Mind, Body, Spirit=Character
I've been hearing a lot about Tai Chi lately from a family member who is immersed in it. She speaks of the mind-body-spirit connection and the balance that must be achieved among the three for peace and healing. It occurs to me that writing good characters requires that same balance.
Mind: we have to know many aspects of a character's mind: how smart he is, how much of a thinker, how he views the world, and how he views himself. This can be difficult with characters other than the protag, whose thoughts we expect to share. Having a character spill his guts can be a disaster unless we set it up carefully, and even having other characters say things like, "Horace just doesn't seem to understand his self-worth," is artificial and even silly. Brief comments by and about the character, then, have to lead the reader to conclude that Horace indeed doesn't understand his self-worth without being told, the basic "show, don't tell" maxim.
Body: Probably the least important aspect, but physical traits contribute to the reader's reaction to a character. We react to looks, no matter how hard we try not to. An overly straight spine or a limp handshake tell us things about a character that contribute to our total understanding. A writer shouldn't depend too much on physical stereotypes, though, and in fact some writers do very well by exploding the reader's preconceived notions: Yoda as warrior in STAR WARS or Judy Holliday as the smarter-than-expected dumb blonde in BORN YESTERDAY
Spirit: Somehow a writer has to infuse each character with life, a spirit that lifts him or her off the page and allows interaction between character and reader. We feel like we know well-drawn characters, could predict what TV shows they would like and which restaurant they'd choose for a Friday night out. This is done by the author first forming her own clear picture of the character, and then through careful attention to detail in what that character does, how he does it, what he says, and what thoughts he shares with the reader. Oddly, readers apply their own interpretations as the story develops, so we don't get exactly the same perceptions of a character but in general agree that the character has an "existence." For example, we may see Huck Finn as a poor, abused kid, a naive observer, or a tough survivor, but we agree that he's about as real as an unreal person can be. We know what he thinks, how he looks, and what kind of spirit burns inside him.
If a writer can create such a character, a mind-body-spirit concoction, she can truly say, "Life is good."
Mind: we have to know many aspects of a character's mind: how smart he is, how much of a thinker, how he views the world, and how he views himself. This can be difficult with characters other than the protag, whose thoughts we expect to share. Having a character spill his guts can be a disaster unless we set it up carefully, and even having other characters say things like, "Horace just doesn't seem to understand his self-worth," is artificial and even silly. Brief comments by and about the character, then, have to lead the reader to conclude that Horace indeed doesn't understand his self-worth without being told, the basic "show, don't tell" maxim.
Body: Probably the least important aspect, but physical traits contribute to the reader's reaction to a character. We react to looks, no matter how hard we try not to. An overly straight spine or a limp handshake tell us things about a character that contribute to our total understanding. A writer shouldn't depend too much on physical stereotypes, though, and in fact some writers do very well by exploding the reader's preconceived notions: Yoda as warrior in STAR WARS or Judy Holliday as the smarter-than-expected dumb blonde in BORN YESTERDAY
Spirit: Somehow a writer has to infuse each character with life, a spirit that lifts him or her off the page and allows interaction between character and reader. We feel like we know well-drawn characters, could predict what TV shows they would like and which restaurant they'd choose for a Friday night out. This is done by the author first forming her own clear picture of the character, and then through careful attention to detail in what that character does, how he does it, what he says, and what thoughts he shares with the reader. Oddly, readers apply their own interpretations as the story develops, so we don't get exactly the same perceptions of a character but in general agree that the character has an "existence." For example, we may see Huck Finn as a poor, abused kid, a naive observer, or a tough survivor, but we agree that he's about as real as an unreal person can be. We know what he thinks, how he looks, and what kind of spirit burns inside him.
If a writer can create such a character, a mind-body-spirit concoction, she can truly say, "Life is good."
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