This is part two in Developing Characters. You can read the first part here. It talks about creating characters that are complete, like people. This part is focused on the big answers you need when creating a good character.
The Point
1. Is your character interesting? If so, in what ways?
2. Does your character move the story forward?
There are many articles that list the variety of things characters need to be good characters, but they boil down to two things: do they work in the story? Will the reader care about them? This could be any form of caring—liking, disliking, hating, fearing, loving, etc. The question is does the character move the story along and make the reader care about what’s happening. The rest is just detail.
Traits
Most character should have one or two of the following traits (but never three, unless you want a flat character):
1. Likability—Would you want this person as a friend? Could you have a good conversation with them?
2. Ability—What can they do? How good are they at what they do?
3. Action—How do they move the plot forward? How much do they affect the story?
The Basics:
Who is your character?
What is their action?
What is their driving purpose?
What is their need?
Why are they there?
When is this happening?
Where?
These are the basics that inform any story—fiction or nonfiction. They offer the basic information to the reader, anchoring them in time, place and purpose. You have to find a way to answer these questions for every main character in your story, and maybe even some of you minor ones too.
Tips
Give your character a backstory. Without background there is no character. They need a past that defines them. What they don’t need is to have that past dumped on the ground for the reader to walk through. Be stingy with your backstory. Sprinkle it throughout the story where it makes sense. Wrap it up in action, dialogue or narrative.
Write fully realized people. We talked about this in the last blog, but it bears repeating. There’s nothing worse than reading a story with a paper doll cutout in the place of a character. Write whole people
Make sure your characters have logic, reason and motivation even it’s only known to them. There has to be some reason for these characters to act and react as they do. It’s rare for people to act randomly. Think of the statement, “It’s out of character for her.” Make sure no one says that about one of your characters unless she has suffered a traumatic or psychotic break.
Seek meaning larger than the words being used and more than the facts and circumstances. Go deep.
Write to the theme. Whatever your through line or theme, write to it. Stay true to it. Serve it. Don’t go off on tangents just because they are nice side stories. Make sure everything serves the main point of the story.
Decide who you need your characters to be in order to serve the story. Do you need a strong male or female lead? Do you need a sociopath, highly functioning or otherwise? What type of character would best serve the story?
Give them a background that supports the arc of the story and their character development. Built in meaning by building in a past.
Does your character start out one way and end another? She should. But you need to show the development and change through the course of the story. Character development is key to a good story.