Character development

[zorcarepublic]

As you all know from my sig, I am an amateur writer. However, no matter what I do I can't seem to make my characters seem lifelike, and I always have to fill out the story with action, battles etc.

Is there any way I could improve this?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Tsujigiri]

Zorca, watch the people around you and take the attributes of your characters from them. You can even use people as complete templates for characters if you really want, it means that you have habits, thought processes and attitudes all there for you to use.

 

[zorcarepublic]

Hmmm...that could work, I'd guess. But most of the people would be crazy, annoying people. Like my mum...

Don't tell her I said that...

@Angel Eyes, if you're reading this, I didn't mean anything by it...

 

[Brian G Turner]

There was once a Star Trek NextGen episode, where Picard refers to an archaoelogical object, that is a whole containing many figures - a metaphor for how we are like one person composed of many voices.

With characters, I think it's important to try and develop those voices - it's like experimenting with different forms of yourself, determined by such things as mood.

Perhaps it might be worth writing about the same mundane thing from different moods you have - then if you can find any differences, ask why that mood has those differences, and see if you can develop that deeper.

Does that help at all??

 

[Isolde]

http://www.jameshudnall.com/toc.htm

Try the site above. Click on Characterization and on Archetypes to get an idea of how to form characters.

 

[Jstotlar]

I often have the same problems and as i go through the 2/3rds of my complete book I'm trying to correct this problem and flesh out the characters alot more. I think first off it's important to know where the character will be at the beggining and end of the book and what they will go through. This is important because as you and I change constantly in our lives, so should your characters. I try to make it so you can tell the differences in characters throughout the story so you grow to understand the character and why and how they are evolving the way they do.


To do this, (and I am still trying to fully figure this out although I many never fully comprehend it) use the interactions between characters and in the case of omnicent naration, the feelings of your character in the face of adverse situation. Also, body language is 80% of communication. Don't neglect this in your writing simply because it is writing. Don't forget your characters should move and act in certain ways that reveal emotions as well and help to realize your characters personalities.

The idea of modeling characters after real life people can be a good one, but can often lead to problems when put in these very different situations. I could not tell you exactly how the people I know, or even myself would act facing life and death situations. I know how I would like to think I would act, however human nature allows us to think a little better of ourselves than is actually true.

So basically, find out who your characters are, why they are who they are, what drives them to act the way they do, and why and how they change through the story, then, implement that through actions, reactions, dialouge and naration. That would be my advice, and I will try to take it in my writing as well!

thanks for the thoughtful topic and I hope something in this mess of a reply helps

 

[anniekelleher]

i build characters in several ways, simultaneously.

First, i try to identify a core characteristic for each of the main characters. this is a simple attribute, like loyalty or courage or tolerance or determination, that shapes in broadest outlines the way a character will behave. it also allows me to have the character make mistakes in a consistent way - too much courage and you are foolhardy, too much loyalty and you can get swept away into the thrall of a bad leader. so these traits are neither good nor bad, but they do give me a lense through which to begin to bring the character into focus.

Second, i define what the character WANTS, why he or she wants, and most importantly, what it will mean if the character doesn't succeed.

Third, i then give the character conflicts on three levels - internally; externally; and supernaturally - or to put it another way ... character against himself (as typified by hamlet)... character against character (war and peace) ... and character against Fate, Nature, God (ahab in moby dick)...

i hope that helps... feel free to email me if it's not clear

 

[Isolde]

Third, i then give the character conflicts on three levels - internally; externally; and supernaturally - or to put it another way ... character against himself (as typified by hamlet)... character against character (war and peace) ... and character against Fate, Nature, God (ahab in moby dick)...

Very good suggestion. Thanks for that, anniekelleher.

 

[anniekelleher]

you are very welcome... i'm glad it helped .

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Another thing to do is to put them into situations where everything they believe/have been taught is put to the test and then watch them struggle. How they respond (or fail to respond) is a revelation of character in itself, not to mention that it gives the character somewhere to go -- whether it be disillusionment, a new understanding, or a reaffirmation -- rather than remaining static.

 

[HaidenLiadon]

I have much the same problem... It's tough to really create a person. I think the majority of the problem lies with basic definition of how your character shapes the path of the story, and exactly why they do so. I also have problems with minor characters and cant figure out a solid method to make them human without turning them into major characters..

 

[dreamhunter]

As you all know from my sig, I am an amateur writer. However, no matter what I do I can't seem to make my characters seem lifelike, and I always have to fill out the story with action, battles etc.

Is there any way I could improve this?

Thanks in advance...

I am also still an amateur writer. At least you've recorded many more posts than me, I notice. You also sound like you're comfortable writing action and battle scenes. Whereas I've only quite recently started to get the hang of it.

When I first started all I had in mind was the hero. I was that naive. Later on, I realised that a hero, to be real, also had to have friends. So I created some friends for him. Then I felt my hero becoming more real than before. It was like, now he has friends! Then he kept making new friends everywhere he went. Wow!

A hero also must have his heroine, right? So I created a gf for him. But I started his gf early. I made her start as his childhood friend, like. Cliche, huh?

Then I created his father and mother. Then it kept growing bigger and bigger.

What I've found useful, which some may not agree with, is that I made the characters talk to one another (well, selectively, not exactly everybody talking to everybody else). Then the characters grew by themselves. Each character gradually developed a life of his/her own, but not all to the same extent.

So it became like, scenes led to conversations, then conversations led to other scenes, and so on and so forth. Like a virtuous cycle, at least for me it was. Then I thought, if that worked, why not?

 

[Miss Taylor]

The method I use the most to make my characters come to life and get to know them better is the interview technique. Think of every area of the characters life, for example family, friends, childhood, beliefs, favourite things, hates, prejudices, baises, temptations, loves, hobbiesm skills... (the list is endless) then compose questions about these.

For example, this is a fairly short (I tend to get very carried away when doing this) list of interview questions for a main character of mine:


Character 1

Age at start of story:
Gender:
Side (ie good, evil or neutral):
Lives:
Magical: (Yes/No)
Main Desires:
Minor Desires:
Main Personality Traits:
Relatives:
Relationship with relatves:
Hair Colour:
Hair Style:
Eye Colour:
Skin colour:
Height:
Weight or body type (ie slim/slender, petite, overweight, stocky etc):
Face type (ie good looking, baby faced, aged, etc):
Clothing type (smart, casual, varies, etc):
Love interest(s):
Favourite pie flavour:
Favourite colour:
Favourite season:
Favourite animal:
Favourite drink:
Loves:
Hates:
General Demeanor:
Career:
Prejudices (if any):
Best Qualities:
Worst Qualities:
Hobbies:
Talents:
Biggest Secret:

I find that interviewing a character like this makes them much more real to me, I get a sense of what they care about, hate, and so on.
Hope this helps

MT
xx

 

[Boneman]

Now that's what I call a thread revival!! I'm looking forward to seeing if zorecarepublic still inhabits the chrons...

 

[Ursa major]

What I've found useful, which some may not agree with, is that I made the characters talk to one another (well, selectively, not exactly everybody talking to everybody else). Then the characters grew by themselves. Each character gradually developed a life of his/her own, but not all to the same extent.

So it became like, scenes led to conversations, then conversations led to other scenes, and so on and so forth. Like a virtuous cycle, at least for me it was. Then I thought, if that worked, why not?

As I've said elsewhere, getting your characters to talk to each other is a useful technique. (And remains so even if many or most of these conversations do not survive into the final draft.) Real people rarely agree with each other in total**, so there's plenty of scope for differences - one's you hadn't realised - to emerge (in the arguments themselves and in the readers' understanding of the characters).





** - And even when they do agree, it doesn't stop the "dialogue": in RL I've seen plenty of example of people "violently" agreeing with each other (i.e. at the tops of their voices). People can be really strange sometimes.

 

[Purdy Bear]

My characters usually introduce themselves to me in my imagination or dreams. I then try to get to know them like you would a new friend, so I just know what they are going to say or do.

 

[Miss Taylor]

Also, I thought I'd add, if you are any good at drawing, you might be useful to do a few sketches of your character at various parts of the story. Or keep a scrapbook of people that look like you image your character to look. I know this is more about how the character looks that making them appear lifelike, but I find it much easier to put personality traits to my characters once this part of the process is done

 

[Dimentio]

Zorca, watch the people around you and take the attributes of your characters from them. You can even use people as complete templates for characters if you really want, it means that you have habits, thought processes and attitudes all there for you to use.

Ah, this.

 

[reiver33]

As I write in first person then all my main characters are 'me' to some degree, or based on an exaggerated facet of my personality, or some alien personality trait that I can empathise with. Thus when creating situations for him to face I can sit back, look at it, and try to work out what the hell I would do in similar circumstances. Hence a lot of my characters reactions are based on bad decisions!

I tend to base each main character around a primary motivation, which is generally but not always sparked by an external plot thread. In terms of invoking an emotional resonance I tend to cheat and co-opt my own experiences if applicable, which means I also incorporate the personas of people from my past as well.

Accordingly I find the whole ‘character attribute list’ approach a bit weird, but if it works for you then fine!

 

[Brian G Turner]

As you all know from my sig, I am an amateur writer. However, no matter what I do I can't seem to make my characters seem lifelike, and I always have to fill out the story with action, battles etc.

Is there any way I could improve this?

Thanks in advance...

Your characters are all facets of yourself, which in itself is made of many voices - specifically read up on archetypes as to how people can (to some degree) be described of mixtures of attributes from a range of core personas.

I think when characters do not seem lifelike, is when you are trying to write them as people who bear no resemblance to any part of yourself, or people you relate to.

2c.