Questions on creating characters. HELP!?

Question

I have four question to ask about characters. In making them up I was wondering how many
characters are really needed in a novel story. I know it depends since I am the writer but
how many are there usually in a story from minor to major? Secondly, as far as minor
characters are concerned I saw the Order of the Pheonix and Snape being a minor character
had some HUGE grudge againist Harry because of Harry's father and how he treated him in
school. and snape was mad that Harry found out about his problem. My question is general
so how can a minor character have some history on a drama matter when the story's focus is
really on the main character and the crap that he's in? How many characters do i really
need to have a novel of fantasy and what references would you offer on learning to become
a fantasy writer. I have LOVED fantasy since I was a child and am an Anime junkie BIG time.

Secondly, How would you guide the characters from an age bracket of teenage to adult
while at the sametime guiding adults? J.K. Rowling did this and she was successful. Harry
started as 11 and stopped as a 21 to 23 year old. (About ready to start on book four
Goblet of Fire.) You can see my problem. I want to give my characters a rising conflict
and SHOW it to my audience. Making them feel like they are in the story going through the
exact samethings that the characters. So How do I hit them emotionally on different
emotions, creating suspense, mystery, love, and action without breaking their minds and
hearts where the story would carry them to the main thing that I am trying to communicate?
We all have many different reasons for writting but the main reason is that we as writers
wish to write is to further explain the human condition and to offer hope and anwsers
through our writings.

Third question is how do you convert a horrorific idea into a fantasy one?

I want to guide my audience to see what it is that I am saying through a rising conflict
where if I were to just say it adruptly it's a jumping conflict and the reader would put
down the book in the trash. I don't want that!! I just want to entertain and educate at
the sametime through the field of fantasy.

Is it wrong to read books as material to comming up with ideas so long as I am comming up
with simuliar and I have a simuliar theme? Through out the story. This is all I have for
research is fictional books. To write a series of books I have all of the Harry Potter
Series 4 to 7, Lord of the Rings 1-3 and the Hobbit and somemore books to review. As you
can see I am a lot and I really need help with this.

I have explained enough. Do you have or know of any references about magic performed in a
story like from Harry Potter series etc.? I have been working on my own story and am almost
done with chapter one. A short story turning into a novel and I need help with characters
and their history. Do I have to go into EXTREME details on the major characters and the
minor characters, the situations that they're in, whether good or bad, even their history
in regards to the situation that I am presenting in the scene or the story, in order to
explain them to the public? I am very new to this field. I just want to help others by
speaking of the things that I have seen through a rising conflict affecting my audience. I
don't know a thing about publishing and I really don't want my work to fall into the wrong
hands etc.

The other question is how do I create a character without it looking like I am refering to
anyone else? How do I create a situation where the scene or story isn't at all predictable
on what's going to happen next?

Answer 1

You have asked a LOT ..Your first and last questions are kind of related so I will tackle those for now.

First there are two different types of stories - plot driven and character driven. To write a good character driven story takes a lot more psychological character work.

The number of characters is as many as you need without being too many. That may sound silly, but it is exactly the way to do it. You need secondary characters - they create subplots and backstories for you. However if you have too many of them, they are hard to keep track of and scare people away from the book. A good example is Things Fall Apart. It is a magnificent book and a really remarkable read. But students look at that variety of African names and freak out. I have had to make up little family trees for kids to keep with them while they read that book. Otherwise it can be overwhelming - especially if the names are foreign to our ears and hard to remember.

Obviously you start with your antagonist and protagonist. You build your story around them. They represent the main plot - the spine of your story. How many people and stories branch off the spine is up to you, but I would keep it limited. The idea of subplots and backstories is really to have everything end up in the same place. Think of it like different colors of sand going through an hourglass. Every grain can be from a different story, but it all ends up at the bottom all blended together into one cohesive conclusion. If you feel you can combine the actions of two characters into one, consider doing it. If they must be separate in order to get the right response - keep them both.

The best way to know is by doing detailed character analysis before you begin writing. Flesh out your characters and make them alive. Give them pasts. Give them hopes and dreams. Really know them. If you find you really cannot flesh out a character, they are probably not necessary to tell your story. Remember that if you are using a LOT of characters - especially in one scene, it gets terribly hard to keep track of people logistically. He did this, she did that, they went there. Very hard to write a crowd scene.

As for your question about characters without it looking like you are referring to someone else, again your character analysis will come in handy. If you want your character to be afraid of lightning like your best friend Bob, you may want to give him some un Bob like characteristics too - to avoid the similarity. Then again, remember fictional works carry disclaimers stating any resemblance is circumstantial. But your friends and family might not exactly buy that. So be kind when using friends and family as characters. Remember you have to live with them! Pax - C

PS ... Maybe you can ask the other parts over again?? Too much to post at once.

Answer 2

Rowling and Tolkien had a hell of a time creating their worlds and developing their characters and the plot and writing the story and etc... that nobody knows their secrets and most people would just go with that one worded answer, "talent." If you want to write like them, be as extreme as them if you want to, and go with that whole notebooks upon notebooks of each character's life.

But not everything has to be so extreme. Snape was by no means a minor character. The fifth movie did the book no justice at all, never use the movies as an example to look at, always the books, and not even just with Harry Potter. Snape was a huge character, definitely a major character, and to answer your question, Snape had history and drama and everything with Harry because Snape was important to the entire story. He was the one who told Voldemort about Trelawney's prediction, he was in love with Harry's mother, and all through the books, he was really a good guy trying to protect the son of his beloved. You see?

As for the number of characters you need in a story, in varied with what the story is about. You'll need your main and major characters, the ones important to the plot, and then the ones to help the story along, which are the minor characters.

You have tons of questions, and some of them don't need to be asked. Writing a story doesn't have to be so complex or like a job. Just write. Whatever comes out comes out, and most of it lies in talent, anyways. But good luck.

Answer 3

I can't possibly answer all your questions, but I'll take a shot at one of them. You asked whether you, as the author, have to fill in all the details on all the characters for the reader to understand.

The answer is yes, and no.

The reader doesn't need to know every detail, but YOU do.
That's how you keep your characters consistent. YOU know how each character would react in every situation because you know them thoroughly. Since you reference Harry Potter, I'll give you an example from that. J.K. Rowling has said that she has many, many notebooks full of the backstories of both major and minor characters. She knows everything about all of them and what happens in their whole lives, even though she showed the reader only a fraction of that. Her characters were consistent in language and behavior, but they also grew and developed as the series went on. Remember Neville, and what a little doofus he was at the beginning? He developed BELIEVABLY into a hero by the end, because Rowling knew what he had going for him from the start. Also, by the end of the story, it was perfectly obvious that he would become a herbology teacher when he grew up.

So yes, to make the characters real to the reader, each one has to have a whole life, a backstory that may or may not be told in detail, and a personality that develops with the events of the story.

Good luck with your writing!

Answer 4

It's sometimes hard to start writing a book and know exactly where you are going with it, or how many characters you will wind up with in a story. I like to think of the book in two terms: is it about people or events? If it is about people, than you'll need to figure out who is the main character. If it is about events, you'll need to figure out how those events occur.

If your book is about a people, and you've figured out who your main character is, then you need to design his or her personality before you get started. The character's personality will evolve as the story progresses, but it is best to really get to know that character before you begin writing. If the character is a loner, there might not be a lot of other characters in you book. If the character is a social light, then there will need to be many. It is hard to write a book with only one character in it, but it is just as hard to write one with fifty. Find out who your character is, create his or her social circle, then decide what outside influences are needed. The total number of characters needs to be just enough to develop your main character. Too many will confuse your reader, and too few will cause boredom. Major and minor characters are used for the same purpose... to further the story of your main character.

As far as writing fantasy books, it really doesn't matter what you know, but how convincing you are. You can create whatever you want so long as you remain constent throughout the book (meaning dont contradict yourself.) The few fantasy books I have read use differen't rules as far as magic is concerned. Like anything, magic and all it intails is what you want it to be.

Details. I normally give enough details to give the reader a good idea of who the character is, or what the situation is. I allow imagination to do the rest. I find that characters I fall in love with get more attention, while unintersting characters normally get scrapped altogether. Details can make or break a story.

Predictability is a hard thing to overcome, but a story with a major twist gets old. They have their place, but they sometimes make the reader feel cheated. Be gentle when turning the plot. Trying to keep the reader guessing can lead to writer's block. (sorry.)

I prefer the anti-hero. You can get away with a lot more and the reader will rarely turn their back on them.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Those are the secrets of writing. But here is a hint: Start with the story line and see what kinds of characters will be necessary to carry it through instead of creating characters and then trying to find something for them to do.

Answer 6

If you want to learn about the subject without having to sort through a lot of anonymous answers by strangers, about whom you know nothing, including whether they know anything, there's a way to learn.

The reading list below can act as a source for you. Most of the titles can be found in your local library.

Answer 7

main thing with writing is really live it in your head. if you can see and feel your character, hear their dialogue, so will your readers...all writers get inspiration from others, read widely, not just fantasy. as with all truly good books, try not to typecast yourself too much. give your characters something to make them uniique. if you arent familiar with the world your characters come from, try to extrapolate from an experience or characters in your own life to flesh out written world.

good luck, and keep writing. practice makes perfect. let others give you feedback. and believe in your dream

Answer 8

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