Character Development

My characters visit me in my dreams. They have become so real, they come to argue with me and tell me what they want. Of course, at one point, very early in the creative process, they were a mere fragment of a thought passing by.

How do you go from a glimmer of an idea to a rounded person?

You need to answer some key questions. Once you've decided on their physical attributes, which you need to keep consistent, you need to name them. Pay attention to ethnicity, use search engines, and ask the obvious. I'm working on characters for a dystopian novel at the moment. The male lead is an Inuit Cherokee. I included those words in my search for boy's names and his family name. The name needs to make sense with where they come from.

There are questions you need to keep in mind as you write. You might not do a detailed character sketch before you start, but as you begin to answer them, keep track. Your character list and the details you put there will keep you from putting something into their arc which is completely out of place. Some of you might do this in a spreadsheet, I just have a document in Word that I can update and refer to. What ever works for you is fine.

So, what are these questions?

I'm going to paraphrase from several articles I've read recently so here goes:

1. How old are they? You want to consider both mental and physical age.

2. What is their history? Backstory is important even if it never comes out in your writing. It influences everything they do and say.

3. What makes them angry? Pet peeves right up to things that make them see red.

4. Are they religious? How does that influence the days they work or don't? Customs and traditions, they observe and adhere to?

5. What do they care about?

6. Relationships? Past and present, good, or bad?

7. What is their biggest fear?

8. Do they have a quirk? Something they always do that makes people laugh or groan?

9. What motivates them?

Asking your character these questions, as if you were doing an interview. It will help you establish things that make them unique. It will give you a place to kick off from or, if you're like me, a way to keep track of the things that make them into living breathing beings. I call it getting into my character's head.

There isn't a set way that is foolproof when it comes to building a character. Whether you spend time before you begin a novel, or they grow as you go, the important thing is to use questions like those mentioned above to guide you. They bring depth and reality into dialogues and actions which will give your readers reasons to cheer or curse.

How many details you include in your character sketch will vary. Your protagonist and antagonist should be very detailed, but even a recurring minor character will have certain things that make them unique. The people in the world you create deserve your respect. Get to know them before you begin your journey into their world and let them grow before you say goodbye.

CONTENT CREATED BY uschibear