Moments with Dr Steve – Number Fifty-two

The Writer’s Covenant – Number Nine

How to Build ‘One of a Kind’ Characters

As we progress, as we march along the creative trail of discoveries, we encounter – characters.

Characters that Suggest Plot

I am a ‘character-driven’ novelist and storyteller.

Characters – arrive.

These men, women and children and adolescent misfits and heroic outcasts – just begin showing up.

For me, most of them have been living in and amongst my soul for a long, long while.

For me, most of the characters have long ago – embedded themselves into my psyche.

For me, the character(s) is the primary driver – and the most important and critical element for every story I write.

For me, the character(s) shape and contour and color the narrative – not the other way around. (I am aware that others write and construct stories differently – this is not a competition).

Here, I am speaking solely of my own journey.

In ‘The Writer’s Covenant’ – I provide an outline for some scaffolding and laddering – that might prove useful for you.

Character(s) to Me…

  • ‘One of a Kind’ – I seek always to build and construct characters that round corners of ‘stock’ – I want my characters to be distinct and to be – noticeable and memorable

  • Unconventional – I seek always to build and construct characters that are ‘rough round the edges’ – and whose lives have been painted with the tarnish of some type of human suffering and/or societal eviction

  • Unprecedented – I seek always to build and construct characters that are ‘unlike’ any other character(s) that I might have encountered in some other form of literature – it is the uniqueness and the unlikely quotient that separates one character from another

  • Naming Conventions – I seek always to build and construct characters that have names and monikers and identifiers that are ‘stand-alone provinces’ – it is this constant search for – and then the claiming of these ‘unoccupied territories’ that make characters come to life!

  • Vessels that Carry and Ferry Value – I seek always to build and construct characters that carry and ferry some value-add that the story simply ‘must have’ detailed and disclosed – in order for it to reach its apex

  • Conflicted and Twisted and yet Vigilant – I seek always to build and construct heroic and somewhat messianic characters – whose very presence – and whose very internal consistency permits the storyline to evolve and emerge – and then find voyage

  • Extraordinary and Exemplar – I seek always to build and construct characters that stay and remain as fixtures – fixtures that embed and burrow into the recesses of the readers’ and viewers’ souls

Principal Characters

Every great and elevating work of storytelling is bound up – and carried by the champion character(s) that the author invents – invents and then shapes and colors.

As a writer and creative – your principal task is to create – at least one – principal character that has the internal throw-weight to carry your story to its successful conclusion.

We suggest that you head over to:

www.stalegis.org

Pick up a copy of – ‘The Writer’s Covenant’.

Learn how to add shape – color and contour – to advance and improve your capacity to properly and effectively – tell your story.

We are building a ‘GCC’ – a ‘Global Cultural Conversation’.

Join the narrative!

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