Forming Characters: How Do You Do It?

I usually develop the basics of a character around the story (for example, the story I'm currently working on called for an "average Jane" type character as protagonist) but then I let them develop on their own when I'm writing.

I kinda use profiles, too, but only after I establish it in the writing. Like, if I make my character's favorite food pasta, then I'll open up her word document and add "Fav food: pasta", then continue writing.

 

I spent some time at a small conference a few weeks ago who showed us how to give our characters a history. She used a small journal, posted notes about the character on the left side page and then glued photos that represented them on the right side page. She said that by giving them a history (past) - bringing them to three-dimensional becomes a normal flow of character development. I had never tried this, but I am using it in my current WIP. It is pretty surprising how much more developed my characters are becoming for me. I like the exercise.

 

Thank you, IS. I shall try this approach. Anything new would be worth a try. I'm just stuck with the old, usual grind, ya know.

T1

 

Actually IS that is something I had forgotten, I do keep scrapbooks. I was so far into my first book and not far enough into the other two not to need them yet, but I take images from magazines, google, I even allow my limited drawing skills out when I have too. It does really help me with image and description.

 

I agree with a lot of what has already been said - especially the bit about always knowing the characters' voices!

In certain situations, something I find really useful to do is to think up the most cliched character I can (i.e. the stereotypical 'brave knight' for a medieval fantasy) and use it as a template for how NOT to write that kind of character. It's fine to include some aspects of the template - otherwise he's hardly a knight at all - but it's also good to help me avoid the pitfalls of cliche. I tend to use this most often when I'm writing about something that I've not learnt much on before, and the stereotype is my only point of reference.

 

This was certainly interesting to read. So basically, there are a few main ways everyone seems to come up with/develop a character and then there are minor variants from those.

My method is kind of...different, in a sense. I kind of develop the plot in mind and the characters at the same time. Like as the story is forming into a solid idea in my head, I'm also getting a better idea as to what kind of cast I want. By the time I have the story in my head, I have a good idea of what type of characters I want and some of their history.

From there I take the rough shape I have of the characters and form a more defined shape. For example, in the murder mystery story, I wanted an anti-social and bored protagonist. However, with the specifics, I haven't decided what he/she looks like, and I might have had maybe one or two important things of their history, but fine details and time-lines weren't there yet. So at this step, I defined those usually by deciding on at least personality traits, and work on the history a bit more clearly.

And I do the same thing with the time-line of the plot, so that by this point I basically know: Story starts here, has to hit point A, B, and C at some point before it reaches this end, the world is like this, it's this time of this year, etc. Likewise, with my characters, I know enough about them so that I can set them into my world and let them start functioning on their own. From here everything starts to work itself out and the story more or less writes itself for me. Through writing, more fine details show up without any prior planning and usually settle in on their own really well.

In a more complex story, at most, I'll make a story time-line so that the story paces properly, but I usually never have to write anything down about the characters because they develop into their own people.

 

I usually get my character inspiration from when I read. If I like a specific characterisic, I save it in a document. I then take a look at my list of characteristics in my document and put tigether a charcter. Each time I use a characteristuc for a character, I put a star (*) beside it so that I know how many times I use each characteristic. I also try to use the unused ones first, depending on the plot and what type of character my mind is picturing.

I also like to change my mind about characters alot aswell, so if I have an idea in my head, looking at my characteristics sheet helps me make a more detailed version of my idea. Or I ditch the old character and start from scratch.

 

Just a name is enough to do it for me. I think of a Gordon as a lanky and slightly odd person, pushing up his thick glasses with a finger. He paces and paces around the room, absorbed in his thoughts, and when he thinks he's on to something he gets terribly excited and speaks fast and breathless, like a machine gun.

 

To tell the absolute truth, I am not exactly sure how I create characters. I just do it. I think about the role that the character will play in my story, and then I come up with some quirky person to do it. My characters are largely based on imagination, but also off of people I know.

 

I feel like I have to rely on more than my imagination to come up with characters. If I don't take the time to really sit down and think about how to make a character seem different or interesting, they tend to end up being different variations of the same person!

I think this is why it's always a good idea to take outside influences when coming up with characters. There might be personalities or character traits that you see in real life, film, literature or tv that you would never have come up with on your own.

 

Systematic is a bold word to use. Wouldn't we all wish it was that easy. Characters that I write about are a compilation of people I encounter whether they be in print or media or the real world. I find inspiration everywhere, and so I usually don't have as difficult a time on this part of writing.

So why not surprise yourself? Maybe the character you're looking for is none other than your own sis, sis!

 

Ha, ha! Thanks, T2. Maybe so. Perhaps a character as complex as myself? You know how I can get The good and the not-so-good.

 

As other writers have said here, I generally trust my instincts and let characters come forward as I write.

If I were a novelist, I'd probably labor long on characters as the reader (and I) will be living with them for a very long time. I might even use character aids for that to keep people and traits straight.

Instead, I write short fiction. So I usually need just a small cast of characters drawn together by a single situation or issue. I don’t spend lot of time planning my characters. They have to be like real people realistically motivated, but since they aren’t around for more than a few thousand words, I don’t do an oil painting of each one and write 1,000 word essays on their life history.

Generally, I start writing with a general idea what the conflict point is, but no set ideas as to the characters involved. I just jump in with a name and let the physical details fill themselves in: Morrison wiped her pert nose along the outside of her slender forearm like a cowboy four days in the saddle and three days into a head cold.

Personality follows from those initial details or I bend them a bit to sharpen either side of the conflict.

Sometimes, I draw a blank and do have to force a character to come out. I do this an old fashioned way--either think of a verb or adverb--or grab a fiction story, flip to a page, stab down a finger and take the first verb or adverb I find nearest my finger.

Example: scuffed. Then, I fill in details: He limped up the walk, his black leather jacket marred by a brown scuff up near the right shoulder, his right knee pad hanging loose from black leather pants, the gleam of his black right boot tempered by flat black polish over a rough patch across the toe, tucked into his left arm like a football his shiny black helmet had a wide scrape that exposed white primer and fraying red fibers beneath.

Again, personality is suggested by the physical.

After I finish my first draft, I start to tinker a bit with the characters, sharpening their edges, their traits, what they have working for and against them in the story. I do try for depth, but I don’t stop a runaway train to explain that even though Jimbo is prone to punch people he disagrees with, he’s a sweet guy deep inside who really likes hummingbirds.

 

I first read this and thought you meant 1 to 4 pages long, and then I thought "Whoa, my major characters must be flat".

 

I'm pretty knew to writing, so I've been following the profile sheets and they've been working reasonably well. Unfortunately, I didn't discover them until after I'd already finished my novella (my first and only long finished work), but I found that they've been helpful in telling me what makes my characters tick, and I've since tried it with a novel I've been working on.

I got an excellent character profile in a summer writing class I took this year. It starts with the complete basics (name, age, etc), and then goes gradually into really complicated traits. And then, at the end, it asks you to write an introduction from the character's POV, a self-description from his/her POV, and various other short scenes. It's difficult at first, but very rewarding.

 

My characters have started keeping blogs which helps I am finding writing out conversations with them not related to the story works really well for building them as real people. Right now I have one that doesn't want to learn to sew and he has stormed off for a walk on the beach to calm down lol

 

This idea sounds not only like a good tool to help develop characters, but it sounds like an awful lot of fun to write. Hope you don't mind if I steel it.

 

I should do it too. Thanks Charlotte for the idea

 

LOL I am sure someone else has done it before me It is just a load of fun - I have just written a scene with two of my characters iceskating because one of them had a really rough scene last night

It also helps to talk out the really emotional stuff and lighten what is proving quite a dark story.

 

I have a novel. I'll rewrite it someday, flesh it out, make it longer and more complicated. How do I know?

I had to write short stories, so I started taking the characters from the novel and making them the central character in a short story. What was already established in the novel helped steer the short story, what happens in the short story will help with the rewrite of the novel.

I started with a book about "Character Traits," it gave me ideas, and things developed from there...

 

I generally let the characters tell me who they are.

I may start off with a general idea of who the character is, their motivations, their history, but as I write, they tend to develop on their own. I always assume that the characters will know more about themselves than I will.

 

I used to use character profiles when I was younger (oh, so much younger!) and less experienced, but I really don't like the idea of them now. I don't actually know everything about the character when I start writing about them, I get to know them as I go along, so I can't provide all the information a character profile wants.
My stories almost always begin with the conception of a character these days. I'll see someone, or hear them say something, or something about a character on tv or in a film will spark something in my brain and very quickly this new person will begin to develop in my head. Usually, within a few days some semblance of a plot has grown up around them, as have other characters that are needed to help move the story along, etc. Once I can clearly hear them having conversations and see them doing things I can start writing them. If I start writing before they're ready it doesn't work. Ever.
You'll probably find as you gain more experience with your writing that you won't feel the need for profiles, but if you're happy using them for now I doubt it will do any harm. You'll learn to let your characters reveal themselves to you, and sometimes they will surprise you, which sounds stupid but it's true. Characters are people too, and they're not always predictable!
Another thing I found when I was younger and less experienced was that once I was able to start writing a story I had to do it with pen and paper first and only once the thing was going along okay could I move to the computer. If I went straight to the computer with something new it would all get away from me too quickly and I'd end up in places I didn't want to be. Does that make sense? Writing longhand meant that I had more time to feel my way into a story, get used to the people and places. I type very quickly (up to 90 words per minute when I'm really going for it), so my hands would just start typing every little thing that popped into my head and weren't interested in slowing down a bit so my brain could catch up, so what ended up on the screen was a garbled mess. I have more control these days, and only start writing something when I know clearly what's supposed to happen and to whom.

 

On the story I'm working on, I have a "cheat-sheet" of the characters. On these sheets, I put their bio, their natural personality and their synthetic personality.

Natural personality are traits inherent within the character that was not formed by external/environmental factors. Synthetic personality are traits formed by external/environmental factors (history, experience, past, trauma).

I have a character who despises any form of authority; his anger stems from his mother who was murdered by a mobster while the police looked the other way. His aversion to authority is also reinforced by his late-father who was stern and strict to him.

 

Forgive me if I've answered this thread before and I'm just repeating myself.

I write a sentence, maybe two. That's usually enough to get a clear picture in my head - how they look, how they talk etc - to write with. The rest comes fairly organically with the plot outlining and the writing, at least I think it does.

For example, from something I've been toying with:

Or sometimes, if I really want to go nuts for the protagonist:

There really is no hard and fast answer except that your mileage may vary and to do whatever works for you. Of course, what works is entirely subjective. Reading these boards I do think a lot of people have a tendency to overthink things, but again, that's me.

I think character sheets and questionnaires have their place if you're someone who needs to know every facet about someone before really getting a picture in your head of what they're like. But I found compiling extensive bibles about individual characters totally bored me of them. Their lives aren't dynamic and they aren't real so unlike real people who you know everything about, they can't remain interesting through jokes, goings ons, sharing experiences or discussing shared interests. (For some of you, maybe they can and I'm just not that imaginative...)

What's their most cherished childhood item? Who is their rival? What's their mum's name? Where did they grow up? Who was their childhood best friend? If it isn't in any way relevant to the story, who cares?

That's my five cents. Again, YMMV. Many people's mental processes differ greatly from each other.

 

Thank you, Mr. Who. I mean - What. JK, hee hee I will keep that in mind.