Character Development: Identifying Flat Characters and Making them Round
The first fictional character I ever conjured up was Alfred Riggs, the twenty-four-year-old son of a well-known missionary named Stephen Riggs. Alfred and his father are in fact real historical figures, but little is known of Alfred, and he fit well into the narrative I wanted to tell—a narrative of the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. As a historian, it was my goal to share the history of the U.S. - Dakota War and Alfred was my vehicle for doing so. He, I decided, would be my eyes and ears; a conduit to the past to share a story with readers from the present.
Unfortunately, for as much as I was able to learn (and then share) about history, I knew very little about the craft of fiction. Indeed, Alfred served his purpose. He met and spoke with all the main historical figures from that time and place. He was present—even if implausibly so—for all the main historical events. He saw and heard it all, from the first gunshot to the cutting of the rope on a mass gallows that ended the lives of thirty-eight Dakota men. He was there because I put him there—because he was my main character.
Since writing my first novel more than twelve years ago, I’ve learned a lot about the elements of fiction and how to use them. The element I’d like to focus on here is character development. In particular, flat vs. round characters. With a quick Google search it’s easy to learn the differences between a flat and a round character. Basically, a flat character is a stereotype who acts in one way and only one way. They are unchanging. A round character, on the other hand, is fully human and changes over the course of a narrative. A round character is full of strengths and weaknesses, conflicting emotions, changing attitudes, and a background that hints at the motivations for their actions.
“A round character is full of strengths and weaknesses, conflicting emotions, changing attitudes, and a background that hints at the motivations for their actions.”
Both flat and round characters are necessary for every story. The balance of flat to round characters will depend on the story and on the goals and writing style of the storyteller. The problem, as I see it, is that most authors don’t exactly know when their characters are flat and when they are round. Like me, with Alfred, they want to tell a story but they overlook the complexities involved. So rather than list the differences between flat and round characters and expect writers to go on their merry way, I’d like to articulate, very briefly, how a novice writer can go about recognizing their characters as flat or round and then develop them as necessary.
The most meaningful way I can think to express the difference between flat and round characters, is that readers sympathize with round characters while they do not sympathize with flat ones. That’s essential because without a character to hate or love, to root for or root against, what is there to keep your reader interested? For all the ways I gave Alfred to share the history of the U.S. - Dakota War, did I give the reader enough reason to follow him on that journey? Or, could they just as well forget Alfred and pick up a nonfiction book if they really wanted to learn the history?
These are the questions you need to ask yourself when evaluating your story and its characters. Does your character exist to merely to further the plot (or accentuate the characteristics of another character)? Then it is a flat character. Does your character exist to bring your reader on a journey, to teach them something important, to touch their heart? Then it is a round character. Once you’ve identified your flat and round characters, the next step is to develop them, and usually this is a matter of show vs. tell.
“Once you’ve identified your flat and round characters, the next step is to develop them, and usually this is a matter of show vs. tell. ”
If your protagonist slays a dragon, or passes the bar exam, or escapes prison and starts a new life on a tropical island, it’s meaningless without showing the reader how they got there. This is where show vs. tell comes in. In order to make your character from flat to round, you need to show the reader all the obstacles they had to overcome to reach their goals—to get what they wanted. For instance, if you tell the reader that your dragon slayer lost her family to the plague, was exiled from the kingdom for practicing “witchcraft”, and watched her best friend and mentor die in a battle against the dragon, then the reader feels nothing when the protagonist finally slays the mythic beast in the end. That’s because you merely told the reader these things rather than showing them. The same goes for any historical figure you may be writing about. If you’re writing a story about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, it’s pretty meaningless if you don’t show Dr. King, who was arrested twenty-nine times for fighting for civil rights, confined in a Georgia prison years earlier. Actually show… that means that you must describe the smell of the cell, the taste of the dry cornbread, and the feel of the hot, sticky, southern air. You must put the reader in that prison with Dr. King.
That all sounds simple enough, but when you’re writing a story, especially one based on real historical facts, it’s easy to overlook. As you write, you add in details about things you know—things about the character’s relationships and family life, things about what they like and dislike, things about history that you want the reader to become aware of. But if you don’t take a moment to step back and examine your characters, you’ll find that all of them are flat, stale, and even homogeneous. Flat characters, of course, serve a purpose and it’s important to use them in your narrative. But it’s more important to identify those characters you want—you need—your readers to connect with and then work toward developing those characters. To make them round. This is done by showing the reader who they are and what they’ve overcome. Show your dragonslayer at the bedside of her sick parents. Show her on trial for witchcraft while onlookers hurl rocks and insults at her back. Show us her first encounter with the dragon when her mentor is slammed against a rock and killed. And then, finally, show us when she slays the dragon. If you’ve managed to make your dragonslayer into a round character, the reader will be right there with her.
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