How do you find your characters?

Character creation for my WIP has been a little disjointed because of how long I've spent toying with ideas. But I've been guided this far by a few different elements.

The very oldest impetus for my story has been an interest in urban fantasy. Quite simply, I just like the genre. Since the beginning, one of the key elements was about characters with supernatural powers running about to save the day, but also dealing with all the many consequences of their powers and how they came to terms with it. Therefore most of my major characters have been created with that very much in my mind. In order to make things truly interesting, I've tried to make analogies between these supernatural problems and real life ones, as well as integrate them with various real life problems harmoniously. So for each of my characters, I've asked myself how their supernatural identity would actually affect their lives with all the awkward details, what real life problems do I want bring in, and therefore how that would shape the character. My first created and main character, Sarah, started with a supernatural identity which I then began to build a character around and took off from there.

Another aspect has been trying to create diversity amongst the cast. Not just gender and race and such, but a variety of personality and perspective. My story is big on introspection, so I want this variety in my major characters to give me room to explore. Subsequently, there is the question of character dynamics- the characters aren't in a bubble and interaction with other people is key to showcasing character and how they actually change over time. I have designed my characters therefore to compliment each other's individual stories.

Real life people is obviously a source for inspiration consciously or not, but more profoundly perhaps, is looking to the real world to answer questions. Looking carefully at how real people behave is an excellent guide to making good characters.

Finally, actually writing bits and pieces for my characters has been fairly influential even when I had a solid concept beforehand. I've found that an element personality simply comes to me when writing a character. It forces you to fill in details and therefore gets you asking questions you hadn't previously been asking, and sometimes you happen to start doing something with the character and realise you want it to be a defining thing for them. My character Damian, for instance, developed a certain wise cracking smart arse element mainly because I happened to start writing him that way and I liked it for him and how it complimented my other characters.

 

I have three types of characters I think. The first, usually main characters slolely, are purely made up. I try not to base them on a stereotype but usually evolve based on their backgrounds.

The second are those that occur from a setting. Usually for s scene or specific purpose - like the grumpy bouncer that doesn’t like the MC.

The third are usually those which have been influenced by an idea or otherwise I enjoyed.

 

This works for me but may not for you but if you feel your characters are non-existent then something isn't being done right. Sometimes I make a list of characters I want then jumble them about and put a square peg in a round hole.

But often I do a lot of brain storming as I find when I write without a guide I end up boxed in and the editing it just a slog.

First I play around with characters and I give them a lie (I may not use all this but its handy for me) Something they believe about themselves or the world around them; this lie can be destructive and the driving force behind your character.
In Jane Eyre the lie is: The only way to earn love is through servitude
In Toy Story: Your only worth is in being the favorite
You can show symptoms of those lies. Anger, hurt, secretive, distrusting, jealousy.

Then I give my character a want (something they consciously desire) and then a need (something they unconsciously desire)
So Liz wants to get back with her ex-husband, but she doesn't really want him she only wants the security and safety he offers. What she needs is to learn to be self-sufficient.

Then I give them a ghost. Something in there past that created that lie in the first place.

Then an external and internal goal. Then a motivation Positive and negative.
So Max want to be a published author (goal)
Positive motivation: he's loves writing
Negative: he wants to show everyone who said he wasn't good enough that he is

then I give my character conflict

I give them flaws. Real flaws like the 7 deadly sins and make them cause a problem for the character and be an obstacle

Then I give them a fear and place that fear directly in the way of their goal.
Max fears rejection, a big problem for a wanna bee author

Then I give my character weaknesses like a lust for revenge, or an inability to forgive.

Then some strengths

This is my method for getting to know the characters at their core. Hope this helped