Creating Likeable Characters

[Camy]

Calisthenics for Creating Likeable Characters by Bret Anthony Johnson.

I just came across these exercises and thought they might be helpful. It's a single page pdf, so either download it or, if your browser handles pdfs happily, click on it. Bret Anthony Johnston is the Director of Creative Writing at Harvard University.

http://lib.store.yah...hnstonFocus.pdf

[Cole Parker]

Fascinating. Lots of good stuff there.

And just like everything I've read about writing, a lot of it applies as a general rule, but for specific stories, specific situations, it may be superfluous.

But for the most part, that was very good, and I've saved it to read over and over. Much to think about.

C

[Merkin]

Interesting exercises. I think that what they tell us is that characters, like people, come to a writer each with a past and a personality. It is the writer's responsibility as their biographer, in the telling of a particular story about them, to understand their individuality and how their histories might foreshadow and drive the story the characters have been placed within.

The story whose first chapter I have just finished reading here on AD, Seasons for the Boy, by Chris James, is a very good example of how that works.

[The Pecman]

Yeah, one of the tricks to making a character likable is having another character in the story observe all his good qualities. That way, he's not just admirable to the reader -- he's specifically admired by someone else.

I think another good method is to give the character a pivotal moral decision to make -- do they try to save somebody's life? Do they try to do the right thing, even though it will take a huge amount of effort? Do they stand up for someone unpopular for the right reasons? -- and show why they're a good, solid person by example.

I agree with many of Johnston's points, especially the one about having each major character want something. That reveals a lot about the character, especially when they get it (or don't get what they want).