Creating Realistic Characters

I just do whatever the voices in my head tell me to do.

Creating realistic characters takes a lot of practice. Some people take it too far and beef up their characters too much (creating Mary Sues/Gary Stus), while others will go the opposite way and either create a weak character or an Anti-Sue/Stu. You just need to practice, like with anything else. :3 Personally, I focus on one character at a time, and stick them in different scenarios and try and figure out how they would react, what they would feel, etc.

In terms of "getting to know your characters," I know a lot of people who like doing interviews.

"Male or female, black, white, yellow, or blue, love who you love, no matter what anyone says. Love is too precious to be deterred by the prejudices of someone else."

Wanna read as I go along? My writing blog: http://themusingsofkit-kit.blogspot.com

I run a writing blog about exactly this subject:

http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog

Click on words in the tag-cloud to go straight to articles on various subjects. PM me (or leave a comment on one of my articles) with any other character creation questions you'd like me to write about!

Lapochka (YA emotional journey / travel adventure):
A young woman searches for her missing father through clues hidden in Soviet-era Russian comic books.

Also check out my writing blog at: http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/

The chances are that if you have an idea forming for a character you've already subconsciously based it on somebody you know. If you have an idea just roll with it, see how the character develops and then whern you go over the draft you can alter them to be more powerful or less ott as need be. However, villains are good because you can make them up from scratch, have them as exaggerated as you like.

I think characterization is an organic progress. Like a real relationship, you won't really know them that well. For this reason, it takes some writing to let yourself familiarize with them. At some point, the character will be so defined that you'd be able to easily understand their motives. Once you go back and edit, with that idea in mind you can reshape the story to suit the character and tweak the plot accordingly. Just like you wouldn't know a person just by reading a biography about them, you won't know your character by just writing out a comprehensive list of their traits. Personality is what's important in characterization.

I sometimes write little snippets for a character before I write them in an actual story. Something about the process of writing short unconnected things involving them gives me much more of a feel for who they are than just survey/interview questions do. Some of these tests end up embarrassingly bad or trite or full of reworked sentences, but they're not ending up in the actual story, so who cares?

I do ask the whys and hows behind the impressions and character traits that come up, though, so maybe responding to a survey with prose-based answers instead of "yes, I was born in Chicago" could work too. If the answer to "are both your parents alive?" is "my dad died when I was sixteen, the genetically engineered sea monster got him, motorboat and all", writing out possible scenes with the character reacting to that might be something I'd try, same with pondering how it affected them.

When picking out positive character traits, think about what ones compliment each other and go together...and then think about what the logical flip side is for flaws. A very determined person may also get abrasive and short-sighted when they feel they must pursue something, the kindly trusting character will not be the one working out how Evil Group X is manipulating everyone in a plot to assassinate a politician (and their grouchy paranoid buddy who snaps at everyone isn't gonna be the one you want to send out to recruit people to stop said plot, even if they noticed it first). Every good trait can have a bad side, and that makes for more realistic problems than tacking things on.

Even if a character's a very specific role in the story, develop them as a person first. It'll give them more depth...and you more interesting ways to twist their life around, should you need evil or angst or anything else. If you know what someone fears, what they value highest, and why, you can better break them or make them happily ever after in a way that feels right for them. If you know little quirks and habits they have, you can better show the emotional stuff that comes from that.

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To avoid making Mary Sues, I see a lot of authors just give each character one token tragic flaw, but I'd suggest that you give your characters many minor flaws instead. Humans aren't perfect, and it's realistic having to deal with small problems, both physical and mental (jealousy, allergies, nearsightedness, short temper, etc.) The flaws don't always have to play a direct part in the story, it just brings them down to earth and makes them relatable because they are human, like you and me.
As far as positive traits, I'd say it's best just to let them come to you. But if you're suffering from writer's block, try thinking about people you know and like. Why do you like them?

Most of my characters just come to me. They tell me their stories, I write them down :-p I have done little surveys before, they're kind of fun but not really necessary.

The few times I've had to "make up" stories I usually go nuts and find out that character wasn't needed in the first place.

So... tips for "creating" characters? Try letting them come to you. Might be hard at first, but once you open your door, they'll find out and start storming the place :) Then they'll pretty much write themselves.

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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury

My main characters are usually figments of my imagination and their flaws just come into my head. I usually discover some of their flaws as I write about them. For example, in one of my older works, MC had to catch a plane overseas and it never occurred to me she might be afraid of flying.

Some of my secondary characters usually have a combination of people I know, or characters I have read about. Just snippets though, they're not like the kids of other characters.

Personally, I really don't like using the character outline/interview things. To me it actually makes them seem fake.

For most novels, you don't need the name of their favorite novel, first kiss or seven of their most memorable childhood memories.

Don't get me wrong, I've done some for characters if I'm bored but personally the thing I focus on is who/what they are and why they do the things theys do. Their traits, not their whole life story unless it's absolutely neccesary to the plot.

"Mary had a little lamb, mommy had a satan spawn."

Characters usually just walk into my head, and I daydream about them, and if I really like them, then I daydream about them a lot, and that makes me get to know them. With some secondary characters that've just not really taken off in my head, sometimes questionnaires work, and other times just writing about them works.

Some questions that have really helped me turn flat characters into something more human have been:
-What is their relationship with their parents like?
-How is their outward characterisation different to their inner character?
-What are their ambitions?

I find character creation the easiest part of writing and it is the reason I enjoy online role playing so much. Its something that has really helped me get inside the head of my characters and see how they view the world. I tend not to do those character sheets either, but I do like to create my own. I sort of role play in my head, myself meeting my characters and having a conversation with them.

Some people might call that insanity though, conversing with people in your head :P

You could always get someone else to play out a scene with you, just grab a character each and have at it. Hey its better than television!

My characters come to me in various ways, necessity, want, inspiration. Usually I put them through a form that determines things about them. I take a few days, let them percolate, I lie in bed at night and listen to them tell me things. For example, I might be stuck on the personality of a character. So I ask, what would [Sally Sue] do here? and [Sally Sue] pops up and tells me. and then [Andy Stu] pops up and makes fun of [Sally Sue]. ^^

~Vital Information~
Name:
Species:
Rank: [if any]
Age:
Gender:
Nationality:

~Physical Description~
Fur:
Eyes:
Clothing:
Description:
Personal belongings:

~Mental Attributes~
Good/Evil/Neutral:
Personality:
Weaknesses:
Strengths:

~History~
Must be a decent length.
Friends and acquaintances: optional
Other: optional

Here's a typical form. Now, this form was created for a world in which there are no humans, only furry little animals, so of course I'll adjust this accordingly if writing in a human world or elven or draconian. Its quite fun, and I find out so much useful info about [Sally Sue]. Of course, now I cant get rid of [Sally Sue]

Learning to create characters has been, for me, the most exciting and rewarding thing about NaNo so far. I never dreamed I would be able to come up wiht characters that were like actual people, who would talk to me in my mind in thier own voices with thier own contributions and insights into who they are.... it's happening though!!

I tend to mix approaches, I use interviewing methods/character profile sheets but I try not to force answers into these, just the answers that seem to come naturally from the character. I like the organic approach too, just letting them grow slowly in my mind.

I found it interesting what one person said in an earlier post about characters already being subconsciously based on real people as soon as you come up with them... I had an insight moment the other day where I realised MMC's love interest is based on some aspects of a cousin of mine, whom I've only met a handful of times, but some things related to her circumstances remind me so much of this characetr I have come up with... it's crazy because it was unintentional, I don't remember thinking of my cousin at all when I was doing character creation.

Exactly. I find that sometimes my characters will even resist my plot direction. Not as active agents, of course. But a believable character is more than descriptions, flaws, and what not. Their actions often contribute to their believability as much or more than "facts" about them. I'll find that my characters often will not conform to my desires for the plot or settings or dialogue. If it ends up that the character doesn't really belong in the story, then I find myself in big trouble.

One thing I find about surveys or questionnaires is that they tend to encourage you to share the information you came up with. Character development can then seem contrived and forced as you feel the need to include these details that are not really that important to the character development or the story.

I am a very visual sort of person, so my tip is to find a picture of what I your character will roughly look like. I find this helps me think of a whole range of other personality traits they have, habits like how they flick their hair or adjust their glasses to bigger things like what concerns them and what they dream of. I used istock to find images of the sort of people I was going to be writing about and then came up with a list of habits and personality quirks that I could put into my writing at any time. Hopefully this will help me with the show-don't-tell rule too.

‘all communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact are imagined’ Benedict Anderson

I am a non fiction writer. I have never truly tried my hands at fiction. So far I allowed characters to emerge from a scene. Somehow they are emerging and the plot is unfolding. Think of your favorite smell, describe an item like a cup or something small and watch something even a whole plot line unfold. I think. But hey, maybe you would be fool to listen to a new comers advise!

Love & Water
Omileye

The most important thing you can do to create a realistic character is to understand what his unmet need is. All compelling characters need something, whether it's food and shelter, justice, love, acceptance, fulfillment, or whatever. Once you understand what he needs, then you can ask questions like "What is keeping his needs from being met?" and "How does he respond to his needs?"

I've written at length about character development on my writing blog, BeTheStory.com, because from my perspective, character is the most important element of a story. I also highly recommend Holly Lisle's Create a Character Clinic ebook, because it transformed my own writing.

-TimK

www.JTimothyKing.com

No wrong way to do it... but a good character has a strong virtue and a strong flaw that makes the reader at least think the person is human. Put in a character external problem and you have a story.

Many people get stuck in Mary Sue land when you give clichéd or pompous reasons the character is flawed.

They get stuck in emo land when all of the problems are emotional and socially-oriented.

How I do mine is usually a story presents itself whole, and I write it and then sometimes the character speaks to me quickly, sometimes it is slow and I have to crack them. Sometimes the story dictates that I have to find my own character to fit into the niche.

I dislike character lists--I won't say they are wrong, but when I do them I end up with Instant! Mary Sue/ Gary Stu type of characters. They don't act or breathe and are too beautiful. I find that when *I* write organically, that characters will speak to me and go "Oh yeah, I have a gash over one eye." or "Did you know I speak in a Southern and British accent?" or the plot brings out something I didn't know about the character before making me often go, "WHAT?" I will fall back on character lists and web out a few character motivations when I get stuck or two characters start to merge into each other.

The pain in the butt characters are the characters you have to whip into submission. They are easy and fun to write, but if you let them take over, you'll have no plot in no time, so the game is how to make them suffer more and change. They also have a habit of eclipsing your carefully made more silent characters and engulfing all other characters into their given POV. These tend to breathe from page one. First time I wrote one I was afraid to write the book.

Others you have to redraft a few times to get them to tick. I have one of those and I'm going through a third pass to get her out of emo land.

And others you just can't quite figure out no matter how many times you try to crack them. --;; This year's Nanowrimo's main character is like that. I get the male lead's motivation, but the female lead, I just can't keep up with her. But I have to breathe some dimension into her to get her to go sometimes. And then when I do I end up at the other end of WTH was that? She's done it to me at least three times, and I'm not that far in. I forced her to mature, she side swiped me. --;; I'm wondering if this will be redeemable as fiction 'cause I can't figure her out or control her in a cohesive story. Plus she keeps contradicting herself in very short spaces.

I was complimented for having strong characterizations. Not sure how realistic some of them are, especially my off-season novel (but that book seems to call for it... most of the characters are neurotic to begin with because of the world building I did around them...) but I think strong Realistic characters are ones that you both love and hate for the right reasons. Or hate very well if they are a villain.

Novelists are a conscienceless lot.--Diana Gabaldon (An Echo in the Bone)