Round Characters

It is a common misconception that Round Characters are a good thing in novel writing and that Flat Characters (also known as "cardboard" characters) are bad. The truth is that you need both types in a novel.

But make your major characters, particularly your protagonist, too flat, and your minor characters too round, and you will have a problem.

What Are Round Characters?

Flat characters are stereotypes. They are defined by just a single trait - for example, a short-tempered businessman.

A round character is impossible to label in this way.

For every characteristic they have which places them into one pigeonhole, they have another one which works against it.

So if one of the businessman's traits is his bad temper, you could counterbalance it by giving him - I don't know - a love of ballet.

Whenever we meet anybody in real life, we are all guilty of "categorizing" them, of thinking we know everything about them based on our initial stereotypical impression of them.

When we actually spend some time with that person and get to know them, our initial impression (even if it was accurate) will be altered by traits which work against our stereotypical view of them.

And it is exactly the same with a round character in a novel: first an initial impression, then a process of having to revise our opinion as we get to learn surprising (but still believable) new things about them.

How Are Rounded Characters Created?

Imagine that the short-tempered businessman is the protagonist in your novel. When you first introduce him, don't be afraid to concentrate on his stereotype - in fact, play it for all it is worth.

The process of rounding him out will begin soon enough, in Chapter 2, but it is good to begin with a two-dimensional, yet vivid, portrait. (More on that in How to Create a Character Readers Won't Forget.)

• So in Chapter 1, you could show the businessman snapping at his chauffeur on his way into work, then barking orders into his phone while he puffs away on a fat Montecristo cigar. The readers will believe that they already know everything there is to know this guy: a rich businessman who has made it to the top of the ladder by being a complete bastard.

• But then, in the next chapter, you could show the businessman swallowing some headache pills in his office, and suddenly the readers aren't so sure - maybe this guy is just acting grouchy because his head is killing him.