Nondimensional characters are often the result of a writer’s self-indulgences and being immersed in their fantasies for too long.
Authors get extremely close to their narratives, so much so that they can lose themselves inside them. The result of this leads to holes in plots and characters that lack texture and detail.
The writing process sure gives writers a warm and fuzzy sensation. It’s a wonderfully illuminating, cathartic experience I know all too well. While this feeling of euphoria benefits us, it does not guarantee the quality of the stories we write.
An author can mistake these highs for completing entertaining stories. Unfortunately, this kind of enthusiasm doesn’t translate well. A self-induced creation junky clacking away on their keyboard creating what they believe is a super story is in no way the same as a reader’s experience of that story.
To the reader, the story is nothing but a title. The rest is up to their interpretation.
This is why it’s getting hard for readers to find quality books in contemporary markets. Lots of new writers are too focused on their passions to recognise how poorly developed their stories become. Readers don’t care about a writer’s perversions, passions, obsessions or euphoric creationist highs. They come into a story not knowing a thing about it or its characters. They are absolute outsiders — and expect to be entertained.
Readers want to taste and smell a story. They want to feel a character’s flesh. And those characters need to feel accessible to these strangers, not just to the author who made them. Writers need to give those characters depth so readers know that they have blood inside their veins too.
Here are my easy cardboard-character-busting tips:
- Build-in relatable character traits
- Write with empathy
- Find motivators in each character to make the reader love (or hate) them passionately
- Redeeming traits (especially for evil characters)
- Take breaks
Empathy is such an important element in the development of stories. Empathy for the characters and empathy for the readers.
Yes, readers are often forgotten in the writing process. The author marches on into their fantasies while the reader is hung out to dry.
The way I overcome being too close to a story is to take regular breaks and step right away from it. Whenever I finish a new one, I leave it alone and do something else that’s totally unrelated to writing. Two weeks is about the right length of time to allow my brain to divorce from the relationship it had with the story. It resets me.
When I get back into it, I’ll spend time filling in those massive plot holes I didn’t see beforehand and giving proper substance to the characters. These fourteen days allowed me to see them adopt a mysterious limp, a nervous eye twitch, grimy teeth, a desire to remain aloof, an attraction to tall men, a fear of heights, or a dream come true. My brain will start adding muscle, blood and a nervous system to these characters. Hopefully, they’ll inflate with accessible traits and then become the people they need to be for readers to enjoy. Even the evilest of them will have a redeeming quality or two, just to save them from being lost to the dark side.
And then I’ll take another break… and do it all over again.
I never make my writing projects an endless chain of work from day one to The End. I like to sever the link periodically to help reset my mind and restore my sanity. Dark fiction tends to take this writer down too many dangerous rabbit holes from which I may never return. I need to reestablish my feet on this side of reality to stay safe and write well.