Characterization
The reader should be able to identify with and care about the characters in the sense that the characters seem real to the reader. The characters must do something, and what they do must seem reasonable for them to have done it.
Characters should be introduced early in the book. The more often a character is mentioned or appears, the more significance the reader will attach to the character. Also, the main character should be introduced before setting, so that the setting can be introduced from the point of view of the character.
The nature of characters can be brought out through minimal description and the actions, thoughts, and dialogue of the characters. The author should allow the reader to make judgments about the characters; the author should avoid making the judgments for the reader. The feelings of the character should be demonstrated rather than told by the narrator.
Yet, there are some very good books in which much of the narrative voice is about a character's feelings and thoughts or in which the narration goes into great detail and analysis of a character's feelings and thoughts at some point. So one rule about writing fiction is that there are no rules, or maybe: If it works, it works.
Beginning authors often miss one critical fact about writing fiction. It is up to the author to please the reader, not the other way around.
Patrick Dent
Author of the new covert ops thriller, Execution of Justice, at:
Action Adventure Book
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