If you don’t know, how can you write compelling characters? All our characters, in a sense, wear a mask. Some wear many masks and until we can “see” behind those masks, we don’t know who they are. Sure, you can give them a past and all the other “typical” information that goes with creating a character, but you have to step into their shoes, slip into their skin and get inside their head—almost literally.

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” ~Oscar Wilde

As the writer, you’re the mask; you must put yourself on the character so he can tell you the truth—tell you who he is.

I know one writer—I’m sure there are others—but she writes character journals, from the perspective of the character. This material never makes it into her novels, but she knows who her characters are, what they think, how they feel—she knows them inside-out. She does this almost on a daily basis, either covering what her character experienced the day before or what he needs to experience today.

This is something I’ve just started experimenting with. It seems a little odd at first, but I believe it will be well worth the learning curve and oddity.

I can create good characters, but they’re only a mirror-image. My weakness is creating their whole life story and background—and getting deep inside their head. I’ve read tons of information on filling out charts about your character, creating characters from traits of people you know, yadda, yadda, yadda. This really just doesn’t get it for me. There should be more to it. I think journaling is a great idea and really helps you to know your character, but before the point of it feeling comfortable, there should be something fun and intriguing to help you out.

This is one of my weak areas, and the traditional methods don’t “do it” for me. I’ve been brainstorming some ideas and working on a method to get down to the meat and bones of character creation. I will post my results and any epiphanies I have as I go along. These will include situations, prompts, POV, and interactive ways to work with your character instead of just writing out a past for them. There will also be some unconventional methods—just for fun! If it’s not fun, chances are, you won’t do it.

One, off-the-wall and slightly generic, prompt I’ve been working on is getting into an odd-ball situation with an odd-ball character.

You’re a 6’5″ Japanese man named Bubba Hinkle. Your best friend is a Hobbit. Describe how you feel about going to his house for afternoon tea.

Have fun with it! You can leave your results in the comments section if you’d like.

In writing the story before you write the story we’re going to discuss a method that some writers use to workout their back story and characters.

Back story is, in a sense, the character’s driving force, the motive for why he/she wants something so badly. Back story should be cleverly injected into the story. No one wants to sit and read pages and pages of back story. For this reason, you should give the reader just enough back story throughout the main story to keep them wondering. Sometimes it will spark the readers imagination and sometimes it will be one of those “ah-ha” moments for the reader when something finally clicks in the reader’s mind.

Good back story will build momentum up to the “ah-ha” moment. We do this with subtle little remarks throughout a section of dialog or a chapter that doesn’t seem to quite fit—a quirk of the character maybe, and it should lead up to a grand finale’; the “ah-ha” moment.

To have good back story and to inject it properly into the story you must know your character as well as you know yourself. The character must have a past, just like we all do, the character is no different. The character did not just appear.

Some writers like to use timelines to lay out their character’s life in a linear fashion. Other writers will spend quite a bit of time simply writing back story about their character. If you follow that route, it is likely that none of the material will end up in your story. It’s simply for your use of getting to know your character. However, some small bits or portions of it may be added to the story in subtle ways.

No matter which method you choose to get to know your character, it’s important to know what events brought the character to where he/she is at this moment in time. What drives this character? What trauma has scarred this character? What motivates this character?

There are many events the character has gone through in life; some good, some bad, some horrific. Whatever it is, you, the writer, must know about it, regardless of whether or not the reader does.

Some writers use character journals. They simply keep a journal and write it from the characters point of view. The majority of this material is never written into the main story. It’s simply a way to create and get to know a character.

Other writers do interviews with their characters. They simply sit and write out interview questions to get to know who their character is.

In a way, all of this work with characterization and back story is simply “writing the story before you write the story.”

Our readers would love to hear your opinion or what method you use. Feel free to share in the comments section.

Happy Writing!

Stories generally begin with either a plot or a character. Some writers come up with a great plot before they start working on a character. Most writers, however, begin with a character and then follow him/her through the plot. They use a lot of “what if” scenarios. Either way, you can’t have one without the other; building a great, solid character is one of, if not, the most important aspects of a good story.

There are many ways to build characters and each writer develops his/her own style and process for doing so, but if you’re lost in how to develop good characters, these tips will give you a good start.

Remember, good character development takes time and practice.

All stories are based on something the character wants; love, respect, money, career, etc. What the character does or endures, to get what he/she wants, is the plot- the story.

Many novelists create want lists for their characters. Whatever it is the character WANTS creates conflict in the story. Without conflict, there is no story. The character must want something and must face obstacles and adversity to get it.

To start building a character you can begin by answering a few simple (or complex) questions. If you feel completely lost, these questions may seem like they’re complex. Don’t worry, just have fun with it!

• What does the character want?
• What drives the character?
• What stands in the character’s way?
• What is the character willing to do to get it?
• How will the character handle the obstacles that keep him/her from their want?

Knowing the answers to these questions is what gives your character motive.

Some writers suggest you start with a name, others suggest you start building the character before giving him/her a name. My advice is to do whatever feels more natural to you. Try it both ways to see which works for you.

Take time each day to do some character work. You may not intend to use them any time soon or you may never use them, but spend time each day just doing some character work.

Fleshing out a Character

All characters need some meat on their bones; otherwise they’re just flat and have no substance to them. You can begin by working on some traits for the character.

Character Traits

• temperament
• moral, ethic, religious beliefs
• hobbies
• habits
• quirks
• likes/dislikes
• fears/phobias
• strengths/weaknesses
• goals, hopes, dreams
• flaws–all characters must have some flaws too!

Note: Some of these things will never get mentioned in your story, but as the writer you need to know all these little details to create a believable, 3-dimensional character.

Characters also need a past. The past made them who they are today. They must also grow and develop throughout the story. Characters that stay the same through the whole story are boring and no one will like them. These changes should be apparent but subtle enough to be believable. The changes your character goes through must also follow logically with the story.

Not all writers go through characterization the same way. Over time you will develop your own method.

One of the best and most thorough charts I’ve found:

http://www.epiguide.com/ep101/writing/charchart.pdf