Don’t worry. Creating full, vivid characters does not call for skills beyond those you can develop.

The term “stick character” refers to a drawing of a person by someone with no talent who draws lines for body, arms and legs. Stick characters don’t pull your readers in much and they don’t do justice to the people—real in your memoir or fictionalized in your novel—you are writing about. Stick characters compromise your writing. They are often clichés.

An Example of Stick Characterization

Whether in a memoir, novel, short story or essay, I am always disappointed by writers who say things like:

• “in those days, everyone [no one] did [wore, said]…”

While it might be true that the character did/wore/said the very things the writer is alleging, it is also true that not everyone did/wore/said these things.

Your say so is a slip into cliché.

That there are exceptions—and there always are—disproves the statement and makes for a cliché.

In one of my workshops, a woman wrote about her parents living together without marriage “and no one did that in those days.”

Of course, some people did just that. Famous people include Simonne de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. I could name more, but this one example must suffice. What the writer meant seems to be that no one in her parents’ circle did that or that in the general population it was not well looked upon. But, it is simply not true that no one did that.

Writing “no one in my parents’ circle” the writer forestalls the reader’s jump to historical figures and creates the validity of the observation.

This cliché is not only not true but is also a missed opportunity.

By creating more distinct characterization, the writer points out unique characteristics. Exactly why did her parents make this choice? How did others react? Was there growth in the experience for everyone—anyone?

How to develop your characters fully.

Your characters are, after all, the people in your life. They are/were complex in life and ought to remain complex in the memoir. Write them into your text clearly and forcefully. If you need help, check these resources for coaching and editing.

You can make your people (characters) more “real” by:

•     including both positives and negatives about them.
•     letting your reader “hear” your people speak in dialog.
•     using all five senses to describe your people.
•     not being afraid to present contradictory views (from other characters).

 Action Steps

1. Review something you wrote recently. Identify any salient details you failed to include about that person.
   • Why did that happen?
   • Including need not be long. Sometimes it can be just an adjective or an introductory phrase.

• • Perhaps you will choose to include something they did or how they walked or what they once said to you. In this way, page after page, you will make your characters more multi-dimensional.

2. Might you have been fearful of telling the truth about this person or situation?
   • Might this evasion have been the source of writing a stick character? What would you have said had you not been wary?

• • Write the character into your story as you remember him/her. Later, you can decide how to leave or take this person out of your memoir.