on writing believable fiction characters
Over my years as a writer, I have concluded that in creating believable fictional characters, one must become the character. This is method acting for fiction lit at its finest. Authors must dive into the characters' mindsets, whether they are protagonists, antagonists, or supporting characters, and unearth the marrow of their personalities. They must be able to understand the intricacies behind what drives each character to further the plot.
On the other hand, my personal hellhole as a reader is when the characters are as fluffy as clouds.
I want my characters to have depth.
I want to seek the deep underbelly of their consciousness and unearth what makes them tick. In doing so as a writer, I get to explore the vast spectrum of characters and step into countless lives. It is honestly one of my favorite parts.
It has also given me a deeper understanding of the human psyche because it forces me to question all I know.
So how do you build such a pivotal fictional character?
This is what I have learned…
1. Know Yourself
Arguably as a writer, you have to be able to know yourself first and foremost. Because much of what you are putting into a manuscript will be your lived experiences. In the broader context, this can become an issue if you seek to develop characters who have a much different life than yours.
Per my own experience, familiar traits have a weird way of cropping up in writing. A character may resemble physically or intellectually someone you have known whether family, friend, foe, or lover. That is perfectly fine if you seeking to do this, but I would caution writers against allowing their entire experience to inform characters.
2. Create a character mood board
Open up that Pinterest, babe, you know you want to.
One of the best ways to outline a character you are struggling with developing is by creating a mood board. Capturing the essence of them through imagery can help the brain to form a more complete picture.
Is your character dark and broody?
Sunny and flighty?
A combination of the two?
Start there to at least get a general understanding of their personality.
You can also (cough, cough) AI your characters by describing their facial features.
Don’t judge me until you have tried it.
3. Write a rough outline
Here’s the most time-consuming part, in my opinion, you want to write a rough outline of the character. Where they live, what they do (or don’t do for work), what activities they enjoy, and who they interact with.
Secondary to this I would dive into their past.
Here is where psychology may be a help.
To understand how your character has developed to this point and how they will respond to the situations you place them in you must have intricate knowledge of their past.
God do I love a great back story.
This is the part where you create any triumphs or traumas, and come to understand your fictional world more fully through their eyes.
When I say take your time with this part TAKE YOUR TIME.
This also may include adding or editing back stories, because your character will naturally morph as you develop the plot.
Example: Charlie Fellows abhorred animals (opinion: Charlie you are a dick) because he had an unfortunate run-in with a chihuahua when he was a child and lost his left toe.
4. Character development
Now you have a rough outline of your character it’s time to put them to work in your plot. That means you have to work out who will be supporting them and how it will affect their character arc.
You also need to find some sort of antagonist to light the fire under their fictional ass. Because, quite frankly, there are very few plots that move forward without them.
You need a catalyst.
Now remember, sometimes your character’s back story may not be revealed all at once or even at all. But you know the back story, so you know what type of conversations or settings would trigger a reaction (good or bad) in them.
This is where writing mastery comes into play.
Where any writer worth their salt would weave in situations and characters around their protagonist to bring depth. You, as a writer, can see at this point how every moment impacts their growth as a character.
So be discerning on how you make them grow.
Example: Charlie Fellows, unbeknownst to him had moved into an apartment building filled with pets and was forced to interact with them every day. He was also occupied as a postman, which only furthered his dislike of furry beasts (opinion: Charlie your lack of self-awareness is astounding.)
5. Fill those plot holes
If I have to say this once, I will say it again: when you ‘finished’ your manuscript go back. Fill those plot holes and while doing so weed out any conversations or events that don’t feel aligned with your character’s development.
We, as writers, can get so caught up in the dialogue and drive ourselves off the plot course into the abyss taking our characters with us.
It’s your job to bring them back.
Do you need to have an entire scene dedicated to their daily routine, including how many coffees they consumed for breakfast?
If it doesn’t add to the character development I would say no.
6. Give them a good ending
When writing you want to leave readers with an ending that will make them speechless.
You want your protagonist to have climbed mountains, emotionally and/or physically and succeeded and/or failed dramatically. This is how characters lived long past their pages.
Just think about it…
What are the fictional characters that have stuck with you the longest?
What is it they have in common?
Most likely it is because they were well-written and had an ending that left a mark on you. So please if you are going to delve into the world of fiction writing, for all that is holy, develop your characters.
I ask you as a fellow writer and reader.
Example: Charlie Fellows stayed up all night hearing the barking of dogs and it distressed him excessively. When he went to work, he was chased up and down the street because the animals sensed his dislike. After many evenings of unrest eventually Charlie went ape-shit insane and started barking himself. In the end, Charlie Fellows adopted the belief he was a dog and ran off into the wild to never be seen again. (opinion: Charlie you caused your unnecessary struggle, you idiot.)
Lindsey Rose considers herself a Creative Alchemist. She is an artist, writer, poet, dancer, herbalist, and professional tarot reader. She has found the greatest healing through the alchemy of creativity and hopes to inspire others to do the same.
Find out more at www.mystikrosearts.com or on YouTube
Resources for Character Development
Pinterest
www.pinterest.com
Get that board going, so you can actually ‘see’ your character.
Reedsy’s Character Name Generator
https://blog.reedsy.com/character-name-generator/
Easy way to generate names in a multitude of languages.
Rangen’s Personality Generator
https://www.rangen.co.uk/chars/pergen.php
A fantastic way to generate character personality traits easily.
AI (use sparingly)
I recommend bing AI Image Creator for quality images of characters.