Question

What’s the most important thing in a piece of writing? Is it the story, the characters, the description, or the style? Obviously, you can’t choose only one. A great work succeeds in combining all of them in a great mix, producing a wonderful work.

In most cases, you’re better at one writing element over the rest, and working on your strengths will work to your advantage. Building characters, however, is important to your writing. It’s not to be ignored no matter what your case is. So, how do you achieve that?

Make Them Real

This is probably one of the most common pieces of writing advice: make your characters believable. What does it really mean? It means that your characters need to be there for a reason, not just for pushing the story forward. He/She has a real life, with his/her own fears and dreams, and you have to show this. Your characters don’t need to be typical to be believable. The unusual ones are even more interesting, but it’s your job to make your readers relate to them.

Understand Human Psychology

To build great characters, you’ll need to understand people’s psychology: what are they thinking about, what are they feeling and experiencing, and why are they doing what they are doing? Get behind the obvious. Be in the backstage with them. Sit them in a chair and let them talk away. If you truly listen, you will learn.

Be your character

When you immerse (使沉浸) yourself in your writing, you get lost in that world and you start living in it. This is when the magic happens and you become your character. By putting yourself in your character’s shoes, you allow yourself to experience what you’re writing about first-hand. The more it feels real to you, the more the readers will feel the same, too.

1.According to the author, what makes a great work?

A. Being skilled at description.    B. Having some unusual characters.

C. Using some special writing styles.    D. Combining related things in a great way.

2.According to Paragraph 4, a good writer should be good at ________.

A. knowing others’ minds    B. writing down the obvious points

C. thinking differently from others    D. starting conversations with others

3.To build a great character, you should ________.

A. write according to true events    B. pretend you’re the character

C. talk to others about your character    D. forget about your fears and dreams

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

【解析】这是一篇说明文。一篇文章中最重要的是什么？作者认为写作中人物的塑造很重要，本文告诉我们如何塑造好人物。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段的A great work succeeds in combining all of them in a great mix, producing a wonderful work.可知，好的作品需要将多种因素很好地结合在一起。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段的To build great characters, you’ll need to understand people’s psychology.可知，要塑造伟大的人物，你需要了解人们的心理，所以一个好的作家需要了解其他人的想法。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段的By putting yourself in your character’s shoes, you allow yourself to experience what you’re writing about first-hand.可知，想要塑造一个好的角色，你需要假装自己就是你所塑造的人物。故选B。