Daily Spotlight with Ann Gimpel

What is it about Believable Fictional Characters?

Think about your favorite hero or heroine in fiction. Can you close your eyes and visualize them standing in front of you? What do they look like? How do they smell? What is their posture like as they stand there?

If you can answer those questions, the author did a most excellent job and that is likely why the character you picked became a favorite. Moving on from how they look, the angle of their head, the quirk of their brows, can you guess their reaction to being asked a particular question? Will they flirt with you? Or will they take you seriously and try to make you feel at home?

Obviously I can’t speak for other writers, but my characters come alive in my mind. I not only visualize them, I can hear them talking. They actually put words under my fingers as I type dialogue. It feels like I’m more an intermediary than anything else.

Few things are worse in a book than wooden dialogue where a reader shakes their head, knowing real people would never say something like that. Being a psychologist has given me an unexpected edge. I’ve spent so many years listening to people tell me things, writing dialogue comes naturally. And along with dialogue, comes a character’s reactions to other characters in the story. No one gets along all the time. Likewise, people aren’t always at odds with one another.

The trick is to have enough tension between characters to make the story interesting. No one wants a novel where the reader can predict exactly where the story is going to go next. On the other hand, no one wants characters whose motivations are so obscure the reader never knows quite what’s going on. I just finished a novel with so many loose ends, it felt unsatisfying. It was a series book, but still, some level of closure before the words, “The End”, would have helped.  And unlike a Karen Marie Moning Fever Series book where I can’t wait to buy the next one, this other author didn’t inspire quite that level of enthusiasm.

What’s the difference? Simple. I care about KM Moning’s characters enough to want to know what will happen next. To borrow from psychology, characters who resonate for us hold projections of parts of us we hold dear. The part of me who always wanted to be psychic lives in my character, Lara McInnis. The part of me who wants to pit myself against evil lives in KM Moning’s characters: Mac and Jericho.

I think that’s why fantasy in general and urban fantasy in particular holds such wide appeal. Set in the real world, we can imagine ourselves as the hero or heroine of the tale. It’s empowering in many ways. And I think it’s really healthy to give our imaginations free rein.

Take a look at that favorite character from earlier. What made you pick them? Why do they live in your head? What’s different between them and a less memorable character? I’d love to know who your favorite characters are. I’m always looking for great books I haven’t read. Thanks for reading this post. If you feel like it, check out my blog http://anngimpel.blogspot.com

Also check out Ann's latest release Destiny's Shadow on Amazon