First of all...as you may have already learned...creating a character is not just picking out a name and outward appearance (although both are obviously essential). Your character just like real people must have a personality. They must have likes, dislikes, fears, weaknesses, strengths. In order for your readers to feel drawn to your story, they must be drawn to your characters.
And that doesn't sound too hard, right? Well...it's not really. So, let's say you choose your main character and name her Emily. You make her tall with honey blonde hair and deep blue eyes. You decide you want her to be a girl who is extremely shy and quiet and likes to read alone in her room. So you start writing your story. But soon, in chapter three, Emily who was supposed to be shy and introverted is losing her temper at some social gathering by shouting at a guy who offended her by calling her a boring bookworm.
But that doesn't exactly fit the person you first portrayed her as in the beginning and will confuse your audience. Sadly...it's a mistake easily done, and I have most definitely learned that the hard way! Maybe having Emily get angry at this guy would add some action and conflict in the book, BUT, by having her lose her temper out loud in front of a crowd is probably not what someone extremely timid would do.
So...unless you want your character, whether it's your protagonist, antagonist, or even secondary character to have a split personality (I've accidentally done this and it isn't pretty!), you must know your characters inside and out! Just as it is vitally important to outline your story before you write it, it's just as important to know who your characters are, what they will be like, and how they will grow. And once you know their personality, you must stick to it. If Emily is shy, maybe eventually she'll come out of her shell, but by having her have an outburst in chapter three, is going to be out of character.
How do you get to know your characters? Last year I read one of William Bernhardt's Red Sneaker book's on writing, called Story Structure, The Key to Successful Fiction. In this book he stresses the essential of knowing your characters as well as yourself. And some of his ways of doing this, I found very creative and helpful! I thought I'd go ahead and share some with you.
Character Bio: Write an 'About Me' page for your character. Write as many details about your character as you can think of. Where they were born, what their favorite sports are, their passions and dreams, weaknesses and strengths. Favorite food, favorite color, allergies, family, pets, etc.
A job application: Fill out a job application with questions that every job application asks. Answer
every question from your character's point of view. Why are they applying for this job? What do they have to offer? What is their experience and education?
A Facebook page: We all know how much one can find out about a person on Facebook! Create an account for you character and fill in all their info. Creating a Pinterest account or board for your character would be a great way to make them more real as well! This is a wonderful way of not only deciding but discovering your character for yourself, so you know them inside and out.
Now, I'm not saying, make a job application and Facebook account for every single character in your book. That would take forever. The most important thing is once you have shown your character a certain way in your book, stay true to their character.
I know there are more professional details and circumstances about character development, but I'd thought I would just share what I've been learning and what's helped me in this area.
If you have advice and ideas about developing and getting to know your fiction characters, please share in the comments! I'd love to hear!
One last little piece of advice. While creating characters, have fun! Don't think of it as another stressful priority. This is one of the most creative parts of writing a book. Use your imagination and enjoy this process!
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