Hey everyone! I wanted to start a thread on here asking everyone about how you create characters. Do you use a template when generating the “people” that inhabit your fictional world? Do you follow a technique that aids you with the process? In the spirit of things, here is a little glimpse into my own approach - I am an avid gamer, so I personally use some AD&D software to mold the inhabitants of my world into interesting and compelling characters. This helps the inspirational process… for me, anyway. Granted, sticking just to that resource can be a bit “cookie-cutter”, but that is a start. I am the kind of writer that draws inspiration intensely from the world around me. Whether it’s a picture, a song, a character in a book, what-have-you, I am constant logging interesting ideas and saving them for later. Granted, I vastly change the depiction into something that is truly my own – no plagiarism here! So, feel free to post on here your methods of character creation, so that others can see what you use, which might help them in the process as well!
I rely a lot on K. M. Weiland's method that she sets out in Creating Character Arcs. Find the character's wound, their lie, their ghost. This way I know what motivates my MC and what they need and what they want. Then it's surface level stuff which is a bit easier, in theory. As far as what they look like I just let my imagination run wild and then make sure it fits within the world of the story. No cyber-ninjas in a pre-industrial fantasy kind of setting. Along those lines.
I really like K M Weiland's blog. I ran across it a few months ago when I was researching how to use Scrivener, and stuck around to absorb a lot more. As for how I create characters, pretty randomly so far, or I should say a lot of my stories (most of which were written years ago) are essentially about me and my friends with different names. So I developed a lot of bad habits that I'm working on jettisoning and replacing. But I definitely try to start by first creating a good idea for the conflict the story will be built around. The characters are agents of that conflict, each one represents some aspect of it or somehow comments on other characters in the character web. So to me it makes sense—first comes the conflict, which is the heart of the story, then you structure your characters to create and work out that conflict.
Personally? It depends on the story. The story I'm working on right now was built around a character; the character was the inspiration for the story, and I crafted the story around that to ask intriguing questions about what she would do in certain situations, what would be the most stressful for her, and exactly what I could put her through to make a good plot. For example, this plot in itself wouldn't work for an adventurous, rebellious character; they wouldn't put up with things she puts up with, and it would just generally go a very different direction. Like you, I draw a lot of inspiration from the world around me. Something as simple as a birdsong or the shape of a cloud can start a story for me. So really, it depends on what kind of inspiration that story was started from, whether something inspired an interesting character, or an idea for a cool plot element that I decided to work into a story already in the works or give a story all its own. I don't necessarily recommend doing this, but a lot of the time, I write the first few chapters of a book without any particular story in mind, but with a character to model it around. Because of this, I tend to throw in a bunch of different plot elements that just come into my head as I'm writing and take note of the larger plot structures that I'd need to introduce later, and I'll end up with enough of an idea for a plot that I can give a general outline. Then I'll go through and watch a bunch of different videos on writing (it gives me inspiration on how to make my plot better, because it's normally absolute trash at this point) and fix the plot, and then I can restart writing with an actual plot in mind. This is the point where the plot might influence the personality of the MC a little bit. I know that was a bit of a long and drawn out explanation, but I have a very convoluted creative process that perhaps doesn't work very well. Sorry.
First, I'm gonna need a name I can like. That helps with a base personality. Then I get the character(s) talking. I'll hear their voices in my head, but my doctor says those are good voices. By the time you get a good conversation going with characters, they'll have formed their own personality. Of course, I'll nudge them in the right direction. Barring that, I'll just grab complete existing personalities and don't tell anyone. Anyone but you lot, anyway. One of my characters is a copy-paste Roadhouse-era Sam Elliot.
I have to think about what my process is, so whatever it is it's pretty loose. I think most of the time... I come up with a general idea, sometimes a 'gimmick' I wanna base the character on. For example one story idea I'm not currently writing sprang up around the idea of 'What if I did a happy-go-lucky character who goes through an apocalypse... and doesn't turn into a grim and broody character?' Even without a gimmick I'll usually have a broad strokes idea of what they're like. Shy, extroverted, anxious, etc. And then I develop them further by putting them through plot in my brain, and also writing them. At that point their emotional arc and the plot start getting more tied together in my brain. It really is a 'varies story by story' process for me, but generally they fit in along those lines. I've got a handful of characters I built up when I was a more juvenile writer who's plots I ended up not liking. I hope I have learned by now to only actually make up plots I like, lol. I really haven't done anything significant with them yet, but I do have plans!
I see a scene in my head. The characters dont have names but because i can "see" them, i know their descriptions. I write out the scene, and as im writing, their personalities come to life. Sometimes i will use a "doll maker" and to make a visual representation of whats in my head. Sometimes if im in a hurry (or lazy lol), ill make a list of descriptors. THEN i name them. But really, i write first and the character develops
You can't really have a compelling character without a compelling story. I would say my fiction is pretty character driven, but those characters don't exist other than in the story. I don't really see the point in jotting down all sorts of traits, quicks, appearances, whatever outside what's needed in the actual story. I'm also not a fan of too much preplanning or prewriting. That sort of thing seems like a waste of time given only bits and pieces are likely to make it into the story. Again, the story. It's all about the story. It's always about the story. But stories belong to characters. I like to think of character development as something that happens along side plot development. Trying to separate to two is just creating unnecessary steps and pieces that might not fit all that well together, in my opinion.
I use a very simple GMC model which is goals, motives, and conflict. And it is a process. Often times I don't have the characters in the first or even second draft. It usually isn't until the third and forth draft that I would actually figure the motive.
For a moment I thought you too use the analogy of a conflict engine to drive the story, but had gotten way more specific with it than me.
I create characters as I need them to fill roles in my story. I don't bother with descriptions or traits and whatnot. I have a vague concept in my head and that develops and solidifies as I write. For example, I needed a narrator and secondary protagonist in my novel. He has to have a reason to tag around with the MC's party. So he has to have an ability or knowledge that will be useful. So I made him the best young swordsman in the village - not the best swordsman, because that just makes him boring. He needs to be a bit of an outcast from the rest of the village who has been taken under the wing of The Powerful Protector, for plot reasons. So I give him a little sister who is an adopted outsider, and kill off his parents pre-story, to explain why he's particularly defensive of her. Aha - the sister could also come in useful. So I make her the last survivor of a clan that's been wiped out (although none of the characters know this), and build in a role for her in the climax of the story. I also plan to make her a love interest in the next novel, but that's way, way in the future. All the rest of the details will develop as I write. I didn't need any more details than this to start writing.
I sometimes use a simpler method than a lot of ones mentioned here - I just try and draw the character. I suppose some people are able to clearly visualize the character in their head - but for me I find it a lot easier once I have some sort of image in front of me. I am no artist by the way (not by a long stretch) and the drawings are often more impressionistic than accurate - but it still helps me to think about what kind of character they are and how their appearance might reflect this. I guess it makes them more real - then its just about trying to convey this realness through word. Of course this is the hard part - but if you're not sure where to start I recommend giving a drawing a go.
K. M. Weiland's method is a good one. In fact her entire collection of how to's are pretty good and well worth reading. I don't have a process really. I never mould my characters of anyone I know or base them on an existing character. People always say conflict is very important in a story. No conflict. No story. But conflict comes from a characters goal and their motivation comes from their want. I usually start there. What does this character wants so much? The goal doesn't need to be anything epic but the want needs to be the driving force. I usually find the want from looking through the characters history. I create their backstory and usually find that everything I need is all ready present in there. I don't tend to give away that much of a character history unless it's crucial to the plot, I tend to provide symptoms of their past and let readers make up their own story.
The idea of conflict is an interesting one to me. Finding the right conflict to fit the character is not all that easy. What want or desire would drive a person so hard that they would they endure the struggles the story throws at them? It's crazy to think that in a sense it is almost arbitrary what the character wants as long as she wants it bad enough to kill or die for. For example, in Don Delillo's Cosmopolis the whole plot is set in motion because the main character wants to drive across New York in the middle of a riot to get a haircut. Maybe it's because in my own personality, I tend to do the whole Taoism thing of going with the flow and so that bleeds over into my characters. When things start going wrong, they find boring, non-confrontational ways around the issue. That's great from a real-world conflict resolution technique point of view but it'll bore the hell out of a reader. No one wants to read about how our intrepid MC applies active listening to the antagonist, reaches a compromise both parties find satisfactory through dialogue, then ends up with the protagonist and antagonist developing a mutual respect for each other. Everyone goes home happy.
... Unless you apply the Kung Fu method (I refer to the TV show of the 70's starring David Carradine). He was non-violent and totally Zen, but always wandered into towns where people f*cked with him or some helpless person nonstop so he had to kick it into Kung Fu gear.
It depends on the degree of difficulty needed to arrive at the point where everyone goes home happy. If it's an easy fix, then the story won't be compelling. But if the conflict pushes the main character to the limits of their abilities, or perhaps past their believed limits, then you've got a basis for a good story. Whether everyone ends up happy or the conflict being solved through dialogue isn't really the variable imo.
A character doesn't have to want something bad enough to die or kill for it. Dying and killing doesn't have to even be an aspect to the story, and even if it is, what the character wants doesn't have to be the driving force ignited by what the character wants. Also, you (the writer) shape the story and decide what sort of things are thrown in there and what your characters do and want. Kurt Vonnegut said, "Every character should want something even if it is only a glass of water." In most stories no one is getting killed over a glass of water. You are deciding to write the non-confrontational actions and reactions. Why? You are right that long, drawn-out dialog is more likely to bore readers than an actual story. Things happen in life and, as writers, things should happen in our stories. It is the stories of our lives that shape us as people. The same is true for characters. If you want to nail this character development thing, write a good story that in part of your character. Also, be careful with a happy ending that ties up all loose ends. Most of the time, that's not really how life works or stories.
I'll answer this one for myself, as I've leaned in that direction a few times. I wanted to write stories to teach people that what happens in most stories isn't the way we need to live our lives, that people are far too often taught to choose sides in the black-and-white false dichotomies such as politics, and they oversimplify as a result, buy into the bumper-sticker catch-phrases, point their fingers at 'the enemy', and blame all their problems on them, resulting in the "let's fight it out" attitude. This is largely promoted by many narrative stories built on conflict, at least the ones built on simple external conflict. Yes, I've come to think an end should be satisfying, rather than happy. Often any happiness, even for the protagonist, can be very relative, but he's won some important victory that puts a sense of completion on the story and sets the wrong right. Or learned to deal with it, through adjusting his attitude (this seems to be a more common ending in short stories).
@Xoic -- Your stories aren't going to accomplish much of anything if nothing happens. Conflict doesn't have to mean an all out war, but again to quote Kurt Vonnegut, you have to give the reader at least one character to root for. I feel like quiet stories often pack a big punch, but things happen and they're not boring. There's a story in almost everything. Sure, someone can write a battle story or an action-packed story, but you don't need all that. You do need a character to root for and more often than not the story belongs to that character. You don't (and shouldn't) need to paint everything in black and white terms. It doesn't matter if it's a short story or novel. Where and when to end a story is just as important as where to start it. Sometimes there are no victories to celebrate and a story can still reach completion with a satisfying ending.
Well, it wasn't that nothing happened—in fact there was a lot of external conflict, but by the climax the MC had realized it wasn't solving things, and that a much more zen attitude was required. It switched from external conflict to internal. But that's pretty complicated and doesn't really belong in this thread.
I use a combination of music and original artwork to inspire characters for me. My characters usually start off as elements of a music video I imagine and play in my mind when I listen to different soundtracks or songs. The music sets the tempo and mood of the scene and the image sets the backdrop and design. The plot builds itself from there.
For me personally, character creating is fairly easy. I come up with a character name, what I want them to look like (although this can and has changed drastically from what I first imagined), and a major aspect of their personality. If they're supposed to be the sidekick, that aspect might be loyalty, or honesty, or something. From there, I just throw the cardboard cutouts into random situations, letting them react to things and show me what kind of a person they are, and what's important to them.
I don't have a technique. All of them follow from the conflict between my MCs, so there's really no choice when making secondary characters. All their traits and personalities are required to create the boundary conditions for the main conflict. I don't follow character-sheets and have no use for lists of characteristics. I write what the story requires, letting images of scenes and specific moments between my MCs guide me. As for my MCs and their story arc... it has been created by them. I'm just the writer following in their wake and hoping I don't get swept off my feet, so now I'm learning how to tread water .
