Memorable characters struggle, they change, they succeed or fail in their own ways. The audience cheers for them, or condemns them, or relates to them. Vivid characters may reflect the reader’s own flaws and experiences, and might even carry a weak plot to success. However, creating characters can be hard, and fleshing them out is even more challenging. Your Tarweed Team offers a few tips and tricks for creating and understanding your characters.
Creating Characters
- Great characters are drawn from real life. Most readers want characters who they can relate to, characters who feel realistic. Main characters don’t have to be completely ordinary, but a character who fears things the audience fears and wants things the audience wants will generate more sympathy and interest. Thus, the key to making good characters lies in observing real life. What do the people around you want? What do they fear? If there’s someone you understand fairly well, it’s a great strategy to use them as a model for a character, so long as it isn’t too obvious in the final product. Introspection is also a good source for character fodder–what do you want? What are you afraid of? However, it’s not recommended that you use introspection for all your characters, because otherwise they might end up being too similar to each other.
- Realism isn’t only important for sympathetic characters, either: often, it’s the most realistic villains that are the most memorable and loathsome. Take Harry Potter, for example. It’s no surprise that the hatred for Umbridge vastly eclipses the hate for Voldemort. Why? While Voldemort’s villainy is undeniable, no reader has actually had to deal with an evil on his scale. Umbridge, by contrast, embodies the domineering boss, the unreasonable teacher, the sickeningly sweet authority figure everyone has had to deal with at least once in their lives. Everyone knows and hates an Umbridge, which is why Umbridge is so effective as a villain and hate sink.
- Your characters should fit the tone and theme of your story. Characters and their struggles are the vessel for the mood of a work–a character who’s miserable all the time will make the whole narrative more depressing. If your work is more lighthearted than cynical, it’s probably best to avoid a character with suicidal depression. Characters’ struggles and development are also integral to the theme of a work. If you want to convey a message, make sure your characters’ development aligns with that theme. Otherwise, you might be forced into making your characters give lengthy filibusters while they do completely unrelated things, or even worse, having their actions directly contradict the message.
- Details make the character. It’s interesting how the more specific details you include about a character, the more universal they become. “The girl in the lumpy sweater with bags under her eyes” is just more real than simply “the nerdy girl”. Thus, when you observe real people, it’s important to note not just abstract qualities but also specific details–do they bite their nails? How do they sit in the subway? Do they avoid stepping on the lines when they walk over tiled ground? In addition, telling the stories behind these details can also provide more story material.
- Sometimes, you can build an entire character around one specific image. For example, the image of a twelve-year old boy sitting in the dirt of dead grass, wearing a leather jacket too big for him. First, consider the plot questions–why is he sitting on the ground? Why is the jacket too big for him? But also consider how the image makes you feel. What is the “aesthetic” of the image? What impressions and moods does it give you? What other objects or events would fit with its “aesthetic”? It’s sometimes helpful to give a character a collection of item motifs or symbols. This can include anything from hobbies, to styles of dress, to iconic items, or even colors, patterns of weather, or animals. The feeling the motifs give you can then go towards creating a personality with a similar feeling.
Understanding Your Characters
- Understand what your character wants and fears. What is their greatest desire–something they long for more than anything, something they would be willing to sacrifice the most for? What is their greatest fear? Are they running away from something–a revelation, a potential backlash, something they already know? Neither of these things have to be concrete, or even something that your character is aware of. Maybe your character wants the approval of a father figure. Maybe your character is afraid that no one will ever love him. Maybe your character flees from responsibility. Once you understand what your character fears or desires, most of their actions will fall into place.
- Voice: talk to your character. How advanced is their vocabulary? How much do they say, and how? When you ask them a question, how long does it take them to respond? Do they stay on topic, or go off on tangents? Do they swear?
What does their voice sound like? Do they talk quickly, or slowly? Loudly, or quietly? Do they slur their words, or enunciate clearly? Do they have trouble pronouncing words? Do they stutter? Do they have an accent?
Have your character write you a letter. How is their grammar and punctuation? How about their sentence length? How much do they write?
Or text your character. Do they punctuate and capitalize, or is everything lowercase? Do they use autocorrect? Do they use emojis? When sending a large body of text, do they send one long paragraph, or do they send each sentence as its own text? - Put your character in everyday scenarios. Note that “my character wouldn’t do this” is a perfectly valid response. Here are some examples:
- A job interview.
- A job interview for a job they know nothing about.
- A group project for a major grade.
- College application. Where do they apply, and how do they answer each question?
- Tindr profile. (Don’t actually post it.)
- What social media do they use, and how?
- Who would they vote for? Would they vote?
- Ideal date.
- Worst date.
- Dream vacation.
- Dream job.
- If a friend is in crisis but isn’t saying anything, how do they respond?
- If a friend breaks the law and asks them for help, what do they do?
- A fun thing to do: pretend to be your character and take an online personality test. Make sure the test you’re taking is reliable, and answer as you think your character would answer. If the results do not match with your image of your character, perhaps reconsider some of your answers (However, as not all online tests are realistic, don’t feel pressured to do so). A recommended test is the Myers-Briggs test; however, any test from fandom quizzes to Buzzfeed joke tests are fair game.
Good luck, and happy writing! Your Tarweed Team
