My characters all come from necessity. I don't just make them up for the heck of it, they need to exist to tell the story and I know what I need from my characters before I start to put them together. They exist for a purpose. They are there to do specific things within the story.
This. So much this. This approach is so contrary to those writing advices which suggests you build your world and prepare your character sheets before you even have a clue about the story you're going to tell. I like it.
I tend to pants so i develop the story and the characters at the same time... excepting of course series characters who exist after the first book and merely develop through books 2,3,4 etc
But sometimes you don’t know what story you are telling until you are halfway through the first draft.
Here's my logic. Of course this is subjective, but it works for me. (This doesn't count for flat characters.) Your MC starts with a need and a want. The need is for a truth that the MC doesn't yet have. The want is for a lie that the MC has always believed. The MC doesn't understand the need, but he/she definitely understands the lie. Their life is built around it. They believe their want (lie) *is* their need (truth) and that they're already complete. Then, at the inciting incident, a disruption occurs that puts the MC in motion. At the end of the story, at the moment of epiphany, the need replaces the want. That's the moment where the MC finally understands and triumphs. That's all internal, and it's what makes the external plot matter. The external plot is shaped by the MC (through agency) and it shapes them at the same time. So it's kind of a puzzle getting the pieces in place. If you can get the push/pull of character and plot aligned, your story will really work. The other characters are there for one of three reasons. move plot (typically by causing complications for the MC) show characterization of the MC establish setting The important characters mostly cover the first two. They should have some nuance. The lesser characters establish setting. They can even be tropes. In fact, they're usually pretty stereotypical. They're meant to be recognized. That's my baseline. Things can always switch around. You could write a deconstruction where the MC has no agency. Imagine "Big Trouble in Little China" or picaresques like "Candide." You could have stories where the need goes unfulfilled. Usually you'd only do one reversal from the basic form though.
