Creating a Character

When writing a story, characters are one of the most important things. In fact, your characters could make or break your story. But the great thing about characters is that you can make them appear however you want. For example, a romance story I read on Scribblehub called Our Sweet Days had the ML appear, in the beginning, almost as a background board. A reader even commented that they would like the ML (male lead) more if they knew more about him. In fact, they kept commenting that. And in a brilliant move the author had the MC (Main character) break up with them because they knew nothing about him.

They wrote the ML, in the beginning, as a likable stranger. There was no serious connection that the reader could find to get attached to that character. And it was done on purpose. I was absolutely floored, and I thought it was brilliant. However, the author “built” the character already beforehand. They already had his likes and dislikes, why he wanted to be a baker, his appearance, his general personality, etc. And this is important because once you have made or have the general direction of the plot for your story you should them make your characters. There are 3 main things you should consider when making your characters

1^st, only design the character according to your story. Your character should fit in with your story. If you aren’t ever going to reveal the occupation of any of your characters, then the characters occupation is not important. You do not have to define that for your character. Another example is if you are doing a modern romance story with no fantasy elements. As a result, when making your characters you do not have define their race (whether an elf, orc, goblin, etc) because all the characters in your modern romance story are all human. Another example is family members. You do not need to make a whole family tree for your character if they are not going to appear in the story. If your character lives with his mother and sister, then that is what you jot down for the characters family members. There are certain character design elements of your character that may or may not be needed depending on how you write your story-line and plot. Thus, when designing your character, you should only add details that will show up in the story.

2^nd, try using a character outline template. When starting out making a character you might not have an idea of where to go. Using a simple character outline template can help with that. A general template usually consists of things like height, age, eye color, hair color, name, occupation, family members, mannerisms, likes, dislikes, general personality (strict, shy, timid) etc. Once you have the general direction of your character you can add things like their hometown, special characteristics, fears, goals, how they react to change and/or tragedy, and define their personality even more. Granted, there are some very complex characters outline templates but first start off in a general direction and then slowly proceed. You should avoid templates that start getting into Buzzfeed quiz territory (What animal would your character be). 

Some other questions to consider when making your character are.

What’s your characters style?

What is most noticeable about your character?

Do they wear any accessories on their face? (piercings)

Does your character have scars or birthmarks?

How do other characters see them? (If more than one character)

Does your character have any hobbies?

What is the relationship status between family members? (Ex: strained, loving, distant)

Is your character married or in a relationship?

What would make your character embarrassed, angry, sad etc.? 

A good example of a general character outline template is this one:

 

 

3^rd, dynamics. When creating multiple characters that constantly interact with each other their dynamic is very important. If the characters you create are in constant contact with each other and are very prevalent throughout the story, then it’s important to consider how they will play off each other. You’ve done this a little already if you’ve already written a main character and their best friend joking around for a creative writing class, short story, etc. By creating this group setting you can introduce the characters. It’s one of the ways to make characters more memorable and connectable.

 

A good example of this is the characters in the one of the interactive stories from the Choices app. There is the priestess who is very sweet but gets innocently excited when it comes to throwing a punch, a very sassy and witty (sometimes rude) thief, a serious and easily flustered elf, and a bold and straightforward orc princess. All four of these characters are very different but make for very hilarious situations when put together. I still remember the scene where everyone was joking around the campfire, and I had the character I played make an innuendo to the elf which was made even worse by the orc. It made me laugh so hard that I fell off my chair and all the other characters in the story were sent howling. Another example is when the priestess was kidnapped and I quite literally screamed, “No!”.

 

Personally, one thing I really like doing to make a character more memorable is making his appearance seem one way but the personality the opposite. For example, I made a character for my story who looked stoic but is very expressive with his emotions. One of my favorites I created was a sly looking businessman that was very stupid and loved to paint (show off his paintings) even though he was horrible at it.

 

When I first started making my own stories, I always got stuck on character creation. Seems like the easiest thing, right? Not at all! Every time I created a character, they ended up bland…until I used the three main ideas above. Since then, I’ve been able to create characters I’m proud of.