CHARACTER AND POINT OF VIEW
In class assessment next week:
Our focus – building Character and establishing
Point of View
CHARACTER
Originality is important when creating a
character!
A reader will not care about nor remember
cardboard cut-outs that they’ve met a hundred times
before. If you want to create a compelling character,
don’t make them too nice/likeable – people enjoy
mystery.
CHARACTER
Ask questions
In order to be able to write characters, you have to
be interesting in people. You need to observe people
carefully and ask questions.
Why did Ms. Beard dye her hair red?
Why did Mr Crenfeldt move to Australia?
Why did Mr Kelly become a teacher?
If you ask questions, the world will offer you some
very interesting stories to build on.
CHARACTER
Know your characters.
You need to know your characters well. What do
they eat for breakfast? What bores them? What’s
their most loved item of clothing? What’s their
favourite song?
If you aren’t prepared to know your characters well,
to fully believe in them, the chances are your reader
won’t full believe in them either.
CHARACTER
The things people say – Dialogue.
Dialogue is a valuable way of showing character.
What people say is a guide to who they are, even if
that are an unreliable narrator. Showing someone’s
thought processes by way of an interior monologue
can also work well.