Quirky Characters
Sunday, 1 December 2019
by Ashley Lister
One of the main reasons we read is to meet new and
exciting characters who are doing new and exciting things. Whether it’s a
Christian Grey, a Jane Eyre or Winnie the Pooh, we want to meet these novel individuals
who have been brought to life through fiction.
There are several ways to make fictional characters
come to life from the page, many of which I discuss in my book, How to WriteShort Stories and Get Them Published. However, one of the main ways to
create a character, a character that lives beyond the page, is to make them
quirky. Quirky characters stay in the minds of our readers. Quirky character
traits, because they’re so unusual, give the reader a sense of realism when
they notice they’re reading about someone with unconventional behaviour that
they have seen in the real world.
Violet Baudelaire, in Daniel Handler’s Lemony
Snicket stories, has a trait of tying back her long hair into a ponytail whenever
she is trying to address a particularly difficult problem. Given the way the
Lemony Snicket stories are constructed, Violet has to face many difficult
problems and spends a lot of her time tying her hair back. It’s a quirk that
makes her seem more than a mere fictional character.
The character of Orr, in Joseph Heller’s Catch
22, is quirky enough to stuff crab apples into his cheeks so that they
bulge. When this is first introduced to the reader it is seen as something
vaguely ridiculous that fits in with the surreal attitude Heller has taken to
armed conflict. It is only later in the
novel that the reader understands this quirk is a key part of Orr’s story.
Windsor Horne Lockwood III in Harlen Coben’s Myron
Bolitar novels is another character with quirks that make him believable. He is
wealthy and comes from a moneyed background and, whenever he’s engaged in an
important conversation, he steeples his fingers whilst concentrating. It’s a
subtle detail: but it gives you a clear impression of a character who, when he’s
not playing gold with hedge fund managers, or negotiating deals with investment
bankers, is saving Myron’s life like some dark and twisted superhero.
As I’ve said before, the advice offered here is NOT
intended to be seen as altruistic behaviour on my part. I’ve written a
book, How to Write
Short Stories and Get Them Published and, if you’re
interested in writing short fiction, I’d dearly love you to buy a
copy. The book is based on knowledge and experience I’ve accrued
from fifteen years of teaching creative writing, and from twenty-five years of
being a published author, and from the research I conducted whilst acquiring my
PhD in creative writing. If you want to write short fiction, I want you to buy
a copy of the book.
To create a character with quirky traits, it works
better if the quirk comes naturally into the creation of the character rather
than being something placed there artificially.
We can believe in an ex-smoker who stares wistfully at people shivering
in smoking shelters: it’s a relatable response. We can empathise with the genius
practical-mined scientist who has a four-leafed clover on his desk because it
shows a duality between the known and the unknown world. But, a character who
simply wants to wear a hat made out of blu-tack, is neither relatable nor deserving
of our empathy. This sort of detail is simply quirkiness for the sake of
quirkiness.
Quirkiness can be shown through a character’s favourite,
overused, word. Quirkiness can be an interest in rare flowers that seems
uncommon for a character who was once the most efficient member of a crack
military unit. Quirkiness can even be the
Mickey Mouse wristwatch, worn by the eminent Harvard Professor Robert Langdon,
in Dan Brown’s novels.
Character quirkiness does make characters seem more
real and less like the result of reading two dimensional letters from a flat
page. When it’s done properly, quirkiness can make your characters live long in
the memory of your readers and well-remembered characters are the goal of every
writer.
Please remember, if you want even more useful
advice on How to Write
Short Stories and Get Them Published, don’t forget to order a
copy of my book.
0 comments:
Post a Comment