Hi, i have recentlly started tweeking with a new plot for a story. Evrything i have about the story i like except theres one problem that i overlooked. I dont ahve a solid main character, what i mean is that i dont really have any personality for him. I was wondering if anyone might have an idea as to how i could make one for this new style of wrighting i got going. :r:
Well what I do is make a character profile that fleshes my characters out. You need to know your characters in and out. Here's a link to a profile template I use for my characters that helps me get a better understanding of them. http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html
Thank you, i really hope i get to use this for other characters and not just the one, maybe even to edit my exisisting ones.
When I make character profiles, I try to sit and imagine what "happened" to them, and what that would make them feel like. For instance, in my book, the father character's family (except his older brother) all died in a fire when he was a kid, so now he has an extreme need for family and the need to love that family to fulfill the love he never got when he was growing up. And then I try to use that as I go down the story line to see how that would drive that certain character to behave or react to a situation.
Characters can be extremely important, however, more so if you're writing a novel then if you're writing a short story. I don't think you necessarily need to sit down and work out every minute detail about that character. What's most important, believe it or not, is the character bio. Work out what's happened in your characters past, and decide how that would effect him/her in the future. Each element of that characters life is going to effect his/her personality. Your character will have a lot more life and body if his/her personality is based on his/her life, rather then a list of facts detailing how he/she acts.
Somethign that I read once really helped me as far as creating characters. Sit down and start talking to yourself. Pretend you are interviewing the character AFTER the story has ended. Write down every response you get, not jsut what they answered, but HOW they answered. Like "character said they felt they were pretty awesome when they stopped the evil villains plans" or it could be "the character felt uncomfortable answering this question, but said yes he did liek the minor character" or "he was silent on the issue, i know what he did but he is stubborn to answer this question in his own words".
What types of personalities to the MCs (main characters) in your favorite books have? Each character matches the plot, right? For instance, in a sci-fi/action story, the MC is often rebellious and sarcastic. In chic flicks, the MC might be a Justin-Bieber drooler. In romance, you might want a serious, witty MC. So. Step one? Take a look at your plot and see if you can match a broad personality of your MC to your plot. But beware! Don't fall into the cliches. I mean, who knows? Perhaps, rather than having Mr. I Always Have The Perfect Comebacks as your MC, a clutz would work better for you. I could picture it: The modern-day Don Knotts tripping over his feet as he tried to track down a serial killer. Hey, that could be a good comedy! The point, though, is this: When choosing your MC, insert as many personality types as you can into your story. What type of person would best move your plot forward? Step Two: Make sure you can have a bit of fun when writing from your MC's point of view. If you've got a nerd, watch a bit of The Big Bang Theory and see how Sheldon talks. If you want Mr. Macho, crack out an Arnold Shwarzenegger movie. Whoever you choose, make sure that you give him a strong voice. Step Three: fine-tune your character. Learn his habits and quirks, his strengths and weaknesses. For a few more tips, check out this page on my blog:http://thewritersguide.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/develop-your-characters/
Plus, there's always the more unorthodox, you can loosely base them on people from within your circle, *jk*, lol, well, provided it's a friend or someone who wouldn't at least be put off by it.--I dunno, what are the definable parameters within the context on ethics in that? ~Guess I'm kinda fuzzy on it myself these days.
