Today’s topic is a bit more specific than the last few have been. It is also a little more centered on fiction rather than nonfiction, but some concepts can be cross applied.
Treat your characters as real people!
You may have learned about static/flat and dynamic/round characters in English classes. Those labels speak of the role of a character in a story: do they change or not? But just because a character doesn’t appear to change does not mean that they should be written stereotypically or as just kind of … there. Lesser characters should be just like the people in your life; you may not know much about them and they may always appear the same, but they are still human. Moreover, all characters are just like people, with favorite colors and least favorite foods and a preference of music genre, et cetera. Yes, you don’t reveal all of this information in your stories, but it’s nice to think about in order to make the character believable and real.
So, you need a character and have no specifications. How do you go about creating (literary) life?
One suggestion is to base characters after people you experience in your life. Since the real world provides the most realistic examples of people (go figure), you can make a lot out of observing others. You can even base a character off of someone you know well. The other day, my creative writing professor told me something:
Basing a character on someone could mean making the character like someone or even unlike someone.
With that alone there are a large variety of options for you to start with.
Don’t want to leave your room? Search online for character ideas (here are some visual examples on Pintrest). Mix and match characteristics you like to create someone you want to write about!
Lastly, one thing I like to do with my more major characters is to create what I call “character profiles.” In these, I focus in-depth about a character’s appearance, personality, relationships, goals, etc. Here is an amazing, though extensive, profile template. Don’t worry about not filling it all out immediately, or even ever!
Above all else, make each character their own person. I have seen myself recycle character traits through multiple other characters, but this just leads to confusion on who is really who. This isn’t saying you can’t alter an old character to make a new and improved version, however. Though it may sound cliche, make each character unique.
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