Techniques in Writing: Character Development

A character's clothes are important. What your character is wearing says alot about her.

When you are writing a new story or drama, it's common to be obsessed with your plot. In the midst of this plot obsession, it's easy to forget about your characters. However, without believable characters with whom the audience can relate, you can't write a good piece of fiction. Thus, it's important to develop your characters by including detail about their personalities, looks and habits.

Observation

Even if your characters are aliens from another galaxy or talking roots who have built an entire world below the earth's surface, they will have human-like characteristics. If they don't, it would be impossible for your audience to relate to them. Thus, no matter who your characters are, you can begin to develop them by observing other, real people. You can do an observation at any point in your writing. When you're trying to get an idea for a good character, go to a mall, park or other public place and people watch. Take a notebook and pen, and write down the characteristics of people who interest you. Create brief word sketches of these characters or mannerisms. Remember, in your story, you can combine the characteristics of several people into one character. You can also observe to determine how to develop characters that you've already created. For instance, The Writer's Craft notes that you might track a certain emotion over a period of several days to see how different people manifest it.

Character Bios

According to Writer's Digest, one way to develop your characters is to write them mini bios. The magazine suggests that you include basic information, such as age, marital status and occupation. However, it can also be beneficial to keep a journal entry where you write as much as you can about your characters, including their appearance, where they live, what they think about current events (or at least events current to them), lists of what they have in their purses or briefcases, cars or refrigerators. In your journal, you should also try writing from the perspective of all your characters, even if none of them will be narrating the story.

Reading Examples

In order to be a good writer, you must read often. According to Writer's Digest, a good writing exercise is to track characters from the beginning to the end of a novel, noting how they change. Also, take note of the ways that the authors you love show without telling. How do they show that a character loves horses or hates his sister without saying this outright? The Writer's Craft also suggests that you take note of books you don't like, determining whether poor character development is the reason. If it is, make a list of what the author did wrong.

Use Models

Artists often base their portraits on models. As a writer, you can do the same for your characters, although you don't want to base a fictional character too closely on a real person, or lawsuits can ensue. For this exercise, think of people you actually know or, as Writer's Digest suggests, people you read about in the news. Instead of doing a mere observation, think about what you know about this person, and make a list. What personality traits does he have and how do they manifest physically? Place this person in a situation similar to the conflict you are creating in your novel. What does he do? Now, how can you make this person more interesting, or at least more appropriate for your piece? Make these changes, and start again; how does your character think, look and behave now?

References

• Writer's Digest: Creating Characters: 4 Simple Exercises
• The Writer's Craft: Create-A-Character Exercises