Writing a Novel - For the Beginner - Character Development

In the Story Concept section of our discussion on how to write a novel, we developed a basic one-sentence statement for our novel concept. Something similar to:

When a middle-aged ad man who's been coasting on his early success for years suddenly finds himself competing with a new, up-and-comer, he wages a life-or-death game of wits with his competition.

At this point, the idea will still be a little sketchy in your mind. Don't let that worry you. Go a head and explore it from every angle until you feel comfortable with the basic premise.

Now, we're going to focus on character.

Every good story hinges on character. Change the character and you change the story. For instance, if you take the concept stated above and change the character to a hard-working single mother with no formal education, you have a completely different story.

See how this changes the way you interpret the story:

When a hard-working single mother with no formal education suddenly finds herself competing for her job with a new, up-and-comer, she wages a life-or-death game of wits with her competition.

So this is the next step, a very important step, of your novel development: defining your main character.

Who is this person your story is about?

How old is he? How does he see the world? Is he a positive person or does he always lament about how the world is working against him? What kind of childhood did he have? What kind of a family? And how does his past impact who he is today? What does he look like? What are his physical strengths and weaknesses? What are his emotional strengths and weaknesses? What are his psychological strengths and weaknesses?

What's his greatest fear? What's his greatest passion?

What does he want more than anything else in the world?

What's his education? What does he do for a living? Is he happy with it or hate it? Is he married? Does he have children? Has he been divorced?

Not every question listed above is going to be important to defining your particular character.

However, you do want to ask plenty of questions. You want to come away with a clear picture of who your main character is, what's important to him, and how your story will grow around him.

Some authors like to use a form to help them discover their characters. Age. Gender. Education. Height. Weight. Eye color. Hair color. Weakness. Strength. Etc. You might also find it helpful to go through some magazines until you find a picture of someone who strikes you as what your character looks like.

Every author is different in approaching character development. Use whatever works for you. The important point is that at the end of the process, you should have a clear idea of who your main character is and the driving force that will carry him through your story.

More Character Education Articles

Character of Tommy Traddles

When Traddles first appears as one of David's school friends at Salem House, it seems he's just going to be a random person. David is so occupied with Steerforth that Traddles doesn't get too much of his narrative attention. At the same time, Traddles is so sweet and delightful that he's hard to ignore: he is the most frequent victim of Mr. Creakle's sadistic abuses, but he is also the kindest-tempered of all of the boys. When Steerforth drums Mr. Mell out of his teaching position, Traddles is the only one who is willing to tell Steerforth that he's being mean.

When grown-up David runs into Traddles in London, we start to see that there are significant similarities between Traddles's life and David's own. Traddles is also an orphan. He was raised by an uncle who eventually decides he doesn't like Traddles much.

The uncle dies without leaving Traddles anything in his will. Left without any money to continue his education, Traddles moves to London to become a law clerk. He works tirelessly to save up enough money to pass the bar and start his own law office. Through hard work and economy, Traddles slowly climbs up the legal ladder. Perhaps we could think of Traddles as David without either the factory life to mess him up or Miss Betsey Trotwood to save him. 

Traddles's personal life also echoes David's in interesting ways: Traddles is in love with Sophy Crewler, a clergyman's daughter. Traddles knows that it will be years before he can afford to marry his beloved Sophy and set up a household of his own, but he waits patiently, dreaming always of the day when he can finally settle down as a married man. Traddles and Sophy are like the couple that David and Agnes would have been if David had not been foolish enough to fall for silly Dora first. And by the end of the novel, the large happy households of Traddles/Sophy and David/Agnes mirror one another. 

Like David, Traddles must make his own way in the world through patience and hard work. Like David, Traddles winds up becoming entangled with the private lives of the Micawbers, a lucky accident, since they needed a legal mind on hand to figure out what to do with Uriah Heep. Like David, Traddles has the support of a faithful, good-hearted homemaker who gives him the happy home he deserves. And like David, Traddles has an affectionate heart: his sympathy for Mr. Mell, for the Crewlers and for the Micawbers is what leads him to such professional and personal success in this novel. Traddles's life is like David's story of development as it would have been without Steerforth and Dora dragging David down.

Golf Careers to Boom Your Character

As outlined by a 2005 research by Golf Digest magazine, you'll find above 35,000 golf courses currently operating worldwide, and about fifty percent of these programs can be found while in the United states. This means the golf market place is often a booming career market filled with seamless possibilities for enthusiastic golf-lovers, like you. And, finest of all, you will find a lot of diverse types of golf careers in this lucrative market place.

 

For those who are questioning which vocation will suit you ideal, merely make it easy for your persona to guide you in the correct course. By way of example, in the event you are a people-person, usually prepared to aid a fellow golf enthusiast increase their swing, then probably a golf instructor is the task for you personally. Or, possibly you will be more of the tranquil artist. Probably you would delight in a job in golf coarse design and style rather than out on the enjoying field.

Below are some golf careers, which may interest you like a educated golf specialized. Specialist golfer: Several golfers dream about becoming the next Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam .

 

Anything is attainable. With time, endurance, and also a boatload of ability, you may also come to be one in the golfing elite. Even so, do not believe it is a thing which is instantaneous. Most expert golfers have paid their dues, and also have worked their way up the vocation ladder by starting up as assistants. Gross sales and advertising: No doubt about it, golf can be a large business. Courses and resorts are generally in competitors to draw gamers. This is why they will need the ideal income and promoting team they're able to acquire TaylorMade burner 2.0 irons.

 

In the event you have revenue or promotion expertise in addition to a sturdy enthusiasm, think about incorporating both equally your interests into a sales or promoting golf placement.

Golf program layout: If it weren't for the visual conceptions of artists and architects, the attractive golf programs situated around the world would not exist. In case you are an artist who takes place to really like golf, set your abilities to your check and examine to get a golf profession in golf program layout. Devices specialist: Even the big guns, like Camilo Villegas or Vijay Singh rely on tools specialists to help them with their game.

 

In any case, if a golfer's equipment isn't suited flawlessly to the personal, their game will undergo noticeably. As an devices specialist, you can match golfers while in the proper products making use of a fitting procedure in addition to a PGA-recognized golf collection, such as Manassero won the 2010 Castello Masters with the help of devices specialist. You may be the go to guy for repairing and perfecting golf equipment. But before you can go after your dream of functioning while in the golf business, you have to choose an accredited golf school to attend. A golf academy will not only explain to you the way to master your golf skills, but it may also train you around the fundamentals and artistry of your game. As well as, this is certainly the top approach to discover significantly far more about all of the diverse golf careers at your fingertips.

 

"Love golf, love life", drgolfstore works on golf clubs for sale which provides you with various kinds of golf clubs. Any guest is expecting.

More Character Education Articles