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 This work by Darren Hester is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. |
1. Put yourself in them.
If you've ever watched the movie Astro Boy, then you'll know that the main character, Astro, is a robot with a practically unlimited power source -- the blue core. This blue core is so powerful, in fact, that Astro is able to transfer some of its energy to broken down robots in order to reanimate them. He is essentially giving up a part of himself so that he can bring other robots to life.
It's the same way with you and your characters. Your imagination and creativity are boundless, but they will be of little use if you hoard their resources for yourself. By imbuing your characters with parts of your own personality, you can bring them to life in a spectacular way.
For instance, I mentioned in my last post that there's a bit of me in Claeten. Claeten embodies all of my optimism, hope, and joy. Am I anywhere near as optimistic as he is? Heck, no! I can also be negative-minded, depressed, and sullen at times. I channeled all of those qualities into another one of my characters -- Claeten's best friend, Baara. Even though these two guys are polar opposites, I can see myself in both of them... and I can see both of them in me.
2. Let them make their own decisions.
This is one of the most important things for you to learn as a writer, and probably one of the hardest. It's something that people who aren't writers usually don't understand -- good characters have minds of their own.
In the first novel I ever wrote, the villain (Braedyn) murders the main character's family, but in the end he winds up repenting and becoming one of the good guys. (Long story short.) The theme of the story was originally supposed to be forgiveness, and it was my intention that the main character (Eagle) would forgive Braedyn and become friends with him (even marrying him in some far-off sequel... God only knows what I was thinking).
So I wrote the scene, which was right at the end of the book, and set it aside. But when I went back to read it later, it felt... off. Don't get me wrong, Eagle's a pretty great girl, but what kind of person can forgive the man who murdered her loved ones... just like that? The whole scene felt forced, because it was. I had forced Eagle to forgive Braedyn with no qualms whatsoever, because that's what I wanted to happen, and it completely threw off the end of my book.
So I scrapped the scene and started rewriting it, this time letting Eagle respond how she wanted. As you may have already guessed, she was nowhere near ready to forgive Braedyn. She struggled because she knew that she should forgive him... but how could she? How could she just forget about what he'd done?
Her inner torment was much more in character for her and it helped her to grow. Plus, it enabled the readers to better understand her, and relate to her on a deeper level -- who hasn't struggled with forgiveness at some point in their lives?
Letting your characters live their own lives is the best way to make them realistic and relatable. Giving them the freedom to choose will challenge them, grow them, and reveal who they truly are.
3. Allow them to do it wrong.
All of us make mistakes. All of us have flaws. When you allow your characters to make their own decisions, they will inevitably make the wrong ones from time to time. This is perhaps one of the best things that can happen for you as the writer.
No one likes a perfect character. I personally am a major perfectionist, and I'm constantly striving to get everything just right. If I see a character who has it all together, I'm going to resent him because I wish I could have his success. That is why flaws are so essential.
Flawed people can still be admirable people. People who make mistakes can still be great leaders and role models. In fact, messed up people are often better leaders and role models, because they've dealt with life's pains and losses -- and come out better for it. They can be open and honest with others who are hurting because they've been there.
The mistakes your characters make may completely ruin the plot you had in mind. They can really throw you for a loop. But those mistakes will help define who they are and will put your story on the path it was meant to take all along. The mistake your character makes may very well be just the thing to turn your story into something amazing.
4. Show their thought processes.
It's okay for your characters to make stupid decisions. Natural, even. But whatever you do, don't make your character look stupid for making those decisions. I once read a series (which I will not name) where I despised the main character the entire time because she was, in my opinion, an idiot. The decisions she made were ones that most teenage girls probably would have made, but I could not tolerate them in her case.
Why? Because she didn't even think about her choices before she made them. Ever. She just blindly did whatever was needed to advance the plot. It got to the point where most real people would've started realizing that things weren't working out and changed their actions, yet she continued to make the same foolish choices for no logical reason that I could see.
This was a massive oversight on the author's part. If I had been involved in the character's thought process, I might have sympathized with her decisions, perhaps even agreed with them! But because the author only showed the character's decisions and not the reasons behind them, I was left to assume that the character was simply intolerably stupid.
By giving the readers access to your character's innermost thoughts, you have the ability to share your character's logical reasons for making a stupid decision. While we will still acknowledge that it was a poor decision, we will not consider the character to be stupid, because his thought process made perfect sense.
Overall, letting the readers into your character's mind is always a good idea, because you allow them to achieve a whole new level of familiarity with that character. As we get to know your character more, we will better understand him, better love him, and better relate to him.
5. Ensure that they learn and grow.
Nothing is more boring than a static character -- one who never really changes. But nothing is more captivating than well-written character development. Whether your character is changing for the better or for the worse, allowing her to mature over time will hook your readers and make them want to figure out where she is headed in the end.
The most important thing about character development is to make sure that it has a purpose behind it. What end is served by your character's changing motives or desires? If your character has changed unexpectedly (as you're letting her make her own decisions), how can you rework the story goal so that the change makes sense? You have to capitalize on these changes your character is undergoing.
I just finished watching the anime Ouran High School Host Club, and one of the best aspects of the series was the character development of the Hitachiin twins, Hikaru and Kauro. Because they are essentially identical in appearance, we spend the beginning of the series thinking of them as a single entity rather than separate characters. My favorite episode in the series, which happens just over halfway through the storyline, is entitled "Operation Haruhi and Hikaru's First Date!"
Up until this point, the twins have hinted at the fact that they are beginning to trust Haruhi (the main character) more and more, and in this episode that arc hits its high point. Because of the slow growth that the twins have already been undergoing, this episode is able to show us the drastic differences in their individual personalities and reveal how much their affinity for Haruhi truly has grown. This development combined with a previously established fear of Haruhi's allow her and Hikaru to experience a sweet moment that could not have happened otherwise -- a moment that makes us love their characters even more.
Working to deepen the readers' understanding of your character through good development is vital if you want the reader to relate to her. Even if the changes she is undergoing are not ones that the readers themselves have undergone, they will still be able to appreciate his growth. By watching her mature, they will feel as if they have been more a part of her story and will be more drawn to her in the end.
6. Give them quirks.
Now, this is the fun part. Character quirks are always interesting to work with. Whether it's a manner of speech, a nervous habit, or even a physical attribute, giving a character certain oddities will make them memorable. Everyone has a little uniqueness to them. Exhibiting that in your characters makes them imperfect and therefore intriguing.
For instance, my latest main character, Erica, seems to be developing quite an affinity for similes. Her latest one was: "The silence fell back over us, now laced with tension. It was as if I had started the countdown on a ticking time bomb; I had spoken out of line and disrupted a perfectly peaceful family dinner. Peaceful, like a corpse prepared for burial. Every time I opened my mouth it was like trying to reawaken the dead, yet still I could not resist."
I'm honestly not sure what to make of it, or if her comparisons really work. But this is who she is, so this is what I have to work with. It may be a little weird, but that's what makes it special. Perhaps your character's quirks will be a little less... quirky. However they turn out, a little weirdness adds depth to a character.
7. Make them doubt themselves.
Everyone has their own worries and fears -- it's what makes us human. Some people may experience doubt more frequently or more intensely than others, but everyone feels it to some degree from time to time.
No one likes a character who is always confident in every choice he makes. While the readers may appreciate his self-assuredness at first, over time it will cause them to feel distanced from him. We need to see him doubt himself at least once, or we will begin to suspect that he is over-confident or doesn't fully grasp the gravity of some of the decisions he makes.
A good way to do this is to let him make the wrong decision, as I mentioned before. Even if he's been fully confident up to this point, once he makes a mistake, he will inevitably be uncertain the next time he has to choose. By allowing doubt to creep into your character's mind, you're showing the readers that he doesn't have all the answers, either. This will evoke sympathy in their hearts and ultimately draw them closer to him as a character.
