: Re: How to make characters more than the words on the page? At the time of writing this question there are 5337 Harry Potter questions on SciFi and a further 165 on Movies. Many of these questions

@Samaraweera193

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I relate it to "multiple personalities." For some writers, the character can seem to have a semi-independent existence inside the writer's head. The writer can tweak the character's personality, and put words in the character's mouth, but a lot of the character's actions and dialog are more "observed" than consciously crafted. The writer's job is to put enough of that character on the page that it can live again in the mind of the reader as well.

A flat character is one that never lives for the reader, possibly, but not always because it never lived for the writer. When the reader disagrees with the author over a character action as being "out of character" it means the character that lives in the reader's head is not in alignment with the character on the the page.

None of this, however, answers the question of what makes the magic work. It's quite possible for characters that are flatly written to nevertheless live vividly for some readers, who bring their own imaginations and experiences to bear. But in terms of what the author can do to support that mystical alchemy, it's basically a matter of close and loving observation of a character who is allowed to have more agency than just what is needed to support and advance the plot.

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