Consistent Characters

I think one of the most important aspects of creating characters in fiction is to ensure that they remain consistent throughout the book. This involves having a very clear idea about a character’s personality. Once a character has been introduced into a book, he or she should remain “true to themselves”.

How is this done?

If you establish that your character is forthright, proud and outspoken, for instance, and the character suddenly becomes shy, retiring and timid halfway through the book, it can be disconcerting to the reader. This is not to say that a character can’t behave in a surprising way during the course of the story – ie. the forthright, proud woman suddenly shows a softer, gentler side when she rescues a tiny kitten from the side of the road.

However, being surprised by a character’s unexpected behaviour is not the same as the character being inconsistent.

If a character is drawn consistently, yet shows surprising behaviour, the reader will immediately start to wonder WHY the character is behaving in this manner, and this will act as a hook, drawing the reader further into the story. The reader will see the surprising behaviour, and have a sense that it indicates some hidden depths to the character which haven’t yet been revealed and this will add to the intrigue and suspense of the story. 

When a character behaves inconsistently, it has more to do with an external element – i.e. the author manipulating the character to behave in a certain way for a particular plot development, for example. If this happens, the reader will be uncomfortably jolted out of the story as the character will simply not ring true. It’s like hearing a discordant note in an orchestra. It’s glaringly obvious.

Authors should be very wary of losing the trust of their readers. When a reader opens a book, he or she is entering into a contract with the author which involves a high level of trust. If an author “breaks” this trust by creating characters that are inconsistent, it can create a barrier to the author’s position of storyteller to the extent that the reader could decide to abandon the book and seek a more secure contract elsewhere.

Read The Dashing Debutante, Lord Fenmore’s Wager and Send and Receive