Character map reading

Even if you are not a big fan of reading, you should be able to appreciate the writer’s task. A writer will take an idea from his or her head and create a series of events that allow you to experience a character’s life. Before reading any stories, you will learn the main elements of fiction.

Characters
“One of my standard — and fairly true — responses to the question as to how story ideas come to me is that story ideas only come to me for short stories. With longer fiction, it is a character (or characters) coming to visit, and I am then obliged to collaborate with him/her/it/them in creating the story.” ~ Roger Zelazny

The characters are the people in a story. Characters can also be animals, creatures or even inanimate objects.Everything you learn about a character’s personality is called characterization. There are many types of characters in any given story, but an author strives to create well-developed characters. Here are some ways to classify characters:

Main vs. Minor
The main characters are the ones you learn the most about. Sometimes the main character is called the protagonist or the hero. The antagonist is the person who fights against, or has a problem with, the main character. Minor characters are everyone else in the story, or the people that interact with the main characters, but aren’t important to the action.

Static vs. Dynamic
A static character doesn’t change, while a dynamic character changes. Change here refers to a change of attitude or a different way of looking at things. Usually, the main character (protagonist) will undergo some kind of transformation (change) by the end of the story.

Round vs. Flat
A flat character doesn’t have depth - you know very little about him or her. A round character has depth — you know much about him or her. It would make sense that main characters are round. You want to know about them. It would also make sense that minor characters are flat. They are not important to the story, so why should you know that much about them?