The Boy Who Cried, "Wolf!" (Lessons on Creative Writing)

Chapter 3: Characters - Its Characterizations and POV.

Chapter 3: Characters - Its Characterizations and POV.

CHARACTER -- There are two meanings for the word character: 

1)  The person in a work of fiction. 

2)  The characteristics of a person.

Persons in a work of fiction

The number of characters may vary depending on the length of the story. A short story would usually have one main character, and another one that opposses the main character. There are five basic types of characters, and some or all may appear in a story:

a) The Protagonist - This is the hero in the story. 

b) The Antagonist - This is the villain in the story.

c) The Foil - A character which usually backs up either the protagonist or the antagonist, and often showing characteristics that are the exact opposite of the main hero or villain.

d) The Anti-hero - A main character that lacks the characteristics of a perfect hero. Note that a Foil is not an Anti-Hero since a foil is the "side kick", while the anti-hero is also a leading character -- only thing is, he's not as cool as a super hero.

e) The Anti-villain - The anti-villain is still a villain but is more "dignified" than the usual villains. As a matter of fact, anti-villains may appear more heroic than anti-heroes because they sometimes help the heroes resolve some conflicts, but the means they use to achieve their goals is evil or unjust. Anti-villains may side with the protagonists when facing greater threats, but because they are technically "the cousin of the devil" (lol), they are also distrusted. Anti-villains are rather interesting character, shall I say, because readers or audiences are often very cautious about them due to their ambiguous personality.

THE CHARACTERISATION

In order for a story to seem real to the reader its characters must seem real.  Characterization is the information the author gives the reader about the characters themselves.  The author may reveal a character in several ways: 

a)  his/her physical appearance 

b)  what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams 

c)  what he/she does or does not do 

d)  what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her

Characters are convincing if they are:  consistent, motivated, and life-like (resemble real people)

Characters are... 

1.  Individual - round, many sided and complex personalities. 

2.  Developing - dynamic,  many sided personalities that change, for better or worse, by the end of the story. 

3.  Static - Stereotype, have one or two characteristics that never change and are emphasized e.g. brilliant detective, drunk, scrooge, cruel stepmother, etc.

POINT OF VIEW

Point of view, or p.o.v., is defined as the angle from which the story is told.

1.  Innocent Eye - The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult) .

2.  Stream of Consciousness - The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.

3.  First Person - The story is told  by the protagonist or one of the characters who interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).  The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels.

4.  Omniscient- The author can narrate the story using the omniscient point of view.  He can move from character to character, event to event, having free access to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters and he introduces information where and when he chooses.  There are two main types of omniscient point of view:

a)  Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc).  We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.

b)  Omniscient Objective – The author tells the story in the third person.  It appears as though a camera is following the characters, going anywhere, and recording only what is seen and heard.  There is no comment on the characters or their thoughts. No interpretations are offered.  The reader is placed in the position of spectator without the author there to explain.  The reader has to interpret events on his own.

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