Please note that I am absolutely an amateur writer, but have been asked by a few people over the years for story writing advice. So the snippets of advice I’ll give you here are things I too learned while stumbling along in my own writing. (Still stumbling).
I will be referencing original characters in the last fan fiction I wrote throughout this for examples.
Developing a character from scratch:
- Start with what your character’s purpose is to the plot of your story. Are they going to be your antagonist? Are they your protagonist? Are they minor to the plot? Are they needed at all or just a throwaway character? (If that’s the case, throw. Them. Away.)
- Next, decide what your character’s relationship to the protagonist is or will be. Are they a spouse? A best friend? A potential love interest? An arch nemesis? The crazy neighbour down the street?
- Think broadly at first and then start to narrow it down. Is your character someone who is more outgoing or reserved? Are they a frowner or a smiler majority of the time?
- Say your character is energetic – what kind of music really pumps them up? Do they lay out their clothes before they go to sleep or throw on whatever they wore the day before? What is their career choice? How do they like their coffee? Do they even drink coffee?…
You see how detailed this quickly starts to become. Before you go freaking out, no. You don’t have to know all or any of the little details at first. And NO, your readers don’t have to know everything about your character. I think that was the most useful thing I ever encountered in terms of advice on how to construct a character:
Think of five things about your character and never include the facts in your story. Say your character was in a minor car accident when they were seven and fell out of their seat because they weren’t buckled it. Instead of telling your reader this you could have your character double check their seatbelt as one of their quirks. You know the reason why, but your reader won’t. Maybe that sounds silly, but your character will start to feel like a real person the more background you give them. I found filling out silly Facebook surveys as one of my characters to be useful/helpful for this. I had never thought much about whether a character was a vegetarian or not. That would surely have influence on where he/she/they wanted to eat on a date, no? Little details do matter.
Appearance is still a tricky one for me. Some characters I can picture clearly. Others I picture as someone. E.g. Jesse is a combination of Dan Howell, Remington Leith and Andy Black. And that’s ok. I find that I don’t know what my characters look like right from the start of my story. I couldn’t tell you what a character’s hair looked like in the first chapter because I hadn’t imagined it yet. It’s like walking into a room with your eyes closed. You have to feel around first. Slowly but surely you’re able to make sense of your surroundings. There’s a coffee table over there, beneath it a rug. One end is always slightly curled up and Isaac almost always trips over it every morning when he comes downstairs to play video games. He can’t stand it but won’t say anything to upset his mother who has finally found something she’s thrilled about again; the house. Instead he’ll grumble under his breath and carry on.
I discovered Lizzie’s hair must be shoulder length through the actions I put her through in the story. It’s long enough for her to pull into a ponytail but she’s never complaining about it getting caught in her jacket zipper or having to flip it over her shoulders, so it couldn’t be too long. Lizzie is stubborn. Her mom loves her natural hair colour so Lizzie bottle dies it auburn just because she can and wants to make a statement. Lizzie is impatient so her makeup is never perfect and almost always smudged because she’s half asleep in the mornings when she puts mascara on. That being said, Lizzie is not a morning person and often oversleeps her alarm. She has to be woken up and she’ll take her frustration out on them by whining or making snarky remarks.
Etcetera.
So how exactly do you start discovering a character’s looks, quirks and general personality? I sat down and thought of the little things I’ve done in the past and compiled a short list below.
Fun ways to inspire you to write a new character:
Music. I listen to different music for different characters. For example, if I’m writing a scene with Jesse I’m probably listening to a lot of ‘The Cars’, ‘Inward Eye’, ‘Danger Danger’ and ‘Walk the Moon’. If I’m writing a scene with Gloria it’s a lot of strong songs by female singers from the 80s (‘The Warrior’ – Scandal, ‘Shadows of the Night’ – Pat Benatar, ‘Rebel Girl’ – Bikini Kill, ‘Dangerous’ – Roxette, ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ – Lita Ford, ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ – Whitney Houston, etc.).
Film. Reference film characters for help. I was inspired by ‘Pretty in Pink’ for the characters in my last story. Jesse is partially inspired by Duckie, Lizzie by Andie and Gloria by Iona.
Horoscopes. Sometimes reading up on your character’s zodiac sign gives a bit of inspiration to constructing their personality (whether you believe horoscopes or not). Jesse is a Pisces to a ‘T’. He’s compassionate, caring and creative. He’s also too trusting and often too optimistic. Lizzie is a Taurus. She’s practical and devoted. She’s also ridiculously stubborn and can be difficult to persuade. SPOILER ALERT IN NEXT SENTENCE! I knew early on that Jesse and Lizzie were going to be endgame, so I even made sure their signs were compatible. Again, things I didn’t make my readers weary of by telling but showing through actions. I don’t think there is actually a point in my story where I even tell you the date of Lizzie’s birthday, but I know when it is.
Pinterest. I had a love/hate relationship with this website at the beginning, until I discovered how useful it was for collecting snippets of inspiration for my writing projects. It quickly became my best friend. Create yourself a board for your character(s) and/or story and pin all the things that remind you of the character/scenes/moments/overall vibes, etc. Here’s the board I have for “Magic” (working title). I’m currently in the process of making an original version of the story, so it’s still an active board.
Arty friends. I’ve never asked a friend to do this for me, but it’s an idea I would consider in the future. One of my good friends in university drew me a cute sketch of a cartoony guy who I often referenced when trying to picture what Jesse would look like. If you have an arty friend maybe consider asking them to sketch you a little picture based on your given criteria. Pay them back with a sweet letter of thanks. You’re a writer after all. Strategically placed words is your talent.
People watch. I’m not saying be sketch about it. I’m just saying if you’re waiting on a bench at the mall for your friends to show up, have a look around at the people walking by. Their mannerisms when they speak, awkward shifts in posture, facial expressions, fashion choices, etc. I literally had a character mention a person they saw on the bus holding a mop once, because that’s something I saw and wondered about.
Be your character. This one is probably the weirdest suggestion I’ve got for you. And probably one you want to try when you’re alone in the house. I literally act out possible scenes between characters like a total dork… An example of a scene I worked out by ranting to myself while puttering around the house:
Jesse: “Why are there benches on this side of the school and not the other?”
Lizzie: “Does it matter?”
Jesse: “That’s discrimination between the right side and the left side of the hallway. We should bring this to the admin’s attention.”
Lizzie: “…the heck is wrong with you?”
Jesse: “Just think about it!”
Lizzie: “Are you on something? Besides, it depends what side of the hallway you’re on. This could be the left side or the right side depending which way you’re facing…”
Jesse: “That’s a valid point. You’ve got good ideas, Lizzie. I’ll keep you updated on any progress I make on this matter.”
Lizzie: “Great… How do you know my name?”
Jesse: “You’re the new girl. Therefore everyone knows and is talking about you.” *Holds hand out* “I’m Jesse.”
From here I would go on to add their physical actions and tone.
Those are some fun ideas to try out, but the most influence comes from people in my life. Every character in the story has some characteristics of the people that surround me on a daily basis. I can pinpoint some characters’ personalities better than others because maybe I pulled greater influence from one person for them. Others are a huge mishmash of traits from people I know.
So if I have anything to offer you in terms of advice for writing an original character, it’s to start broad. Don’t start a story thinking you have to have each character completely planned out on paper. That will make your head spin trying to reference it all. Take a more natural approach and start writing around the plot. It’s surprising how quickly a character takes on a mind of its own and you’ll find yourself incorporating your character’s quirks where it makes sense to.
Good luck, and if you want me to stumble through any other specific amateur tidbits of writing “advice” let me know in the comments below.