How to craft a character
Fiction is so full of characters, male and female, that a common concern I hear from writers is “How do I know I’m not writing something that’s already been done?” If you’re looking to design a fanfiction, write a story, or a book (or your just plain curious), and you’re trying to come up with characters but they all feel like offshoots of another stories cast—then this article might be helpful for you.
Have a reason behind the character: I know this is going to sound like beating a dead horse but it’s so true. ALWAYS have a reason for making something. This could manifest in many ways, have a personal motive for wanting to make a character the way they are. For example:
· Is this character the example or the cautionary tale? Meaning, are they designed to be someone you want to follow or are they morally ambiguous? They can be either and be the main character but it’s important for you to think about it. Do you want them to be a role model? How and why?
· Is the character someone you’ve always wanted to be or someone you are more like right now?
· Is this character someone you’ve always wanted to write but only have a general idea of what they’re like?
Is the character the love interest that’s missing from your life or are they part of a more flawed cautionary relationship that has to end but you have to share?
· Do you need them to play a certain role in the story and if so what is it? Villain, hero, best friend, ex-boyfriend, plot device etc.
· Are you writing them for the audience to laugh at or admire them?
These are all basic questions I’d think about before writing any bio for the character. It’s all part of the brain storming stage. When you know you need to think of a character for the book, whether they’re a villain, hero, love interest, best friend etc. you should think about all the reasons you have personal or otherwise for making them.
Write details: This should go without saying, but write EVERYTHING you come up with from the greatest motivation to the smallest detail of the characters hair color down if it comes to you. If all you have is one scene in your mind and how the character looks write it down. Sometimes these come to you first before the true heart of the character does.
The Heart of the character: This is arguably the most important aspect to understand of any character. They absolutely MUST be more than the sum of their parts. One of the biggest threats to a character’s likeability in so much fiction from television to films is they’re no more than their exterior traits. This automatically turns me off to a character.
For example, Emma Swan from Once upon a Time is athletic, strong, blunt, wears a leather jacket and is rather intense. But these traits in and of themselves don’t make a character. They simply compliment a character. What really makes Emma Swan the character audiences love is her damaged past, her fear of abandonment that causes her to have commitment issues but doesn’t stop her from protecting people in need. That is the heart of a character: who they are and why. Not simply how they dress, how attractive or even competent they are.
Make them more than the exterior Fluff: DONT write physical traits or little details and believe that makes or breaks a character. You want your characters to be living, breathing, flawed, relatable people. Think of why you hate or love people, why you like or strongly dislike them-it’s not as simple as how they look, or dress, and the color of their hair. People don’t love Marvel’s Loki because of his cool outfit and lean hungry looks, they love who the character is: his internal conflict, his conflicted relationship with his brother, the personal struggle between being a villain or a hero, charisma etc. If the sum of a character really is how they look and what they can do, that’s not a real person its just a vague image.
-Jubilee
