Creating Three Dimensional Characters

3-D Characters

One-dimensional characters are plain, simple and unexplained. Readers or viewers briefly “see” one-dimensional characters but these characters do not speak. The one-dimensional characters are usually cashiers, salespeople, drivers, servers, nurses, joggers, or the person walking down the street pushing a stroller.

Two-dimensional characters are similar to one-dimensional characters except two-dimensional characters use speech or gestures to react to what is going on around them Still, two-dimensional characters are undeveloped and lack explanation, reason and depth. Two-dimensional character reactions and interactions are often brief, but not always. A character may be present the majority of the time, but when s/he lacks history/backstory and complexity, the character is two-dimensional.

An effective, well-rounded, believable fictional character usually has three dimensions:

thoughts
emotions; and
actions.

In screenwriting, the three dimensions are frequently described as:

physiology;
sociology; and
psychology.

Three-dimensional characters have goals, ambitions, desires, motivating forces, fears and values. In addition, they have habits, mannerisms, cultural tendencies and styles that are audible or visible to others. In other words, a 3-D character has an inside and an outside.

Flat, misused or poorly developed characters are the best way to lose reader interest. Here are some tips for creating three-dimensional characters:

Avoid clichés and stereotypes. Literature and film have enough polite, British butlers; submissive housewives; hair styling, fashion-conscious gay male characters; and intellectual glasses-wearing professors. Likewise, literature and film are overpopulated with: Mexican immigrants, New York Jewish mothers, Harvard lawyers, etc. When you find a stereotyped or clichéd character emerging in your work, remove the character. Or, develop an individual identity for the character. Give your characters at least two traits or details that distinguish them from other people (such as their love of old Pam Grier movies, their Marcus Garvey t-shirt, or their way of squinting when they’re thinking). We can breathe life into our characters with two or three well-placed details, gestures or lines of dialogue.

Embrace free will and choice. Think of each character as a real person with a will of his or her own, rather than a mannequin for you to manipulate. Willful characters like Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea, are exciting. Santiago wanted to catch a fish and was prepared to die trying. When a characters’ will, choice or values contradict your own, let the character have his or her own way. Offer your characters opportunities to make the choices just like “real” people. Your character should have to make decisions and accept the consequences of those decisions, just like us- “real” people. Ask yourself, “What would this character do?” If you find you simply cannot let the character “do him” or “do her,” then consider replacing the character with a character whose will, choices and values are harmonious with yours.

Create competence. Give your character a skill. In other words, let your character be good at something.

Create contrast. You can contrast characters to themselves, to other characters and to their settings. Tony Soprano is an example of a character who had somewhat of a dual nature. He was a gangster and a sensitive, mostly loving father. In terms of contrasting characters, Jekyll and Hyde are examples of polar opposites. With setting, you could have, for example, a rich farm girl moving to an urban, impoverished area; or a fisherman who cannot swim. Force your characters to deal with new, interesting experiences.

Experience the negative. It is okay to write about characters you admire, or even envy, but often, the most interesting characters annoy, perturb, or anger us. Explore and write about characters who irritate, disturb, or infuriate you. You don’t have to like the characters you create.

Remember humanity. Make your characters identifiably human. Humans forget, misspeak, misstep and neglect- your characters should do the same, occasionally.

The most important thing to remember is to create characters who interest or fascinate you. Develop characters you would want to read about and will remember years from now. If you’re not interested in your characters as people and are unlikely to remember them, your reader isn’t likely to either. However, with practice, we can create memorable, three-dimensional characters such as:

Sula Peace, Sula, Toni Morrison, 1973
Celie, The Color Purple, Alice Walker, 1982
Arthur “Boo” Radley, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960
Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
Bigger Thomas, Native Son, Richard Wright, 1940
The Little Prince, The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1943
Florentino Ariza, Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1985

Truly minor characters who appear briefly to sell a newspaper or give directions can be cardboard or stick figures. But, effective literature and films need at least one character who has been brought to full 3-D life with vivid, rich, appropriate details.

Who are some of your most memorable characters from fiction and film (don’t forget to mention the villains…)?

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