Characters are paramount to any story. They’re family members, loved ones, friends, coworkers, strangers, and enemies. Every one of them has a unique smattering of attributes, from physical appearance to personal history to purpose within the story itself. To get you started, we’re going to ask you a few questions pertaining to your characters and their qualities. Answering these questions will help you create supporting characters real enough to make your readers want to reach through the pages and touch them.
What is the character’s purpose?
Only a handful of an author’s characters can be considered part of the main cast. As a supporting character, what is his or her purpose in the story? Is he helping to save the world? Is she part of a task force vanquishing evil forces or out to colonize a new planet? Main characters need supporting characters. They help the main character by giving him advice, joining in on his journey, or providing him with food and rest when he needs it most. They can be mentors or relatives, spouses or romantic interests, friends or foes. Each serves a purpose to the story, and it’s up to you to figure out exactly what that purpose is.
What is your character’s story?
You now know who your character is; let’s dive in deeper. Regardless of the size of your character’s role in your story, any well-rounded character has some sort of history—something that made that character who he or she is at the point he or she features in your book. Many authors opt not to spend much time thinking about this. Their characters are all action and words, no deeper than the pages on which they live. This route works for some, but having a background for your character can keep things consistent and believable, all the while serving to flesh out your characters. On the other hand, having a history for your character does not mean you have to include it in your writing—your readers may not need to know the name of a passerby’s childhood pet—but knowing every character’s background yourself will absolutely help you keep that character’s actions real and consistent. Also, having an idea about your characters’ lives may provide you with more material as you write.
What are his or her personality traits?
Other important aspects of your characters are emotion and imperfection. Is he easily angered? Is she prone to be emotional, or does she steel herself against any inclination to express herself? How does his or her back story play into how the situation at hand is handled, and how the protagonist or antagonist responds to him or her? These dynamics will help you as you write the interactions between all the personalities in your book. Furthermore, characters who express emotion and have flaws provide an avenue for your readers to relate to your book. Nobody is perfect, and it’s important that your characters follow suit. Readers relate to characters with emotions and flaws, characters who are vulnerable—as is the human condition.
Now that your character has a purpose and a personality, we can work on the fun part:
What does your character look like?
Is your character male or female? Brawny and strong, or petite and elusive? Dark skin, albino skin, brown eyes, green eyes—the choices go on and on. Knowing what your character looks like will help you write your scenes. Is your character’s hair swaying in the wind as she overlooks a village burned by an evil battalion? Does the dark color of the best friend’s skin cause dissension when he and the hero try to help a racist settlement? Just as the character’s history can provide material for your story, his or her physical appearance can help the reader visualize what you’ve worked so hard to create.
All of these choices are up to you—and this is just the beginning.
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