Ha Jin, On Character in Fiction

[MUSIC PLAYING]

HA JIN: For a short story, you really don't have a lot of space for character development. Basically, or often, it is drama-driven. So, basically, you try to reveal the character through action, dialogue, and some other aspects of the fiction. And basically, really the center is the drama. The depth, the complexity of the character, should be suggested, so that we know of this person. He or she is really like a real person, and so that's important. But for a novel, very often, basically most novels are character-centered, so you have to really think deep and even get into the character. Very often, you have to think through the character's point of view, and from his or her mind. Because a novel has a lot of space, a lot of room. Series for actions. Many lines of a drama, sometimes. And so, as a result, you do have enough time and space for the character development. In that sense, you have to think almost every aspect of the character, live with a character for a long time. I think, basically, whether a novel succeeds or not depends on whether the character really gives the sense of authenticity, whether it's a believable character or not. So everything must be reasonable, believable, through that character's consciousness. So that's important, the step by step. In a novel, one cannot really hurry. You have to be patient, step by step. And when we reach the end, I think the character would come fully alive. It depends. If that is achieved, that means that the book is good. But sometimes you work hard, and it is still not working. So you have to really figure out how to fix it, how to revise. Thoughts are also important. That the thoughts can give kind of depth and inner life of the character. Dialogue. If a person has a peculiar way of seeing things, that is good. That means really we can see the inner life of that person. Also, I think thoughts very often-- thoughts are not actions, but if really they're original, they can be also surprising. That will be good. That really adds something to the character. So the inner life, thoughts and impressions, or perceptions, all these are important to reveal the inner life.