How I Create My Characters

Characters. Technically, they’re the most important part of any novel in existence. Without good characters, how are you supposed to tell the story? Characters that are properly written feel real –so real that you think you could talk to them. You flip through the pages and are transported into their world, a place where you are surrounded not by words, but by people. And since characters are so important, they’re usually one of the first things an author thinks about. Personally, I plan my characters after I get the first idea for a plot. But there are all kinds of intricate, unwritten steps to making words on a page turn into people. 

A character always begins with a thought. Whether it be a trait, a picture, a face, or simply an idea for a plot with a certain kind of person in it, they begin as an idea. I can’t pin down the exact moment when I get the idea for a character, because often I don’t know that I have one until they’re accumulated a solid personality. If I see a picture I like, or maybe think of an attribute, I’ll save it. On paper, in my mind, online, doesn’t matter. I’m going to want it at some point. Then I’ll add to it. I’ll keep accumulating ideas, images, and quotes. When I need a new character, I dive into my well of creativity. 

As I’m piecing together these ideas into some semblance of a character, I’ll write out pages of straight facts about them. This is their backstory, their life, their favorite color. Actually, I don’t tend to get quite that specific yet. Personally I find it better to just write down the basics. Then, later on, I can flesh them out. 

After I have those pages, I’ll move onto the next essential step: Making a collage or a pinterest board. I have a whole in-depth post about why I do this, but the gist of it is that it’s hard. It’s tough to figure out the exact aesthetic of the character, what pictures would work for them, what font, what hobbies they have. (Later on I’ll also add quotes from the specific character) This collage can take anywhere from an hour to a few days, depending on how long the character has been sitting in the back of my mind. Once that’s done though, one of the hardest parts is over. 

This next step is pretty flexible with where I put it. It may come before the collage step, or even in the middle of writing those fact pages. I’ll put up a post online (specifically, in my writing community) and ask if someone would like to interview my character. This is where a person will ask me a lot of questions about said fictional person, and I’ll answer as them. It’s hands down one of the best ways to get to know your character quickly and efficiently. 

And after that, there are no more steps! Just writing! Sounds easy, right? Sometimes. The rest of the time, I still don’t know enough about my character, and it’ll take me a couple ten thousand words to really know them and how they’re going to change throughout the book. I have to pause and think: “How would they react to this situation?” And if I don’t know… that’s a problem I have to fix, probably play around with until I have something that makes sense. 

Honestly, the character never stops being created. And that’s a good thing!  When I come back to the second book, I don’t want to end it with the same character I started with. They should change throughout the book. When I end the first book, I want the character to have gone through changes from page one to page three hundred and seventy-four, or whatever number it is.  

For me, there are two things that tell me when I’ve created a solid, well-rounded, emotion-eliciting character. First, are those handy people called readers. If they say, “Wow, this character is amazing!” then I take that as a good sign. If they tell me, “yeah, this guy just isn’t working,” then I’ve got some things to fix. 

The second thing is when they start writing themselves. When I know this boy or girl or villain so well that I don’t even have to think about what they’d do or how they’d react or what thing from their past will cause them problems right now. I just write it. This has a few downfalls, such as when they decide to go on a nice river swim instead of staying on the trail and hiking like they are supposed to. But I think that’s a small price to pay for having a deep, emotional character that feels real. Because ultimately, that’s the goal. A character that doesn’t seem like a character. A collection of words that can turn into someone’s friend.