In writing a story/novel, what do you mean by 'flesh out' the characters?

Question

I'm a budding writer, I'm already doing some short stories (or one-shots as others call them) but I plan on developing a novel with those short stories as a sort of prologue.
However, when I hear about other young writers like me, one of the things that they often had to do was 'flesh out' their characters. Can anyone tell me what it means? I wanna check if I was doing it myself. Thank You :)

Answer 1

Flesh out means make them real people instead of two dimensional cut-outs and stereotypes. When you do your homework first, you should do detailed character studies. Your characters should have pasts. They should have dreams and futures. You should know tiny little details about them - just the same as you would about your family or friends. When I read a character analysis from a student, my first question is always "Do they brush their teeth side to side or up and down?" "What is their favorite color?" I write a series of books with a certain protagonist who is a retired cop. You could ask me what he eats for breakfast and I could tell you. Ask me anything about him. I know it. I know him that well. That is how to write a great character.

A book is based on a curve. The beginning is ground zero. It is normal life. Then along comes a conflict. Then the characters set about developing solutions for that conflict. Then there is a resolution and things return to pretty much normal - albeit a different normal.

The more you know about your characters, the more likely you are to know how they will react to that conflict, and what they will do. If you really know your characters intimately, they will actually "talk" to you and tell you how they would respond. Who we are determines how we will respond to situations. Are you the Rambo type who just runs in guns blasting? Or are you the Einstein type who sits and thinks of solutions? Or are you the Jimmy Carter type who tries to negotiate? Or the type who just sits back and lets other people do the blasting?

Those are the things you learn when you flesh out your characters. Fleshing them out is also the way you develop backstories and subplots. Maybe a certain situation reminds a character of something from their childhood and the backstory s that childhood event. Or a subplot could be one character being extremely attracted to another character. Or hating another character.

It should take you a month or more to really flesh out characters. Start with brainstorming in a notebook then start a set of filecards for each character. You can even look in magazines for pictures that look like your characters.

The idea is to give them lives and they will act accordingly. Not like stiff wooden cutouts, but real live breathing people. That is what fleshing out is all about. Pax- C

Answer 2

Hi :) Enough for them to seem like real people. If they're nothing more than a list of words then I'm doing something wrong. Personality comes in an instant for me, background taking a little longer. The background contributes to their personality. I don't sit there and plan my characters for AGES, but sometimes if they are seeming a bit stiff then I'll do a mindmap on them. The way you think about them helps too. If that made sense. What I mean is that if in your mind you're thinking, "They're never going to come alive" then, well, they never will. But if you're positive about them then there's more chance of them becoming their own person. Don't worry - you'll get there. Think of them as real people, with real emotions. Personally, I don't plan my character's at all if I can help it. Hope I helped xxx

Answer 3

I am just a reader,I can relate to the heroin,hero,villain,monster,in those type of stories,when the writer has made me be there, and given me the characters backround,so I think you have to get me as a reader inside the characters you want me most to be either sympathise with or hate or whatever,in other words flesh those characters,sometimes I fell bereft,if the heroine has died,or lost her love or the mother lost her child,do you see what I mean.sorry it was long drawn out but I could go on about books forever.
Long live writers.

Answer 4

You want to give your characters a backstory, make them seem like real people not one dimensional. They need to have quirks or things that set them apart from everyone else in the story.
For example, throughout most of the Harry Potter series, Kreacher is a very one dimensional character. He hates all muggles and all he does is wander around an mutter about how awful Harry, Sirius, and the Order are. It is never explained or even hinted at why he behaves badly, it is just assumed that is the way he is.
In the last book, Harry, Ron and Hermione hit upon what it really is what Kreacher wants. What motivates hime. What makes him happy. It make Kreacher a more well rounded character more real, more believeable.

Answer 5

Your characters should have some sort of depth to them.

For example, Sally going to the store makes a great children's book, but there is no depth to Sally. Sally is boring because there is nothing in her background. She doesn't have a personality, she doesn't have angsty moments, she doesn't have some sort of history that affects the way she acts, and she doesn't have a motive.

All major characters NEED those aspects in order to make a character and story interesting. If your readers/audience cannot empathize and sympathize with a character, the book won't do well.

i.e. Harry potter: lots of angsty goodness there. Huge, terrible past. People identify with his pain.

Clarisse McLellan (Fahrenheit 451): she has dreams of being in a world where she can communicate with others and read books. Dreams. People identify with her because they have dreams of their own that they have abandoned. And she's not even a major character, really.

Answer 6

Fleshing out just means making your characters look and act like real people. Next time you're out, observe everyone around you, your friends, family, and strangers. Notice what they wear, how they eat, how they drink, things they do with their hands, body, and faces when they talk, how they look when they walk and sit down.

Make a really loud noise, how do people react? Do they jump, cringe, pick their nose because they think no one's looking, what?

Tell someone about your pet dying or the new iPod you got. What is their reaction? Shock, indifference, joy, jealousy? What do their bodies do to tell you?

Listen to people when they talk, how do they speak? Do they rush through words, use a lot of slang or lingo, talk reeeall slooow?

Use all these things to give to your characters. Flesh them out. Make them real.

Write on!

Answer 7

Flesh out means to give substance to your characters. Give "life" to them. Understand what their strengths and weaknesses are. Goals, dreams, past, etc. There is much more to any literary character than what the reader finds between the covers of a book.

Answer 8

Give substance to, provide with details, amplify. For example, The editor told her to flesh out the story, or You need to put flesh on the bones of these characters.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

It means putting flesh and bones on the character by providing plenty of background information about them.