10 Most Important Features Of Stephen King's Writing
4. Fully-Realised Characters
In On Writing, Stephen King gave this view of characters in fiction: “Nobody is “the bad guy” or “the best friend” or “the whore with a heart of gold” in real life; in real life we each of us regard ourselves as the main character, the protagonist, the big cheese; the camera is on us, baby. If you can bring this attitude into your fiction, you may not find it easier to create brilliant characters, but it will be harder for you to create the sort of one-dimensional dopes that populate so much pop fiction.”
Understanding this comment from the man himself helps to explain how he has created so very many fascinating, well-loved, interesting characters that are fully-realised and that really do seem to jump off the page. Or, more accurately, they invite you into it. King’s brand of fiction – horror or otherwise – works most effectively because of the way that he consistently causes his readers to forge a close connection with protagonists that you quickly become very invested in and really feel like you know – and then he makes compelling and often horrifying things happen to them.
Whether it be the powerful sense of pathos that is generated in almost every scene with Nick Andros, the wonderfully three-dimensional deaf mute from The Stand; the gruff, retired Bill Hodges from the Mr Mercedes books who somehow feels like one of King's most overall 'human' creations or any one of the children from IT, readers truly feel a solid and lasting connection to these protagonists.
If more evidence was needed of King’s ability to produce the kind of character that stands as a deep, relatable person as opposed to 'the one-dimensional dopes' he tries to avoid, look no further than the fact that in several of his stories there are only two main characters (Misery) or just one (Gerald’s Game). These creations are so well-considered and engaging that there is no need to populate the book with others. Indeed, King’s wife Tabitha reportedly joked that his next book would surely be about the living room sofa with no characters necessary whatsoever.