What’s your Character?

“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”

– H. Jackson Brown

That’s how i think when I write about my characters. Ever since I read this quote, its stuck with me. And it has been my inspiration for writing my characters. And it somehow works for me.

When i write, i tend to think visually. It helps me see the real colours of the character. His aspirations, his feelings and what does he portrays, the reason for that evil smirk and so on. And all this is seen through the invisible camera placed right in front of the character. As my character is not aware that he’s being watched by someone, the character automatically plays to its true beauty. Evil or Good, the real character has to come out. Just don’t let the character find out your watching him and disturb his equilibrium. A little twist and change of angles to give a character more meaning is understood. But I let it play naturally. And as I peep in through the invisible camera, the colours I see are more finer than through the prism.

(The many characters Aamir Khan played in Coke commercials in India.)

Lets take my character ‘Raj‘. The protagonist. He’s a naive, young writer who writes about things he believes in. He’s not concerned what others might think of him, but follows his heart. Full of youthful energy, an honest hardworker, Raj is a guy who people will always pity on as he always has something to say about everything. He’s a ‘Dreamer’. Knowing what the Indian film industry is going through, he has the key to the change. But he knows that to reach his goal, he might have to compromise a lot of things. That including his very dream.

But he’s not the one who would take any shit lying down. He will work someway or the other and if it’s not fulfilling his dream, he will atleast come as close as possible. And thats what exactly he does. When he’s alone at the table, the script no more with him, he sits back and relaxes, and with a confidence smiles narrates the very ending of the story. Maybe this is not the ending he had in his mind but he had to choose that to stop the evil (bad work) reign.

Characters is the key that drives the story. Not vice-versa. They are the once who undergo a state of change. And thats how the story progresses. Not everything about the character has to be spelled out. It should have certain traits which should be left to the imagination of the reader/viewer.

Like our favourite school headmaster. Albus Dumbledore. Alas! He’s gay. And so it shall be.

So what’s your character?