Adding 'Character' to Fictional Characters

This week's chore is figure out why my characters come off as flat and unbelievable. I go through my character profiles extensively before writing a story, but that technique doesn't seem to be working. My guess is that I'm leaving something important out.

A typical 'character profile' includes the following:

- Name: Joe Schmoe
- Age: 35
- Height: 5' 8"
- Eye color: Blue
- Hair color: Brown
- What is this character's major goal?
(Example) To steal forty million bucks from his company's capital expense fund - and get away with it.
- Why is this goal so important to this character?
(Example) He was passed over for a promotion time and time again, and just found out his boss wants to have him fired.
- What events in the character's past affect the significance of this goal?
(Example) Grew up a poor white child in the backstreets of Los Angeles. Also, Joe's wife has threatened to leave him if he loses 'this' job. (Joe has a history of not being able to keep a job longer than 6 months). To save his marriage, Joe casts about for a quick solution.
- Describe your characters life till now, motivations, family situation, pet peeves, etc.
*This is too lengthy to get into here, but you get the idea.

Anyhow, what is 'supposed' to happen when you put together one of these character profiles is that a story begins to germinate, or at least a subplot to one. An interesting way to throw together a unique story is to build three characters that have nothing in common and toss them together in the same situation, somehow making it work. You can do a profile of a retired cop who lusts over a girl half his age, a born-again Baptist that secretly shoplifts and a Neo-Hippie that likes to preach against war from a street corner, then create one situation (problem) that brings together all three, and Poof! - you've got a story. Of these three characters, you must choose one of them to be your Main Character, if using multi POV, or POV character, if sticking to 3rd Person Ltd.

The problem I'm having is getting the character profile information across in the story without sounding like an infodump or being too expository. In my last couple of stories, I spent too much time on setting detail (because that was pointed out as a weakness of mine in the past) and not enough time making my characters more believable and less 'wooden.'

Finding the right balance is critical. And, it all depends on what you want to do with the story. If the theme is more important than the characters, (e.g., 'The DaVinci Code'], then you should spend less time on them and focus more on the plot. Character-driven novels are more popular these days, and I'm having a tough time emulating that format. There are so many things to consider that it's tough to keep track of it all.

Once I get moved into a larger home, I will set aside a room and cover one wall with corkboard. There, I'll build a storyboard and pin up the novel in sections, so that I can get a good look at what character goes where, how his/her actions move the story forward, etc. You not only have to make your characters feel 'real' to the reader, they must serve a purpose as well. If they're just there to be a 'Watson' to your 'Holmes,' they'd better contribute to the plot, or else they're wasting space.

This is a quote from a website:
http://www.webcom.com/wordings/artofwrite/feature.html

'Fiction writers generally come in two kinds: those who are strong on plot, and those who are strong on characterization. Rarely is a writer brilliant at both. Thus, even if you excel at great story premises, foreshadowing, plot twists, and careful pacing, you may still receive rejections with critiques pointing to 'two dimensional' or stereotyped characters; or perhaps it is your main characters' motivations that are unclear or illogical, which ultimately sabotages the story.'

I have a sneaking hunch that I'm a plot-driven type of writer, and I've been forced, by way of critique, to try to be a character-driven writer. I guess the key to making less-developed characters work is just to make sure their goals are clear to the reader.

My most recent short "The Sandman" had only one main character named Virgil who lives in a cabin deep in the Northwest woods. He's in his mid-seventies and he has problems with arthritis and insomnia. He sits beside his window every night, waiting for sleep to come. One night, as the story goes, it finally does - in the form of Death.

I was so worried about making the story work that I didn't include small details about Virgil that would make him more 'real' to the reader. The comments I got on that story were that he was believable, but shallow. Not much to him, in other words. I'll go back to the drawing board on that one, because I'd like to post it on SS_Main's Short Story Showcase. I think, since the plot's not too complicated, I'll experiment at making it a more character-driven story. I would prefer to write character-driven stories, as they have a better chance at winning over a reader than a plot-driven one. We'll see how it goes.

Well, that's about it for today. In other news, I found some more logic problems while proofreading R&D, and I'll either cut them or do a savage rewrite them. Somehow, I'm beginning to doubt that R&D will ever be a finished product.

Until Later -
Jillian