Creating characters with depth

The other night I finished reading and turned off my light. As I waited for sleep to take over I started thinking about my favorite books. With a start, I realized that my favorite books also had my favorite characters. These characters had a great impact on my life—their struggles and emotions resonated deep in me. Why do some characters stand out and others don’t? What are the differences between the characters? 

I wanted my characters to be more than just believable. More than one dimensional.

Randy Ingermanson, the Snowflake Guy, in his June 2015 issue of AdvancedFictionWriting, spoke very highly of the second edition of Brandilyn Collins’ book Getting Into Character. Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist who’s published 26 novels and several other nonfiction books.

So, I bought the book.

Brandilyn Collins reveals seven “Secrets” that actors use to “get into character”. In the book, each key has its own chapter.

Secret #1 Personalizing

Secret #2 Action Objectives

Secret #3 Subtexting

Secret #4 Coloring Passions

Secret #5 Inner Rhythm

Secret #6 Restraint and Control

Secret #7 Emotion Memory

I would highly recommend this book. Collins, utilizing excellent examples, shows how authors can dig deeper into their characters- their past, their emotions, personality traits, objectives, and motivations, through in-depth questions. After reading the book, authors will be able to delve into their character’s inner workings to birth a three-dimensional, complicated, and seemingly real individual. Authors will learn how to add their character’s distinctive reactions to life situations to move the story forward.

The only one downfall to the book and it is small. It doesn’t have a table of contents or index.

Now, who is your favorite character and why? Comment below.