Character depth and character development in the story.

[wresch]

I spend a lot of time developing characters, but there is a risk. We want something to happen (I think). There has to be action. But we also need characters we care about (at least I do). But taking page after page to develop characters seems to slow everything down. Chapters of character development are ones I revise carefully and often delete. Things that interest me about a character (I tend to really love my main characters) are probably less interesting to my readers. So - care, balance, careful writing. Work. But I think it is necessary work. Characters are crucial.

 

[theartofwar901]

It depends on the genre.

As you mentioned for Steven King, he goes to great lengths to flesh out the characters and make you feel attached to them. This is standard fare in horror as a genre. Reason being, it's pretty much impossible to make a reader feel scared with prose alone. Books aren't like a movie where you can get a viseral reaction to a jumpscare. Instead you have to make the reader fearful for the characters rather than themselves. The reader can't be hurt by the monster, but the characters can. This obviously only works if you're attached to the characters enough to not want them to die.

With something like the Da Vinci Code, you can get away with focusing less on character and more on plot because it's a mystery. The reader isn't going to spend their time wondering which characters will survive, they're thinking about how to solve the puzzle.

There we go. See Im new to reading novels so, I had no idea that most horror novels used this tactic. I actually wanted to write horror novels now I don't know if I can go that in depth into characters so I may have to figure something else out.

 

[Bartun]

Well, I like developing my characters. My MC is a teenage girl who can barely fend for herself so she has to become more competent by necessity.

 

[AutumnPlunkett]

I feel like the genres you mentioned say everything on their own. Action is all about fight sequences, horror is about the creepy factor of blood and gore, and crime is about the suspense of it all. If we were talking about romance or a coming of age fantasy story then character depth would matter a lot more. Without it being a comic, romance stories only have the character's interactions and personalities to fall in love with. You don't get a pretty / handsome face to drool over so the plot is entirely character driven.

 

[RainyLiquid]

Good is good.

 

[AutumnPlunkett]

There we go. See Im new to reading novels so, I had no idea that most horror novels used this tactic. I actually wanted to write horror novels now I don't know if I can go that in depth into characters so I may have to figure something else out.

There is a RoyalRoad story called "The Game At Carousel", which is part of the niche infinite horror subgenre. Despite spending a lot of time showing the characters interacting with one another and very little time showing off their backstory, the series is incredibly popular. Other types of horror / thriller also work on a barebones description, if any, of what the actual characters are like. Generally things like short stories where having a John / Jane Doe character allows the reader to insert themselves into the situation mentally. There are a lot of different ways to write within the genre, so I wouldn't discount your ability to write what you want without even trying.

 

[theartofwar901]

There is a RoyalRoad story called "The Game At Carousel", which is part of the niche infinite horror subgenre. Despite spending a lot of time showing the characters interacting with one another and very little time showing off their backstory, the series is incredibly popular. Other types of horror / thriller also work on a barebones description, if any, of what the actual characters are like. Generally things like short stories where having a John / Jane Doe character allows the reader to insert themselves into the situation mentally. There are a lot of different ways to write within the genre, so I wouldn't discount your ability to write what you want without even trying.

Thanks. Ill do more research. I just have to have an audience for what Im writing otherwise it would be a waste of effort. Im a unique guy so that can be hard for me.

 

[Thraben]

I like characters that don't fundamentally change from who they were at the start by the time the story finishes. Characters that, regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in, are recognizably them. A good example is Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, throughout so many movies, games, comics, and spinoff TV shows, his characterization is almost 100% consistent and recognizable as being him. Some other good examples are Macronomicon's Industrial Strength Magic protagonist, Paradox, who achieves as a state of near omnipotent power by the end of the story, starts out as a random high schooler, but at no point during the transition does he change.

On the flipside

I'm also a huge fan of characters that change so much against their will that they eventually loop back around to being who they wanted to be in the first place by pure circumstance. Lelouch in Code: Geass is a fantastic example of this. The character in the opening flashback wants to be the character at the end but fuck if the journey to getting there is something anyone would want, especially not him.