Hobbit Fic - The Company

Strange little thing, do forgive me. Heh. The Company celebrate at Beorn's.

Title: Merrier World
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: The Hobbit (movieverse)
Characters/Pairings: The Company, with Dwalin, Ori, Nori and Fíli in particular, but Kíli, Dori, Thorin, Balin, Gandalf, Bilbo, Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Óin and Glóin too. Everybody & everybody, Dwalin & everybody
Summary: In Beorn's hall, having survived ... well, everything, the dwarves sit back and celebrate for an evening. Dwalin and Ori have words, Fíli challenges Nori to a fight, the Company celebrates their younger members and all they've done. Drunken and cheerful and with just a touch of foreboding
Wordcount: 2210
Warnings/Notes: As I said, just a touch of foreboding
Disclaimer: Not mine

( Merrier World )

Writing Question

One thing I've noticed gets commented on a lot in my stories is characterisation. So I was just wondering ... what do people consider good or bad characterisation?

Given how much of characterisation is down to interpretation, in some media more than others, about the only objective measure I can think of is that you need to make sure the plot is character-derived, rather than the characters plot-derived. I mean, you need to make sure that characters are reacting to and causing situation because that's how that character acts/reacts, not because that's the action you need them to take for the sake of the plot. (For example, Thorin from the Hobbit is a proud, possessive, honourable, courageous git, which is why the plot of the book makes sense, because a proud, possessive, honourable, courageous git is exactly the kind of person who will try to take back his family's mountain from a dragon with only thirteen guys to help him, and exactly the kind of guy who will then massively screw things up because the worse aspects of his nature, with a bit of outside help, got the better of him).

Just ... making sure that things are happening because those characters would probably do those things in that situation, rather than because the Plot Demands, and the characters can lump it. Like that? You set up your basic situation and your characters first, and then get the plot. Or, if you really need the plot first, you start by asking "What situation would there have to be to make such-a-character consider this action?". (If you're doing original fiction, rather than fanfic, you can probably go "This is my situation, this is my plot, now what kind of character would make that happen?" I've never managed that, because I find that characters, of all aspects of the story, take on lives of their own really quickly, which makes plots difficult to keep on track for me -_-;).

Every story is basically a combination of Set-Up, Characters and Action/Plot. If any of those has to be set in stone, you need to work the other two to match. In fanfic, Characters tend to more set in stone than the other two, being outside-derived, so they should probably be the shaping force. Most fanfic works on the principle of getting Characters to do Plot, which either means jigging the Set-Up around, or ... well, bad characterisation, usually.

As far as I can tell, then, good characterisation is keeping a clear and solid enough idea of the characters that they can hold their own with the Set-Up and Plot you've given them. Ideally, you do this by deriving the plot from them, but in circumstances where the Plot is as important, you do it by tailoring the Set-Up more carefully around them.

Would that ... generally line up with what other people think on the issue?