Character Development

          Creating characters is an art form unto itself. Some characters stay in our memories long after we’ve read about their lives. Others are forgotten minutes after they’re introduced. What about a character makes them more likeable to the audience? What makes us hate what they do? Are characters molded by the story or is it the other way around? The first question you should really ask is, “What is this character going to be used for?” Once you answer that, you can start creating the character in full. For the sake of this guide, let’s say this character will be used for a written story.

Whenever you need a character or two for a story, it helps to have an idea of what they’re going to do. Are they a protagonist or antagonist? What story revolves around them? How do they fit in and affect the world around them? Characters need enough detail to convince readers that they’re real. So how do you go about making a character? Do you need to focus on what they look like? At first, no. You have no idea what that character will look like because there’s nothing to define them yet. Before anything else, a character must be fleshed out. I use many things to make a character: personality indicators, moral systems, decision-making, and a loads of questions.

          Who is this person? Why do they exist in this world? What have they done and what will they do? How would others describe them? These are common questions to ask when doing characterization. First thing I do is refer to two personality charts: Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram. I pick one of the sixteen personality types from Myers-Briggs and use that as a template for how my character behaves. I may end up with an introvert who is highly reclusive, or I could have a very social person with a bad habit of talking about themselves too much. It’s a good idea to study each type and learn how they think and feel. However, this is just a template; Myers-Briggs is a starting point, but is by no means a perfect description of your character. 

          Secondly, I look at the Enneagram for additional personality traits. The Enneagram has nine different personality types and is more focused on how a person reacts to the world around them. It also factors in changes in mood and how some people’s personalities mix with other types. Combining this with Myers-Briggs can give you a solid foundation for your character. But like Myers-Briggs, the Enneagram is not the final word. 

There are many aspects of personality and character development to consider when doing characterization. What kind of moral values do they have? Are they good or evil? Do they obey the law or could they not care less about the rules? For this, I refer to the Dungeons and Dragons Alignment System. It’s a simple chart for dictating actions a character is likely to take. Someone who is Lawful Good is virtually a saint and can do no wrong. Conversely, a Chaotic Evil person will defy the law and commit the most heinous of crimes against humanity. The Alignment System is meant to be an indication of moral tendency. Not every villain will remain evil, but not every hero can stay in the light. This is where choice becomes a primary factor in character development.

Along the character’s journey through their story they will encounter decisions. It could be as simple as deciding which road to take or as complicated as what profession to pursue. Each choice changes the character’s narrative and affects the rest of their life. Maybe your hero fights a bear and breaks its arm, but two years later the same bear comes back with cybernetic implants and severely injures the hero. Now the hero has to recover physically and mentally to overcome the obstacle that is a missing set of legs and a phobia of ursines. Choice doesn’t just affect the characters, but the writer as well.

Writers ultimately make the decisions for their characters. If a character acts a certain way, the writer wrote those traits in. If they dress in unusual attire, the writer made that choice. That’s why it’s important to really ask yourself why to make these choices. If you want to make a turncoat character, when is the best time for them to switch sides? You shouldn’t build up a character that the audience loves only to have them pick a side the audience can’t root for. Imagine having a best friend that stabs you in the back after years of knowing you; you would hate that person for what they’ve done. In this case, you hate both the character and the writer for the betrayal. Keeping all of this in mind, we can now move on to the biography. 

Where does this character come from? What are their origins? How tall are they? Age? Weight? Gender? Sexuality? There’s lots of questions to answer, but the audience doesn’t have to know all of those details. It’s best to build up a character with enough info to pull in interest, then add more info over time. Some info only you the creator will know. Don’t pour all of the data about your character onto the audience. They need context. “Why do the readers need to know this hero’s fears?” “When is the best time to introduce this idea?” “How much will the audience know about this character when they are introduced?” “When will they learn more?” “What are facts about the character that only I will know for the sake of developing them?” You don’t have to answer these all right away. Like the personality indicators mentioned before, the questions serve as a template to define your character.

 

Knowing how to write characters is essential to storytelling. They drive the narrative forward with their developments, dialogue, actions, and thoughts. These guidelines also apply to writing characters for film and animation as well as games. Yet despite the advice I’ve written, these are only the basics of building a person. Characters will change over time as they become more developed. Events will occur that change this person’s worldview, they will grow after going through some personal experience, someone will hurt them badly and the character has to find a way to overcome this struggle. This guide is a way to get started, but only you will ultimately write your character the way you want to.