Character

This term is used by the author to identify any individual who plays any kind of role in any kind of narrative. His primary focus in writing the book is to introduce other writers to techniques of making such individuals interesting, engaging, and realistic to a reader (see "Important People—Reader"). As part of the process of exploring those techniques, the author defines broad types of characters (main characters, secondary characters, for example), and explores each type in terms of function, importance, and depth. Throughout the book, he grounds each exploration of each character in three central premises. The first is that the actions, personalities and transformations of each character must feel justified (logical, reasonable) to those reading about them (see "Themes—The Necessity for Justification"). The author's second central premise is that characters in fiction (dramatic or literary) are what might be described as hyper-realistic...