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Creating The Memorable Character
Characters are the lifeblood of fiction. By the very nature of their role, they change the way a story unfolds. If you're writing a novel about a bank heist and the main character is someone who's always been afraid of confrontation, well, that's a completely different story from a bank heist with a main character who's a con man that enjoys outfoxing security systems. Both characters, however, can be memorable characters. So what makes a character memorable? I'm going to use a couple of television examples here, simply because I believe a greater number of people will be acquainted with them. The first character is Dr. Gregory House from the show, House. Dr. Gregory House is a brilliant doctor who lives to solve medical puzzles. Now, that fairly well covers every doctor you've ever seen on television or read about in a medical thriller. In itself, that makes for a character that's anything but memorable. But that's not all there is to Dr. House. He's also self-absorbed, acerbic and brutally honest with his patients and co-workers, anti-social, emotionally troubled, and addicted to pain killers. This is a character who works in a profession that requires a degree of empathy, understanding, and reassurance. Yet, these are all beyond his capablility. That's what makes him interesting and memorable. Even if you hate him, you aren't going to forget him.   If you want to become a novelist, a good one, and you’re not sure what you must to do to develop the skills you need, Andrea Rains Waggener wants to help you. A novelist who sold her first novel for a nice advance to one of the biggest publishers in the world, Bantam Dell, Andrea Rains Waggener has created a plan that makes it easy to go from novel idea to completed, publishable novel. Our second character is Adrian Monk. Here we have a former police detective whose wife was murdered and he couldn't handle the tragedy. Again, this is a fairly typical character at this point. Most of these characters turn to alcohol and make a mess out of their lives. But struggling to deal with his tragedy, Monk develops a whole set of phobias, obsessiones and compulsions that take over his life. He's a brilliant detective who sees clues where others don't, but is hampered at every turn by his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Just like Dr. House, you may find that he drives you absolutely crazy, but you won't forget him. So you can see by these examples that there are a couple elements at play. The first is that a memorable character has to have a positive element. Dr. House is brilliant at solving medical puzzles. Monk is brilliant at solving murders. The character doesn't have to be brilliant at what he or she does (though that's often the case), but could have a unique propensity for being honest, or being positive, or being persistent, etc. The second element is that a memorable character goes against the grain of what's normally expected. In many ways, the character is the opposite of what you would expect. He plays against character. This can be in a negative light as in our examples or in a positive light as in the alcoholic, ambulance-chasing attorney who suddenly finds a case that inspires him to get his act together. So, it's more than mere mannerisms that make a character memorable. It's the essence of the character, the way he or she functions in the world.
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