Okay, so now you have your foundation for your characters, but what's next? How do you develop them from there? Well glad to asked because this is what Part Two of this entry series is all about! Further developing your characters after you have the basis for them down and ready!

It all boils down to only two things; obstacles and consistency. Say it again. Obstacles and consistency. Now Padwans, we shall examine these things in detail.

Obstacles will be first up because these have several components. Obstacles are important, only through adversity and being tested (and in more ways than one) can a person grow and this applies to characters as well as actual people. There are several types of obstacles and most good books include a fair number of each.

Person vs Nature- This obstacle is quiet obvious. This is when the character faces obstacles that are literally in the world around them. Going with popular works, Frodo in Lord of The Rings experiences this often. As he travels to destroy the One Ring, you see in The Return of The King, that Mordor is not a hospitable place and that made it hard for him and Sam to survive. In a person versus nature obstacle, it's the character struggling to move around the blocks Mother Earth put in his or her way. This kind of conflict provides the chance to test a great deal for the character, their mental toughness, their skills (or lack of them) their ability to handle frustration or stress and in this case it is generally of the physical type.

Person vs Person- This one has to be the most obvious this is your character against another person. Hitting the familiar works again; a prime example of this conflict is Harry Potter versus Voldemort. (Or should I say Tom Riddle?) This is when a character is matching wits, strengths or beliefs against another person and only one can win. This sort of obstacle is generally found in most books with the antagonist and maybe several other small characters throughout the novel. It's probably the simplest of all the obstacles as well since we all have probably butted heads with other people at one point or another in our own lives.

Person vs Self- It's not the demons on the outside that are hard to beat, its the ones in your head. And that thinking is at the heart of a person versus self obstacle. Be it overcoming a fear, finding the inner strength to stand up for what they think is right or battling demons in your head while battling the ones charging in front of you-a person versus self conflict is wholly internal. Again, hitting the familiar works-look at Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games as the story progresses, you see Katniss battling PTSD from her time in the arena. That is an example of person versus self (and in my eyes it was an example of this obstacle being well done.) This conflict takes place outside of prying eyes, wholly inside the character's thoughts and feelings.

On the flipside, person versus self can also be physical. For instance, in Mulan we see the selfsame character struggle to keep up with training. Eventually through work she does make it, but in this case, the enemy she battles with that struggle is no one but herself.

Person vs Society - This sort of obstacle involves where a character is going against the norm or the generally accepted values or thoughts of society and has to deal with the repercussions of that choice. In To Kill A Mocking Bird this obstacle takes a huge role in the plot. Atticus is made a lawyer for a black man accused of raping a white woman and he choses to believe he is innocent and defend him. That defintaley went against the ideals of the small Southern town and the repercussions of his choice are seen often throughout the story.

When developing characters, it is important to place obstacles before them because all of the above, they test their mettle. Show them and their readers and yes, even you what they are made of. (Like I said in the previous chapter, if you do a character right, they end up surprising you.) You do not need to include all of these conflicts into one story, but generally, you will find most of them in varying forms in each of them at some point.

Alrighty, now that we have touched bases on obstacles and why they are important, it is time to talk about consistency.

Now, when I say that, I do not mean how thick a sauce is when you cook, I mean keeping your characters in character. Speaking as an avid reader, there is nothing that bothers me more than inconsistent characterization. Now for those asking, Jamie what the heck are you talking about? Allow me to explain further.

Question time! Have you ever read a book where the character is female one chapter with blue eyes and the next, they're a guy with green eyes? I am sure the answer is no, and why? Because that does not line up with what the reader was told previously. It is inconsistent. That is what I mean by consistency in characters and there are two main points to that.

1. Actions to Personality

Let's say a character has stated hundreds and hundreds of times that they are terrified of public speaking. Their knees go weak at the very thought of a presentation. And then, suddenly, on the day of a big speech (for whatever reason that speech is being made) they become totally at ease and never once consider bolting from the place or pass out and are totally confident and perfect at something that normally makes them tongue-tied then congrats! You have just broken the first rule of a consistent character.

Peoples actions line up with who they are in the inside plain and simple. If a person is kind and gentle, then the chances are they will not bitch slap someone who says something they do not like. If someone is known for being arrogant and loud-mouthed, they probably aren't gonna let the shy kid talk in a meeting.

You cannot just change your characters on a dime to make the scene easier to write or to make them seem a different way. You just can't. It's not only confusing to the reader who is going to go, "Wait I thought this was how they were. They said this earlier." It's also bad writing. It is easy, far to easy to make characters act whatever way fits the scene or whatnot and thus gives them no real development. It's hard to make them consistent because it can be a pain in the ass because maybe they can't make this or that choice because they simply are not the sort of person who would.

Now, am I saying that you can never change a character? No! No of course not! But you need to develop it. Let's go back to the fear of public speaking example. Show us the character practicing speaking out more, show us when they reherse the speech over and over. When they take a deep breath, grit their teeth and raise their hand in class or in some kind of meeting to over an answer or a solution. Show us how they change little by little and then, yes, you can then show them giving a speech with ease because we see how time, practice and other events shaped and changed them. However, just making it happen with no build up or logical explation is not development, not at all.

Example: Marty McFly in Back to The Future

Throughout the movies, each time Marty is called a "coward" or some other variation of the word, he snaps and instantly, all rational is out the window. Now seeing as how most of these movies you see a race against the clock, it is really a huge pain in the backside to see them cut it so close all because Marty couldn't walk away from a fight for fear of being thought a coward.

Throughout each of the movies, this is a problem and it is brought to Marty's attention several times, and finally, at the very end of the last film, he finally learns to let go. Note this is only after how he finally learns from all his past mistakes. It is gradual and the flaw while resolved, does not just vanish into thin air. It takes time and learning for him to get it.

2. Self Perception-Others Perception

How we see ourselves and how others see us is a huge part of the world. And it is a huge part of developing characters as well. But why? Because it adds a level of realism to your story.

Let's dive right into some examples. The following is an example of this done poorly. This is an example when how a character views themselves does not ever line up with what others see in them.

Bella Swan in Twilight. For some who might cry, no don't hate, I am not hating. I am stating a fact. I have read the series twice over and I did enjoy them each time, but it has glaring flaws and Bella's perception of herself verus how everyone else viewed her is one of the largest ones present.

Bella is always describing herself as unassuming, plain and overall nothing very special. Is that a horrible thing? No, some people are very plain or just very ordinary and that is okay. The problem is not soley in how she viewed herself, it was how it never once matched up to how others see her.

Each and every male in the story deems Bella beautiful the moment she arrives to Forks and they fight for her affections. Does that fall in line with someone who is supposed to be "plain" according to them? Nope! Edward, her love interest frequently says she is extraordinary, unlike any human he has ever met in his entire life and yet she is supposed to be overall "nothing really special". Hm. She frequently describers herself as "selfish" (and boy do I agree) and yet everyone around her claims she is "selfless".

Are you seeing the problem yet? If not, let me tell you. Not once, not even once, does how Bella view herself as a person ever, ever match up with how people outside of her view her and that is not how it works. Now, if it was only one or two persons, then yes, maybe it is not an issue, but when it's every single person-now that is a problem!

Okay, so now, let us see an example of self perception and outside perception done correctly.

Scarlett O'Hara in the classic novel, Gone With The Wind is, in short a terrible human being. She's whiny, vain, selfish-wait that's too tame, she's a narcissistic woman. She's also quiet strong believe it or not, the girl is a survivor. Her actions proved this throughtout the story. She kept trying to intice a married man away from a very nice, kind woman. She married said man's brother to get back at him and treated her sister-in-law (who loved her dearly, bless her heart, navie girl) like crap. She stole her sister's lover and married him for his money, was a terrible mother to her children and just overall a jerk.

And every character (save the naïve sister-in-law) all agreed on these facts. As did Scarlett, she knew she was not liked. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but she did not care because it was not in her interest. (Narcissistic remember?) Even the man who loved her agreed she was a piece of work.

That is a consistent view of the character right their! Their actions line up with their personality, how they view themselves and their actions match up with how the other characters see them. Scarlett, despite being a bitch, is a good example of a well developed character in terms of being consistent with who she is and how she is viewed by herself and as a byproduct, how she is viewed by others.

So this, in a nutshell is how to develop a character after you have their base line. You need to provide obstacles for them to grow and you need to keep them in character and if they change, it has to be gradual.

Next installment we will be talking about how to create a believable character and that will be the end of my character installments. (Unless something else is brought to my attention.) So if you have any topics you'd like me to tackle afterwards, let me know in the comments!

Write on! :D