Hey everyone! I’m really new to writing and I’m trying to figure out how to create good characters for my novel. I’m not sure what kind of details I should focus on. I’ve heard things like birthdays, age, personality traits (introvert vs extrovert), and backstories are important, but how much should I really go into?
Should I include things like favorite foods, fears, or hobbies? Or should I just stick to their goals and how they act in the story? How deep should I get into their past and personality? Do too many details make them feel real, or is it better to keep it simple?
If anyone has advice or knows of any tools that could help. What if we use random generators for generating data for our characters like names birthdays etc. for example this birthday generator for character’s birthday? (not spamming, just giving a reference for better understanding).
I’d really appreciate help or your response!
I just read an excellent book by KM Weiland on character arcs for your story and if you get the book ( I got the kindle version) if includes an excellent free character creation sheet.
Saying that I think you need to be able to list for your character the External Goal (Outer motivation/wants), the Outer conflict (external obstacles- villain, nature, rivals, friends), the Inner Motivation (what your character really needs like greater self worth, etc) and the JInner conflict (the flaws, lies/past trauma holding him back).
If you want even write the event that set your character back to make them more alive in your mind.
the other stuff follows from this and should give tools (skills- to help reach the goal) and flaws (to hold him back.)
Decide whether your character arc is positive, negative, or flat (like for superman/Sherlock Holmes) and whether they get their goal or fail.
Hope that helps.
I use Scrivener to organize and save information on writing as I journey towards being a better writer. This gives me stuff to refer back to. You can also create a detailed character template in Scrivener.
Yes. That is, every writer will have a different answer. You might try looking at some of your favorite books with an analytical eye to see how other writers do it.
Full disclosure, my process is very chaotic, but I generally let my characters tell me these things as they go along. I know a fair amount about my main character’s back story, but that’s because I wrote three chapters of it then decided the starting point of the book was later. I know a lot less about the history of other important characters. I do have detailed sheets on what the hopes, fears, and goals of the important characters are, and what role they play in the overall plot, but those emerged by way of summary when I was about halfway through the first draft. Age? Probably I know that to within about five years. Birthdays? Unless it’s relevant to the story, who cares? Hobbies and jobs give them something to do and can help define the skills they bring to the plot, as well as the space in which the plot takes place: a forest ranger might be more likely to encounter a forest spirit than a fishing boat captain.
Some people create detailed character profiles before starting their story, while some just write and let the characters emerge. I’m in the latter camp.
One of the most interesting aspects of storytelling, I find, is the surprises characters come up with. Even though their actions come out of my head, obviously, it often doesn’t feel like that. For me, detailing a character’s life before writing would be a constraint. And in any case, I’d wager that even if you did define a character in detail before writing, then you’d end up changing some of it later. Storytelling often demands it. And characters are in service of the story.
Character names are important to me – same when reading. I tend to avoid long names because they make it harder to write rhythmic clauses/sentences. That’s not to say I don’t use them. They can be useful to alter the tempo of the text. One or two syllables for protags is ideal, I find.
Character names either stick at once or bug me till the right one turns up – and that can take months. I just use a holding name and move on, trusting my brain to sort it out sooner or later.
Birthdays may or may not be important, but events will be. My advice to anyone starting a novel is to keep a map and a timeline from the outset. The chances are you will need both as things progress. They can also be useful for generating ideas.
I really would just start writing and discover for yourself what kind of writer you are. If you need something, you’ll know.
Writers cover all extremes. Some authors, like Aaron Sorkin, refuse to define anything about a character until it’s needed in a story to avoid constraining himself to future ideas and directions. The movie Alien and the pilot for the TV show ER did this too… with characters just listed as a surname in the scripts to enable the director, casting team and actors to pick the right person for the job without being constrained by things like age, race or gender.
Others, find a huge amount of comfort from really getting to know their characters first before they put anything down in the story. This is particularly helpful if the character of your characters is a major point in the plot. I’ve even seen authors take the time to write essays in each major characters’ voice just to get to know them better.
I’m a bit between the two. I like to know what my characters flaws are – especially the kind of flaws that make them absolutely the wrong person to be the situation they’re in, and I’ll sometimes have a bit of a virtual casting session, but generally I don’t define the age of a character until it becomes relevant, let alone how many siblings they have or where they grew up.
One other think that you might find useful are things like personality tests. I’m generally not a fan of workplace / sale personality type pigeonholing for real life people, but things like Myers-Briggs or the Emotive-Reflective-Directive-Supportive communication model can actually be really good to understand up front to get a quick shorthand for the kind of personality types they have and how that might then impact all the things that come later (like what hobbies they might find interesting, what friends they’d gravitate towards).
