version that you can, since the market changes a lot.
Good luck!
How do I write on manuscript form?
I’m planning to write a novel. how do I write it on manuscript form?
If you are writing in on a computer program like Word or the sort, don’t worry too much, you can always change it later.
Specific requirements vary by agent and publisher, so try to find them out for the ones you’ll send it to specifically.
That said, that are some basic guidelines.
1 inch margins
12 pt serif typewriter font (Courier New is a good one; Times New Roman should be avoided).
Double-spaced
If you format it correctly, you should average 250 words per page. The first page, however, should begin around half way down the page (leaving just 13 lines on it).
Additionally, number the pages and put the title, word count, and your last name in the top margin (usually this is on the left, in my experience).
If you are using Microsoft Word, for the love of all that is wordy, turn off widow/orphan control.