Today we will be continuing our forging of our protagonists. We will cover powers, character descriptions, and what to do after we have a fully crafted character.

Powers

Let's start with powers. First and foremost, powers aren't just for superheroes! When I talk about powers, I'm talking about anything that gives your character an advantage over everyone else in your story. In Doctor Who, it would be the sonic screwdriver. In the Bourne series, Jason Bourne's insane level of expertise. In the "Christmas Carol", Tiny Tim's power was kindness. In Superman... well, for Superman it is everything. (Side note: Did you realize that Superman was given the power of superknitting. That's right, superknitting. Ah, the early ages of comics.)
With great power comes great responsibility.
Well, when giving great powers there comes an even greater responsibility.

To start with, let's split powers into different categories: innate, magical, technological, or skill-based. Why is this important? Well, each one defines a power sets inborn strength and weaknesses. Let me explain.

Innate - Innate abilities are something that your protagonist can use without an outside force. They are his and no one can knock it out of his hand or stop him from saying the incantation. He isn't necessarily born with it, but it is something that is now a part of him during the story. Innate powers tend to be more reactionary than other powers. Examples would be Superman's flight, Spiderman's wall crawling, or Riddick's ability to see in the dark.
Magical - Magical covers a wide variety of power sets. They can be talismans or spells. These powers can typically be stopped by depriving the protagonist of the talisman or somehow disabling their ability to "cast" the spell. This type of power tends to rely on a characters intuition. Examples would be King Arthur and Excalibur, Merlin, Green Lantern and his ring, or the different forms of martial arts in Naruto.
Technological - This type is very close to magical. It relies heavily on objects to supply the "power" for the protagonist. These types of powers, many times, rely on intelligence more than anything else. Examples would be Rocketeer and his jetpack, Punisher and his guns, Batman and his utility belt, and Dade Murphy (Zero Cool) and his computer from Hackers.
Skill-based - These are abilities that a character has trained to do. Such things like martial arts, deciphering ancient runes, or chemistry. These skills can range from physical to mental. Examples are Jason Bourne ('nuff said), Bruce Lee and his martial arts, Daniel Jackson from SG-1, and Doc Brown from Back to the Future.

Understand, not every protagonist will need powers but they don't have to be limited to Science Fiction/Fantasy. Every genre can have powers, you probably wouldn't call them powers. So, for Theresa and Ghost Dog, I've given them both powers. Now, my very first concern will be how it will affect the story? Secondly, do the powers add to my character or do their powers become the characters.

How can powers effect your narrative? Well, their very existence can create major plot holes in the skein of your story. In use, they can lead to lazy writing. Many powers become deus ex machina within storylines. So, how do we avoid these?

Let's address the concern of plot holes. What is a plot hole? It is a gap or inconsistency in the narrative. Remember the giant eagles from the Lord of the Rings? That is a power (don't argue, being able to summon giant eagles to rescue you is a power!) that was not only an inconsistency but also a deus ex machina. Why was it an inconsistency? Look at the story... I'll give you a minute. Ok, done? Why couldn't the giant eagles fly Frodo to Mt Doom at the beginning? The whole story would have been solved. Other powers can do the same thing! If my quest hinges upon an object that is hidden behind an impregnable door and part of the narrative is taken up by them finding a way to open said door, I probably shouldn't give someone the ability to teleport. Or can I? You can, you just have to give the power a limiting factor. What is that? Take the above situation. A character with an ability to teleport would trash that storyline, right? What if he had to see where he was going? Suddenly, by limiting his power, I get to have my cake and eat it, too! He can still pop around but now he won't create a plot hole within my narrative! You can find examples of this all over the place. Superman's powers are dependant on our yellow sun, Moon Knight's powers are dependant on the moon (gasp!), and Rogue's power is always on. These limiting factors provide the writers with workarounds to said characters powers within a story arc.

Now, how do you make sure your character's power becomes a deus ex machina? To start, a deus ex machina is a literary device that translates literally to 'god from the machine'. It is when an unsolvable problem is suddenly conquered by some character, event, ability, or object. Voila! Happy ending. Does it resolve your story? Yes, it does. Does it do it satisfactorily? Probably not. Deux ex machina is the plot device of the lazy writer. Don't ruin your story and the struggle of your protagonist by going for the quick and easy fix to everything. Stories are about overcoming hardship, that's what makes them engaging! Batman's utility belt, Superman (no, seriously, the whole character is a deus ex machina), Reed Richards hyper-inventiveness are all examples where powers become deus ex machina. You will please your readers more if your characters had to struggle for a solution beyond I punch it really hard because I'm Superman.

Now, we want to make sure that the powers are just a tool in our protagonist's arsenal and not everything about the character. While a power should be cool, it shouldn't be a defining characteristic of your character. Meaning, if the power was taken away, the character should still be able to stand on its own. Without the Hulk, Bruce Banner is still one of the smartest people on the planet. Taken down to the bare bones, your character should be fully fleshed out, not just a vehicle for whatever power you've given them.

Let's craft our powers. For Theresa, I'm going to give her the ability to slow down time. That is way too huge! Now, let's consider how that will affect our story. Well, if she was able to do this all the time, no one would ever get close to her. So, I need a limiting factor. How about duration? She can only do it for a maximum of thirty seconds at a time. Still, what's to stop her from using it back to back? Hmmm... what if the use of the power exhausts her? Suddenly, her power to slow down time becomes something she would have to use much more carefully. Not only does she have just thirty seconds but at the end of that time, she will be exhausted and vulnerable. I will also give her the ability to heal fast, be immune to disease, and fast reflexes. Looking at my story, these powers should only have a negligible impact. Looking over Theresa, do her powers define her? Would she still be an interesting character without them? I'm going to give that a confident yes.

On to Ghost Dog. I want to go for broke. Now, he is very nature's warrior, so I'm going to give him something primal. His powers are going to be based on several tattoos. Bear provides him strength, Wolf leaves and becomes a guardian that will fight alongside him, Hawk will take off and scout from the eye giving him overhead vision, Dolphin allows him to hold his breath for long periods of time, Mouse detaches and can squeeze through spaces to scout out places where only small things may go, and snake makes him immune to poison. Wow, those are some cool powers. Being immune to poison isn't a big deal, so will make that power always active. Water-breathing? Potentially down the line, he could be put in a situation that he needs it. I'll make it able to be used once a day for six hours max. That way, he can't just stay underwater the whole time. Mouse can be called whenever and can stay out for however long. I don't see that ability to be potentially world shattering. Now, we come to Bear, Wolf, and Hawk. I'm going to limit Bear the most. Super-strength is just such a lazy power. He'll be able to call upon it for five minutes but then Bear has to rest for two hours. Wolf, six hours but can't be called for that long. Hawk, one hour and not back for two. He will also have superior healing, immunity to disease, and fast reflexes. We will even say it is because of common ancestry. Looking Ghost Dog over, I think it makes him awesome without unbalancing him.

At this point, you can give your powers interesting stories that explain them. Think about the two power sets. Don't you think that Ghost Dog's powers are just a little bit cooler because the powers are from the tattoos and not some nebulous reason? That isn't to say you have to always explain powers, some are just going to be cooler than others. I'm going to leave Theresa's as is because everything in moderation. When everyone's got cool powers, no one has cool powers. Except for Iceman.

Character Descriptions

Most of a character's description is for the writer and not the reader. You can know that your MC has a scar on her right butt cheek that she got when her dermatologist removed a mole but is that pertinent to the story? If not, then your reader doesn't need to know. So why come up with a detailed character description if the reader isn't going to hear most of it?

A full and rich character description can make a character come alive in your mind.

Notice how my descriptions aren't limited to physical. I've included her anxiety and the fact that she bites her nails. Because this helps me form an image of Theresa in my mind. When it comes time to write the story, this will be very important.

Now, when writing up a character description, I would stay away from making their features match their attitudes unconsciously. On purpose and with purpose, this is fine. Make sure to understand why you are giving a character certain features. Making a thief look like a rat or giving a guard hawkish facial features. People don't usually have features that define their temperament.

That being said, recognize features that are common to people because of how they act. Being shy can't affect bone structure but it can influence a character's haircut. A character can't help that they have long fingers but can control that their fingernails are well-manicured. Just remember that not every anxious person is a nail-biter and not every well-dressed man is a neat freak.

Going Beyond the Character's Creation

Now that we are done with character creation, I'm done with these guys until I begin to write my story, right? I can just shelve them until it comes time to start writing?

No.

Now that you have that image in your mind, you don't want to lose it now, do you? Do you know everything there is to know about your characters? More than likely, these characters aren't jumping off the page with life. Less so if you shelve them for later use. Have some fun with them. Personally, I would suggest writing a two to five hundred word prompt daily about something mundane your character(s) encounter. Theresa takes Ghost Dog donut shopping. What is her favorite? Has Ghost Dog ever had a donut? I feel like he would be more of a fruit flavored donut guy versus a chocolate donut guy. Stick your characters in mundane situations and see how they would react and you'll come close to making them alive in your head.

This concludes the protagonist part of our program. Stay tuned next when we discuss the making of a villain!