Has someone ever told you, "You are such a unique person"? Usually, it's taken as a compliment, unless it's me, then it's usually a sarcastic comment about how weird I am. In either case, that's what I'm writing about today: Uniqueness.
If you haven't read any part of this series before, here's the low-down. I believe that in order to write a decent fictional character, they must contain these eight aspects: personality, comprehensibility, uniqueness, connections, versatility, motivation, and ambition. Without any of these, a character might feel flat or unfinished or unpolished. That's why I'm here!
So off we go...
Uniqueness
The word unique (besides being spelled so...well...uniquely), is defined as "existing as the only one or as the sole example". Now let's put this into terms of fictional characters, because it actually fits quite nicely.
When a character exists as the only one or as the sole example of something, it should be in the context of other characters. What I mean to say is, the reason a character needs to be unique is because there can't be another character like them. If you have a bully character, then try not to have another bully character.
As always there are exceptions to this rule. In this case, you may have two characters that are quite similar, as long as it works. For instance, fraternal twins who act similar could be an interesting idea. It's also possible to have multiple characters act similar if they are in a group or something. For instance, if there was a small group of four really large men, they could act similar and it would be pretty funny. As with anything in writing, you must follow the rules, unless it works to not do so.
So, how do we go about making our character's "unique"? Well, one of the easiest ways is to give them a single unique trait. This is especially true for creating side characters. They can't be just "furniture", being in the background just for the sake of being there.
Now, does this mean that your main character only needs one special thing about them in order to be interesting? Yes and no. It goes back to the idea of steryotypes. If you have a character that, from the moment you meet him, shares a load of information about him, it's almost jarring and certainly uncomfortable. This is actually do to something called the "social penetration theory". It states that there are certain things about a person that they won't be willing to share with people until they get to know them better. For instance, a stranger isn't going to tell you his deepest darkest secret. Your spouse? Maybe.
The point is, a character, while needing depth in personality, needs to be revealed slowly and with pace. Every now and again, give us a little something about your character that makes them even more unique.
So, in short: a character that has Uniqueness is a character that isn't like anyone else in the story, unless it works; whose uniqueness is revealed slowly in a paced manner that has the audience like them more and more throughout the story.
That's it! A character that has uniqueness. You know, I stated before that a lot of my friends call me weird. It's true, we're all weird in a...weird way. And friends are necesarry too. Not only for real life but for fictional life too. Well, kind of. I'll explain it all next week when I talk about a character having connections.
