By: Tamara Smith
Characters form the foundation of a story. Without them, there simply wouldn’t be a story. You can have the best writing style and world-building. Your plot might be exceptional. Yet, without well-developed characters, your story will feel incomplete.
When developing characters, I use Pinterest to inspire their appearance and clothing choices. It helps me truly grasp their personalities, interests, and dislikes. This method has become more popular over the years. It is very exciting to see writers finding creative ways to learn more about the characters in their books.
Besides Pinterest, I want to share a website I use to develop my characters and keep their information organized: Reedsy. Reedsy features a team of professional editors who assist in the book-publishing process. When writing books on this site, you’ll find various boards. These boards allow your outlines to have a designated space as you write.
There is a world-building board that allows you to create a timeline for the events in your story, as well as the option to create your own board. This option is well-suited for those who want to take their character creation to the next level.
This image displays a character’s folder for my current fictional project. When making these folders, be sure to contain the very essence of your characters. Include a brief biography detailing who they are, their likes and dislikes, and their fears and background. Add an excerpt from your novel that will help you fully grasp their personality.
The Biography:
The character biography aims to create a snippet of the person’s life. Include their age, occupation, and a small summary of who they are and their motives in the story. This section should serve as the area to reference your character. This ensures you do not lose sight of their overall character. So, make it easier on yourself and write everything down!
Poor / basic biography
Luciel is a Faerie prince of Arathia who takes over as king when his father dies.
Better biography
Luciel is a prince of Arathia, alongside his twin brother Azriel. As the more serious of the two, Luciel is responsible for overseeing the castle and ground guards throughout Arathia’s perimeters. With his fiery personality, he tends to follow established rules and guidelines when determining what is best, rather than relying on emotional judgments.
What makes the second short biography better than the first? It provides clear information about who the person is and their role in the story. Additionally, it outlines their responsibilities and suggests their strengths. In contrast, the first biography only offers basic information and fails to reveal deeper insights about the individual. It is best to have a detailed breakdown of your character!
The Excerpt:
I always make sure to include a short excerpt from my story that features the character in question. The scene I select for the character’s folder will reveal how they act, what they stand for, or simply, how they may be perceived by others.
For instance, in the excerpt above, I chose a conversation between Luciel and his twin brother Azriel. This piece highlights how Azriel perceives Luciel, portraying him almost as a vampire due to his eerie stillness and coldness, which can chill a lively room. While the excerpt is not necessary to have in your character’s folder, I do believe that it adds more realism to show how they interact with others in the book.
Likes, Dislikes, & Fears:
A fun way to get to know your characters is creating a list that showcases things they fear, like and dislike. This is how you will know how they will inevitably react in certain situations. And as the author, this also gives you the opportunity to put them into situations that they might not like, in order to have them grow as a person. If one of their likes is order, put them in situations that are disorderly in order to push character growth.
Let’s look at an example with Luciel:
| Likes | Dislikes | Fears |
| Being in the presence of his brother | Lack of order | Disappointing his father |
| Establishing relationships with Arathian’s | The Unseelie Court | Change |
These are only some of things that have an impact on Luciel’s character. When you begin creating your traits, you will start to notice that you are gaining a deeper understanding of who your character is and how they think. When you are satisfied with their overall personality, you will have an easier time putting them into circumstances that interfere with their beliefs. This will ensure that you can have a character arc that properly suits your character.
In the example above, we can observe various ways to establish Luciel’s character growth. Since Luciel values building relationships with his fellow citizens in the kingdom, one potential avenue for his development could involve placing him in a situation that harms his reputation as royalty. This scenario would allow readers to witness how he manages these fractured relationships and how they transform him as a person over time.
Background:
This section is clear. Here, you will create a timeline of your character’s life. Remember to ask yourself:
- What led them to become the person they are today?
- Where did they grow up?
- Family life?
- Are there any defining moments that had an impact on their life? (parental deaths, frequent moving, forced to adult quickly, etc)
- Who does their circle consist of?
- Education?
These experiences will all play a significant role later through character arcs. Yes, those are the magic words here. Every character deserves a chance for meaningful growth and change. Having a solid understanding of who they are as individuals will make it easier for us in the long run when we put them through tests of character.
The Plot Weaver 