One dimensional characters

[rosewood]

One critisism that I have heard again and again about novels is that the story contained one dimensional characters. The trouble is, I'm not exactly sure what this means and I'm not sure how to remedy it if I have created such characters. Also, if it means what I think it means, which is that the characters lack depth, won't some characters, at least some of your minor characters have this problem?

[Birol]

Yes, it is what you think it means, that the characters are flat, lifeless, not realistic. If you are doing your job well, even your secondary characters will seem fully formed, even if you don't explore their personalities fully.

[Garpy]

characters...my top 3 tips:

1. dont make them stereotypical. if your hero is an 'action' man, then give him an idiosyncracy that feels different...say, scared of spiders eg: Indiana Jones

2. give the main characters an emotional sub-plot. Taking Indy again, in the Last Crusade, the main plot is finding the grail...but the emotional sub-plot, was him reconnecting with his Dad.....THIS BIT is really important...because whilst the reader/audience are superficially enjoying the action (main plot), they will connect far more closely with the emotional subplot. Quite often movies/books that leave you feeling 'empty' are ones where the emotional pay off wasn't satisfying.

3. My pet hate...protagonists that are good at everything...rocket scientists but also handsome, and at a pinch, can easily vanquish that ninja assasin. Aaaarghhhh.

[Jamesaritchie]

One critisism that I have heard again and again about novels is that the story contained one dimensional characters. The trouble is, I'm not exactly sure what this means and I'm not sure how to remedy it if I have created such characters. Also, if it means what I think it means, which is that the characters lack depth, won't some characters, at least some of your minor characters have this problem?

Well, for one thing, realistic characters have a life outside the main problem of the story. Just because a character is trying to save the world, or is trying to solve a murder, doesn't mean he's getting along with his girlfriend, or that the IRS isn't auditing him, or that his mom isn't pestering him about getting a better job, or that his child isn't sick, or that he doesn't have gas and bunions. A realistic character lives in a relistic world, and has all the problems, faults, fantasies, worries, hopes, illnesses, and daily annoyances that anyone else has.

Minor characters are more of a problem, but there's less need to worry about how well-rounded they are. But an awful lot can be done to round a character with a single sentence.

[batgirl]

Well, you've got the potential of one dimensional, two dimensional, and three dimensional characters.* There's nothing wrong with a minor or walk-on character, who plays no real part in the plot, being one or two dimensional. You might want to avoid giving minor characters too much depth, because it distracts from the story.
Writers pick and choose which details to share with readers, they shape their writing, to guide the reader along. If the waitress who brings your main character a piece of pie while he waits for his girlfriend in the coffee shop is given several paragraphs of internal monologue in which we learn about her own messy love-life, then vanishes from the story, the reader may feel confused or resentful. However, if because of her messy love-life she chats with the MC and gives him some insights into his own situation, she's part of the plot, and that information is relevant. If she's just there to mention that he needs to order something or she'll have to ask him to leave (to underscore that his girlfriend is keeping him waiting) then the information isn't relevant - she can be one-dimensional.
Does that make sense?
There's also a distinction between minor characters and secondary characters. Secondary characters don't usually get as much time and attention as main characters, but memorable and interesting (ie. rounded) secondary characters can make the story considerably deeper and more interesting. They're the ones who are going to see the story through along with the main characters (and the reader), so you want them to be good company in some way or other.

Something to watch out for when working to round out your characters is the random addition of quirks or faults - you don't want them to become a laundry list of twitches.
If you decide to give a character a quick temper because he's too perfect, think it through and work out how that would have affected his life and other aspects of his life. How has he tried to deal with his temper? What sets him off? Are other people cautious around him, and is it harder for him to maintain friendships or be open with people because of that caution? Does he use the threat of blowing his top to get his own way? Or does he hate losing his temper because it makes him feel out of control?
There's some interesting discussion of rounding out characters in a number of the fanfiction websites, because of the fear of creating a Mary Sue (the utterly perfect self-insertion character).
-Barbara

*any more dimensions and you create a tessaract in the page and the reader falls through and is never seen again.

[jules]

any more dimensions and you creat a tessaract in the page and the reader falls through and is never seen again.

Isn't that what we're trying to do?

[Birol]

You want the reader to come back out on the other side, because you want them to be able to buy your next book. So, you really do have to be careful with those tessaracts.

[batgirl]

Unless they leave their wallets on this side of the page. But over time it would cut into your fan-base.

ack! 'creat'! I can spell, really I can. I'll go back and fix that.

[l.stormgaye]

All of my characters have multiple personalities...some are disorders.