Beyond the Physical Aspects
Creating a character goes beyond how they look. Everyone has different ways they start to create a character, whether it starts from inspiration via music, something you say, a dream, or the story idea got you thinking of what sort of hero and villain you wanted. Regardless, they need a personality, they need to react to the things you plan on putting them through and be able to grow from that experience. The list of questions can get you rolling in the right direction on how to best handle this and stay consistent, but answering the last five can be very difficult for some writers or for certain characters.
- What’s their name? (First name only, nickname, full name, aliases, etc.)
- What do they look like? (Hair, eyes, ethnicity, scars, tattoos, outfit, weaponry, etc.)
- How old are they? (Ancient, Old, young, a certain age, etc.)
- Their placement in the world? (Princess, Servant, Farmer, low-class, upper-class, etc.)
- Personal goals and dreams? (Save the world, Save the girl/guy, get rich, run away, etc.)
- What consistent behaviours? (Catch phrase, rubs jaw, cracks knuckles, sighing, etc.)
- Dislikes? (Another Character, pet, activity, item, food, working, procrastination, etc.)
- Loves? (Another Character, pet, activity, item, food, working, procrastination, etc.)
- Personality traits? (Introverted, extroverted, outgoing, shy, short-tempered, etc.)
- Flaws & Achievements? (Judgmental, Awards, poor fighter, emotionally scarred, etc.)
A lot of times we authors still don’t know the true depths of our own characters and what their exact intentions are within our plot and world. The best we can do is start with a rounded character and understand this character will be “developing and growing” as the story progresses. In short, it’s ok if you don’t understand your own character, just be make sure they are ready for that plot twist up ahead mentally, emotionally and physically (unless you want them to fail the task ahead).
As the character rides out your plot, they gain more flesh through their reactions and emotions illustrated through your writing. You will find your plot falls out onto the paper through your character more freely when you’ve taken the time to make them rounded beyond the physical aspect. Creating or establishing a characters personality and the traits to expect in order to be consistent can be tricky. Don’t be afraid to explore a deeper depth in those earlier attempts to define them.
For example, an angry character is still rather vague. Why are they angry? Remember, not everyone is “mad” because something happened to them. They can simply be insecure and lash out, or even become jealous and easily enraged often. This simple dives to a new level of “angry, insecure” character now has a consistency of when they express this emotion the most. For instance, when he feels “abandoned” and insecure, he often punches a wall, tree or other object. Perhaps he throws things or picks a fight. Here again, another level to define a unique aspect all from taking “angry” and exploring what that character’s “anger” looks like within a story telling aspect.This goes back to a the core advice of "Show not Tell" when you write.
For some assistance, this chart has been shared and passed along through many venues, including the Writer’s Circle and other haven for advice. Pin this on the wall and use it to help you pull more specific direction from your descriptions of characters’ emotions:
It's not uncommon for writers and developers to dive into Psychology books and subjects for inspiration in order to create a character’s mental and emotional state. For example, in my own creation of characters I studied a lot about Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) because of the events I would be putting them through. Despite my main and secondary characters not being human, I wanted to make them feel human on the emotional and mental level while being tangible to my readers, even relatable in emotional struggles. They were being tortured, mistreated, experiencing or seeing horrible things including fighting the inner workings of their demonic instincts. How could anyone not suffer PTSD from all the gore and worse, the inability to control yourself at one point or another? Research is something we do for out stories and plots, but why stop there? Be sure to close the gaps in your research by diving into aspects of the character that help drive your character to move the plot.
I often refer to a video series on YouTube called Extra Credits in my online blog postings. They cover the video game side of media, but I encourage writers to watch some of the subjects discussed on Extra Credits’ YouTube channel. It’s a great way to get some brain food and thought provoking discussions going when you find yourself stumped. One video in particular covers the usage of the Myers Briggs Personality breakout to help develop round characters ( https://youtu.be/QKnNO5pxRGQ ). This refers back to psychology and if you have any textbooks on hand, you should be able to find some sort of coverage of this concept or be able to research this in greater detail ( http://www.truity.com/view/types ). They give a VERY simplistic run-through of the Myers Briggs personality breakout and how you can apply them into character creation. As he emphasizes, this is meant as a starting point and it’s the writer’s job to take it further!
