How to character development

@dekreel

This is something I definitely need a lot of help with too! I usually start with worlds and then do characters xD so Ig we’re kind of opposites. I would say – from what I’ve read – that personality quizzes and stuff can help you figure out how your character generally reacts to stuff, and then you can expand on that.

And define the surroundings and moments and people that help shape who they are?

Hmm this is kind of backward for me too 😂, I usually think about the circumstances and reflect on how that would change the person? Ig if there’s a trait you want to use, like distrustful, fearful, naive or kind/loving, try to come up with things that would create those feelings. Like maybe they felt betrayed by someone, and that made them not want to trust anyone else. Or (I can’t think of an example, but this one’s used pretty often) they don’t want to get close to other people in case they were to lost them, because they lost someone they loved once. Growing up in a sheltered community/family could make them sweet, kind, and a little naive, or they could have other issues too like doubting themself because someone made them feel they weren’t good enough.

There are tons of books and articles on character arcs and personalities 😉 So maybe you should look into that.

I hope this helped!! (Sorry if it wasn’t really what you needed, if you want to tell me more about your characters, I could try to help you brainstorm.)

@dekreel

That’s a great question! And the answer differs with every author. Everybody develops their characters differently. There is no certain blueprint and if you follow it you’ll get a perfectly developed character. In my experience, I’ve developed my characters the most in three ways:

1. Character questionnaires. Even those these won’t have every single thing you need to know about your character, I still find them helpful. You can look them up, or even create your own (which I recommend and prefer) based off of other templates. I recently downloaded one from Story Embers that I think will be super helpful for developing my characters. (I’m pretty sure it’s called either Character Questionnaire or The Ultimate Character Checklist. Something like that XD) Questionnaires and template sheets are really helpful, especially if you’re just in the beginning of developing a character. (Or even in the middle of it, like me, lol.)

2. Roleplaying. Putting my characters in different role plays here on KP has helped my character development immensely. Because it’s in a different world or place, I get to experiment with their personality and see how they react in situations outside of their story. For example, putting my two MCs in a RP helped me understand how different they act when they are angry at someone. One of them becomes passive aggressive and the other gives the silent treatment. To be honest, I never would have really thought of that before. So putting them in different situations outside their story will help a lot.

3. Write them. I know this may not be applicable to you right now, but the best way that helps me flesh out my charries, is my simply writing them. I get to know them more as the go through the story. Sometimes they even change the story. And the great thing is, you don’t have to be consistent with how they act right away. There’s a reason why we writers have need multiple drafts. 😉

Now, concerning building a world and story around one character… I’m not entirely sure. I build everything at the same time, charries, plot, world, etc. 😂 So let’s see here…

I definitely agree with @hybridlore that you should take one of their traits, and think about how someone or something could’ve instilled that into them. Some personality traits come naturally and not necessarily by a situation or person, and some traits come genetically. So that’s something to think about.

Putting a story to a character might be hard, but here’s an idea.

Start with a character arc. Figure out your characters flaws, negative traits, strengths, and positive traits. Then, see how you can test one of those, or build a character arc from them. For example, if one character always stands up for what’s right, but also has a terrible temper and says whatever comes to mind, this may get him into a lot of trouble. Then he has to learn to control his temper and stand up for what’s right without full on lashing out. Another example: there’s a character who struggles with worry and anxiety. Force her into a situation where she has to learn to trust God and not worry so much. (Those two examples were based off of some of my charries, so it may not be as easy as I’m making it sound. 😅) When you have a character arc, it will be easier to build a story around it.

That’s all I can think of for now. I hope it was helpful!! If I come up with anything else, I’ll definitely let ya know! 🙂

@dekreel

I struggle with similar things often, so I think I get it. I have a lot of characters that have less of a plot line or world and more of just a general aesthetic.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever read for developing plot lines/ character arcs was this: First, find out what your character wants more than anything. Give them a goal. It could be good, or bad, or good but their methods if getting it are bad, or whatever. Then, you try to do whatever you can to keep your character from reaching their goal. And now suddenly you have (at least the beginning of) a character arc/plot line.

Another thing you can do is look at the traits your character already has and think about what in the world around them caused them to have that trait. For example, if you have a very responsible character, maybe they are an oldest child. Or if your character is young and is really good at fighting, their country might be at war or maybe they grew up in a very rough neighborhood.

Hope that was helpful! I’m not really the best person to give advice since I often have the same problem. Excited to see Hazel on the character castle!

@hybridlore

No, lol, I haven’t written any articles on KP yet. 😂 I’m considering writing one, I just don’t know what on, because a majority of what I’ve learned about writing has been through KP, so I’d probably end up copying a few articles. 😅

@dekreel

I would have to say my character-creating process is actually very similar to @mineralizedwritings . I realized recently while looking through the myriad of stories and poems I have written that I leave a piece of me in everything I write. Something of my personality, desires, dreams, and/or expectations manages to wiggle its way into what I pen, which is one of the best things about writing!! Crafting characters is even more fun bc in that sense you get to take a piece of your personality and weave it into a whole new person that goes on all the imaginary adventures you’ve always wanted to have 🤪.

I might either start by picking a trait of my own that I understand well enough to write about orrrr I will pick a theme that I want to be portrayed in the story and use that to create my character arc. For example, in one WIP I wanted to highlight the theme of fear and how to overcome it. As a result, I created a character who struggles with the fear of letting down those counting on him and constantly beats himself up for being afraid all the time. The message is that it’s okay to be frightened in frightening circumstances, but what really counts is how you respond to your fear, if you face it with courage or back down and let it overwhelm you. So in that case, I started with the message and worked to coordinate my character with that.

All that to say, my advice to you is this: explore the angles! Do you want a character who’s sassy? Tell me, is she sassy 24/7, is she an underhanded kind of sarcastic, does she only become saucy around a certain person who she’s nervous around/trying to impress? Why? There are dozens of different ways to portray personalities, sometimes you just gotta explore and see which one works best for you 😉