Writing: Knowing Your Characters

As I’ve been trying to brainstorm ideas for making blog posts I came to the huge realization that I have the best inspiration staring me down as November 1st slow creeps up behind us ready to pounce at the moment midnight strikes! Trying to keep up on reading all of the posts that the many wonderful authors and bloggers I follow to prepare for NanoWriMo is hard work itself. There are a countless number of bloggers out there giving advice on how to plot, bloggers trying to convince the pantsers to try outlining for once, and just plain old encouragement for those that are thinking that they won’t make it through the month.

So, why am I offering my take on knowing your characters?

Well, it’s funny you should ask.

Knowing your characters is what will drive the story. Even if you don’t have an idea of where to go for the plot, knowing your characters inside and out will give an idea of what they want. In that case, the story will end up just writing itself.

But WAIT

I know! I know! You want your character to be a mystery. Or you want your character’s guarded new guardian to keep themselves distant for some reason that you can’t explain till just before the climax of the story.

I get it.

But do you know why you want your character to be that stoic and guarded character that everyone falls in love with any time they share even a hint of a smile?

Ah-hah, let us begin.

I find that knowing three things before knowing writing helps, to a certain extent, because it will somewhat explain the external factors placed on your character. These are three things included in the character’s environment that can change a character depending if they’re on Hoth, in New York City, or living in the core of a planet.

1.) The Character’s Society:

Does your character live in a society that deems blondes as the scum of the earth and it just so happens that your character is a blonde?

Are there many unwritten rules that the character knows or has to learn over the course of the story?

How familiar is the character with the society?

This idea stems from my understanding that a person can either be a part of a society or an outsider. It’s important to know where your character will stand within that and whether or not they accept the negative aspects along with the good. If a city has a social hierarchy and your character is in the lowest tier, as opposed to the highest, this will dramatically effect the character’s challenges and obstacles.

2.) How the Society if Governed:

This second item sort of tags along with the first. However, this one is a bit more straightforward.

Does the character live in a democratic, communist, or any other type of government?

Is it corrupt?

Does it have a legal system?

Are the people represented at all? Or is there a code that people follow that is similar to a pirates code?

Maybe the society is too primitive for a whole government but there is a local ruler that looks out for those that need it similar to a sheriff.

Depending on your story, this may not be all that important. However, looking at a story like “The Hunger Games” we are shown very quickly the type of society Katniss lives in. We also learn very quickly that she is very much against what it stands for but knows she has to do as she is told to take care of her family. If we want to root for the character in a rebellion of some type, or even one that is prideful of their government, we have to understand why they believe in it and if it coincides, or rebels, with what the government stands for.

Then again, this is very specific. I can understand why this can be skipped over. However, it can’t hurt to just take a minute or two and jot some points down. I consider this part of my world building and even these three things can be very simple world building that directly has an effect on the character.

3.) The Climate of the Character’s Home:

Now, I deem this to be the least important of the three. Not for any reason in particular but it’s just the simplest if you want it to be.

Does the character live in a hot climate?

Do they like hot climates?

It’s very straightforward. However, this can be used to dig deeper into the character’s mind; did the character grow up in an area where earthquakes were prevalent and do they now have an irrational fear of the phenomena which can cause them to get stricken by fear even if someone jumps in an elevator to shake the car?

This can even explain what type of occupation or trade they may be part of. If a character specializes in something like botany, it can almost be assumed that they did not grow up in a desert. I am just giving examples here; you can make your character be from wherever you want. I just want to bring across the ideas of exploring their world.

Once the most basic building blocks of your story are explained, written down, and placed somewhere for easy reference, we can now start looking at your characters. And I need to be clear: you do not, under any circumstance, need to world build before creating your characters. I, for one, never go in one order in particular. Inspiration comes and it goes and a lot of the time we cannot help that. I take it in stride and I would offer that as my best advice to you.

So, if character Johnny Pope wants to make himself known to you, do not make him wait by creating a world for him because I told you to. That would be very unfortunate for both you and Johnny. In fact, I think it sometimes works better by creating the world once you have the character. Give them obstacles and give them something to fight for. It hardly makes for a story when they live in a society that wants the hero to win!

I know. I know, there are exceptions to that.

Now, there are some major points that you should have down in regards to your character somewhere. Even if this is just jotted down on a napkin that you keep in your notebook or in a note that is saved to your desk top. Your character deserves to be known and deserves to be given a proper thought.

Character Identity Questions:

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Description:

Habits:

Family/significant other:

Religious Affiliation:

Political Beliefs:

Left or Right handed:

Origin:

Where they are in present time at the start of the story:

I call those character identity questions because it really helps to draw yourself a map out of your character. Sure, you have a solid idea of your bubbly character but do you know why they’re bubbly? Do you know if they’ve had a recent family death or what kind of habits they have at home? These are helpful to know when you’re stuck on dialogue or if you aren’t sure how a character will respond to something.

It’s also important to mention that you don’t have to keep your character strictly drawn within these lines. Heck, if I had a nickel for every time I surprised myself during the day, I would have quite a few nickels.

People are dynamic and our characters should also be.

Plus, our characters aren’t very relatable if they don’t change throughout the story. If you look at yourself at the start of 2015, and look at yourself now, don’t you think there’s a bit of a difference. Our characters should undergo change. Throw them into the pits of fire and see if they come out unscathed! Crush their hearts. Give them hope and take it away. Make your characters change and it is up to you to decide if it will be for the better or for the worse.

Character Traits:

My character’s ultimate goal is?

Give two obstacles for every goal the character has.

Does the character believe that they can overcome these obstacles?

Aside from their goals, does the character have something that they long for?

How does the character view people/world?

Is the character always late or always early?

Personal style is oriented towards: people, facts, procedures, or results?

Cat or dog person?

Introvert or extravert?

A filer or a piler?

Does this person talk with their hands, body, or face?

Does the character follow the rules when no one is watching?

Does the character have a horrible secret?

What does this character want to be remembered for what they die?

Obviously there are so many more questions that can be asked. These are really just scratching the surface when it comes to your characters. I did my best to pick some that wouldn’t change as your character changes throughout the story. Then again, the characters perspective on the world will most likely change. For some of these questions it may even be smart to do a before and after. It’s almost like giving yourself two bookends to support your story.

Then again, your character isn’t the only character. This can be done for every single character depending on how well you want to know them.

With this I must say farewell and goodnight! Good luck to anyone and everyone taking part in the NanoWriMo. I will be joining you and probably placing updates on my blog, twitter, tumblr, and Pinterest.

I’m going to try to keep my Sunday posts as Writing Help/Tips posts, possibly. It depends on how things go but I know how the world loves consistency.

Originally published at Caitlyn Elise.