By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
I believe stories have souls that breathe immortality into a reader’s life.
An unforgettable story steps beyond “Once upon a time” to a kingdom that captures the heart of a reader forever. Not every story has that golden world, and not every reader experiences the same soul-grabbing story. What lingers as a memorable novel for me may not give you an exceptional read. But what we will agree upon is the story touched us, spoke to us, and we were passionately involved in the lives of the characters and their quest.
The magic kingdom is filled with rare, distinct, haunting, and extraordinary characters who accompany us to our sweet spot of remembrance. Readers and writers dream the character is real and imagine themselves joining the journey. Some readers become the hero or heroine, much like children don super-hero costumes and develop the mannerisms of their favorite character.
How does a writer accomplish this amazing feat? Is there a magic wand to wave over our keyboard?
There’s no fairy dust in writing. It’s all hard work. The writer works hard to discover the heart of a story.
We work hard to create characters who are:
- Show multi-dimensional traits.
- Full of life.
- Possess authentic flaws.
- Experience solid victories.
- Demonstrate believable strengths.
We merge them into a setting that is determined to see the character fail by tossing rocks, swords, bullets, bombs, lies, and the hero’s worst fears into their paths. (Think Indiana Jones and his aversion to snakes.)
We offer the character a way out of his predicament, but the hero refuses. When knocked down, he gets back up. When bleeding he smacks on a Band-Aid and keeps moving. When he’s defeated in battle, he understands the war is not over.
- The characters are unique.
- The characters are not afraid to love or give.
- They are secure in who they are.
- They are confident in their abilities and willing to learn new skills.
- They accept a higher deity called God who is in charge of the universe.
- They make mistakes and learn from them.
- Their appeal is shown in their response to life’s challenges.
- They inspire us to be better people.
- They offer hope in a world that otherwise threatens our peace of mind.
Is a writer always successful in establishing an immortal character? Unfortunately, not. But we never give up because it’s in our DNA for each book to be better written than the previous one. We writers are committed to our craft so our stories and their characters will live forever in a reader’s mind and heart.
Think about the last story you read. How would you describe its heart?
