What Makes A Character?

No story can be told without the characters that tell it. No matter what point of view you choose or what tense the story is told in, good character development is key to creating a character that readers love.

There’s a lot that goes into creating a lovable protagonist but writing a story takes more than one well-written character. It takes a whole cast of fleshed-out characters that have lives: backstories, alignments, and goals that all come together to create a unique and detailed map of interactions.

Backstory

It all starts at the beginning. Not every character needs a devastating backstory that makes them dark and edgy. A backstory can have a simple childhood, a happy life, or any other start. The important thing is that it establishes where the character comes from. This is essential to building where they will go.

Think about your core memories: how did they shape you? Your characters have these experiences, too! From something as simple as “having his mother’s eyes” to a weekly ritual to get pizza and ice cream, every character has big memories and small memories that make up who they are at the beginning of your story.

Alignment

Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons? D&D is known for the alignment chart. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s an array of nine alignments, spanning from lawful to chaotic and good to evil. Take a look at a page from my character creation notes to see what I mean:

A character’s alignment isn’t set in stone. Their experiences can alter their perspectives and change how they think. A lawful good character who experiences a great injustice can shift to depending on their nature. Would they follow their own code or would they forsake order altogether?

Goals

Every character, whether they play a large or small role, has a goal. For some, they want to save the world. Others just want to get through the day. No matter what goals your characters have–make sure that they have them!

The goals you give your characters will drive their actions. Is it a personal goal that drives them or a sense of duty? Are they following traditions or breaking them? Think about your own life experiences and what goals you’ve had. What makes them so important? Let’s give that level of depth to our characters.

Putting It All Together

To create a cast of characters with depth, each one needs to be treated as if they are just as important as the protagonist. They may not share the same amount of time on the page, but they exist in the same world and motivate each other.

Creating a character is more than just deciding on what they look like–it means outlining who they are, what they want, and how they act. All of this comes together to have characters who feel organic in the world you’ve created.