Wednesday 11 June 2014

Creating foil characters in fiction

The ‘foil’ character is an important part of writing - they make the characteristics and personality of the protagonist stand out.

The foil character’s personality serves as a contrast to the main character (they are named after the medieval practice of placing a metal foil around a gemstone to make it shine brighter).

So how do you create one? Well, think about your protagonist's physical and personality traits then remember that foils often have opposite personalities and physical features.

Write down your protagonist's background. The foil can share similarities in these areas or they have completely different circumstances.

Give the foil a clear role - sidekick (think Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes), relative, best friend, enemy, then put the two characters together and let them bounce off each other

John Dean

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