The Fun Ways to Develop Characters
It doesn’t have to all be deep thinking, personality tests and character sheets
Think back to the last novel you read and truly loved.
Why did you love it?
I’m willing to bet that most of you just said the characters.
Characters can make or break or story. If the characters are weak, boring or two-dimensional, then they won’t grab the reader by the heart and make them want more.
If the reader doesn’t want more, then they won’t want to grip your book to their chest when they’re finished, they won’t want to turn the next page slowly after something embarrassing has happened, or quickly after something awful, and they won’t want to buy the next book.
Creating characters that grab and squeeze and pull on your readers’ hearts can be tricky.
It certainly takes practice.
But it can be a lot of fun.
In fact, creating characters is one of my favourite things about writing.
It’s the chance to get to know someone new and have them settle in your brain, a new voice to add to the cacophony. Not only that, but it’s the potential for new adventures, new journeys, full of fun and pain and laughter with this person and their relationships with those around them.
I get it. If you’re feeling stuck then creating and developing characters doesn’t feel like fun. It can be more laborious and really pick at your self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
Here are three methods I use to I develop my characters. I hope these can help you if you’re feeling stuck with the new voice in your head.
1. Create random scenes and drop them in
This is where I usually start with a new character. It’s how I get to know them.
I’m not usually involved at this stage, so instead I drop them into a calm setting, perhaps a coffee shop or the park or the loading bay of the spaceship they’re on. They’re never alone. There’s always someone else there. It’s usually someone they trust, for the most part, and often that other person is completely unknown to me, but at this stage, they’re not important.
This other random character is my ‘interviewer’ but rather than formally asking questions, they simply start a conversation. Meanwhile, I sit back and watch. I’m behind the two-way glass, or sitting at the table next to them, with my notebook, observing my new character; what they’re saying, how they’re saying it, what their body language is, whether they’re asking questions back.
Through this, I can often get a character’s backstory but also hints of what’s to come. Ideas of what their problems are right now, what they want to solve, where they want to be, and from all of that can often emerge a whole plot.
2. Pretend you’re them
This is another fantastic way to discover the backstory of your character. Put yourself in their shoes. Go where they go, feel what they feel.
Instead of sitting at the table next to them and eavesdropping or being behind the two-way glass observing, become them.
Daydream. Fantasise. Twist them and turn them.
Start with what you’d want to be in their situation, in their world, and then add some reality. Add some pain and some flaws.
Ask yourself (being them) questions, chat with other characters.
This is my favourite way of discovering who a character is, what their backstory is and where they’re going all in one fell swoop. It also reminds me of playing as a child, making things up on the fly and really getting into it, which makes it the most fun and gives you a little release of yummy endorphins.
Think of yourself as an actor and play out this movie in your mind. This character is your part and it’s up to you to figure out what that part is purely by playing.
3. Talk to them like they’re your friend
People give me strange looks when I tell them I had to take my main character off for a chat. But that’s what I do. This is usually my process when I’ve managed to write myself into a corner, but I’ve also used it when trying to figure out a storyline for a book in a series I’ve already started.
It works best for me with characters I already know but I see no reason why you couldn’t do this with a new character.
Depending on the world and character, go somewhere they’d feel comfortable where you can sit and chat. With my witch, it’s the local coffee shop, with my sci-fi/fantasy pilot, it’s the mess with a slice of chocolate cake, with my dragonslayer, it’s the local tavern with a pint.
Then we talk, like old friends.
Imagine all of your characters, from all of your stories, in a room waiting for you to walk in. All those voices and personalities in your head, all vying for your attention.
Give them that attention on an individual basis. Take yourself somewhere nice with them and ask them how they are.
Treat them like an old friend, because even if they’re a new character, that’s what they are. That’s what they become.
Writing should be fun!
Play with your characters. Chat with them. Sit down with a virtual coffee or tankard of ale or slice of cake and talk it through with them. The more you develop them and your author-character relationship, the more they will come to life.
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