Character Development

[e.Blackstar]

How do you go about developing characters? I usually start ith a rough profile, then expand it. For main characters, I sometimes write letters to/from them and doodle things that define them, just to get inside their heads. After awhile, I try to draw them, and find traits like those of people that I know.

[greypilgrim]

If I'm going to write a story (something I haven't done in a while) I would just take characters from other people's stories and blend their physical traits, attributes, and personalities into my main character.

Saves the time of making up your own, plus nobody can trace it back to you. :)

[HLGStrider]

I will occasionally use templates but they are mostly people I know. . .and that doesn't always work very well.

Most writing instructors encourage a person to know so much about a character, to take the character appart, and write what the person likes to eat and wear and do in his spare time encouraging people to write out lists and things.

I find all that takes away from the joy of a character and takes energy out of writing him.

I generally start writing and the character does what he wants. Development should come through the story or the story should come through the character. Trying to contrive it for me only makes things seem worse.

[Melian_the_Maya]

Although this might sound a little strange, I never use other people's characters, nor people I know very well. Of course sometimes I will use a trait of character that one or more of my friends have, but generally I try to make up my own characters based on why they have been chosen for the story. My main characters I tend to think about a lot, until I come to the point where it takes me mere minutes to become them, because that comes in useful with the dialogue scenes in particular.

I try though not to overdo my characters. Nobody likes a hero without faults. There have to be some mistakes he makes, he can't be perfectly beautiful either and he's got to be 3-D, and even 4D if possible (that is he should develop in time in a 3-D+time frame). That kind of limits the possibilities, but I am still full of ideas for new characters.

[Nimawae's hope]

I will occasionally use templates but they are mostly people I know. . .and that doesn't always work very well.

Most writing instructors encourage a person to know so much about a character, to take the character appart, and write what the person likes to eat and wear and do in his spare time encouraging people to write out lists and things.

I find all that takes away from the joy of a character and takes energy out of writing him.

I generally start writing and the character does what he wants. Development should come through the story or the story should come through the character. Trying to contrive it for me only makes things seem worse.

I'm mixed on using the "list" method of getting to know a character. Sometimes I find it to be an absolutely fabulous way to get started and get excited about my character. In fact, it is a method I used long before I started writing stories. But the problem with lists is sometimes you can get too caught up in them. You never get around to doing anything with them, or developing them within the context of your story. It's one of those things you have to be careful with.

[Halasían]

A character has to have a life of its own for me, then I can develop what I "see" in them. I have quite a list of them that I've made up over the last 4 years, starting with Silvanis. A good role-play collaborative story used to give me ideas for characters, but I haven't found a good chemistry with other writiers in a long time, so I co write with a couple other people and thats it.

[HLGStrider]

I know that I have a problem with using the same characters (with different names) too often. This isn't because I can't think of more characters, but because of the way I write stories.


I may start a story knowing perfectly well the begining but unsure as to the middle or ending. I'll start by saying, "Well, the couple is in love but the man has a rival out to destroy him and the rival ruins him financially and alienates him from all his friends and then. . .and then. .. and then. . ."

I get about three and thens. And then the man does a Monte Cristo, framed for crimes is sent away for a million years. And then the man ends up in a quick sword fight. And then he goes to war and becomes a hero.

Gosh, all these endings are really good (generally they are better. I'm just making these up as I go)! Which should I use?

Generally, I select one and use it, but then I have at least one other good ending in my head that if given a suitably good begining would also be a good novel. So I start thinking of a begining for each of the two endings that I didnt use. Because these endings were written for the original characters, they generally still have these chracters at this point, and so I write the begining.

In this time I sometimes can't decide if the man is a rich fellow who was originally blood brothers with the rival or if the man wasn't a rival at all but just an evil wizard with a vendetta against the family. . .OH! He could be the man's REAL brother who is betraying him to get the family wealth. Or he could be a poor servant who wants to kill the rich man and take his place or a rich man who wants to kill the poor. . .
etc etc etc.

So then I have three or four beginings that I don't use, all involving similar characters because I am still working off what is the original story.

You would be surprised how many of my stories are actually a portion that was rejected from another story. . .and so a LOT of them involve the same male and female leads.

[Kelonus]

I usually don't go into a characters detail much, which I believe is a good thin, especially if you want to write a story, which is to be richly detailed. I usually describe some characters, but not all. I guess if my books go out there for people to read, I want them to imagine themselves how the character looks like, likes, acts, hates, etc. I'd rather them get enjoyment of seeing my charatcer who I may see as a fun, brave warrior and only describe him, like that, but they can see him like a fat, short, fun, brave warrior. Get what I'm trying to say? Others may not see it like I do and therefore getting into detail with a character is a preferred thing. I just write the story the best I feel it should be. I do need help in editing, heh. Writing is a great thing, especially when it's your own!

[HLGStrider]

That probably won't work very well for getting published.

People are capable of filling in the blanks, but most people don't read to fill in the blanks. If they wanted to do that they could read plays and get a lot more out of it. People read novels for a reason more similar to that that they go to plays, to immerse themselves in someone elses' world, rather than to make up their own.