Creating and Building Good Characters

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What is a Good Character?

A good character is a well-rounded character. It doesn’t matter if the character is good, bad, or morally ambiguous. It doesn’t matter if the character is male, female, or somewhere in between. What matters is that they are a well-rounded, well-drawn character that feels organic to your audience.

Elements of Good Characters:

  • A well-defined personality.
  • They want something.
  • They have relationships with other characters.
  • They have flaws.
  • They change and develop over the course of the story.

This article is not just for fiction writers. My advice applies to any art that requires character-building, from video games to role playing.

Creating a Character

Things to keep in mind when creating a character:

  • What will this character’s role in the narrative be?
  • What does the character look like?
  • What does the character want?
  • What are some base personality traits of this character?
  • What are this character’s strengths and weaknesses?
  • Who/what does this person care about, if anyone/anything at all?
  • What is the gender/race/religion/species of this character and how might that affect his or her life experiences and world outlook?
  • How will this character’s experiences in the story change him/her, or will he/she change at all?

Ideas For Inspiration

Not sure where to get “inspired” for a certain character? Here are some common methods for gaining ideas:

  • People you know. Authors will say this a lot and it’s true. You undoubtedly have noticed aspects of people you spend a lot of time around. Take bits and pieces of them, from their interests to their weird habits, and incorporate them into your new character to give him or her more depth.
  • People you don’t know. People you don’t know are just as much a source of inspiration as your close friends and family. Watch people in a public place and see how they interact with one another, or take inspiration from the weird store owner down the street.
  • Your life experiences. Never underestimate the power of including snippets of your life experiences in your writing. Most people do this subconsciously without realizing it. Perhaps your character and you have nothing in common except for the fact that you both like coin collecting or that you both have a daughter. It helps give your character depth and it’s something you’re personally familiar with.
  • People you’re interested in. For example, even if you’re not a Native American, you can be interested in Native American cultures or issues. Do a bit of research. Interview people. But remember that people are people, like you, no matter their gender, religion, or ethnic origins, and you need to write them as such.
  • Fictional characters. You’ve got to be a little careful with this one because you can’t just copy someone else’s character. On the other hand, well-drawn fictional people are people too, and there’s nothing wrong with being inspired by traits of your fictional heroes.

Building Characters Within the Story

When you’ve started writing the story, here are some ideas for how to continue building a character as you write:

  • Determine how, or if, the character reaches his or her goal. Perhaps they don’t get what they were searching for but gain something much more valuable instead.
  • Have them change over the course of the story based on events that happen. Note this does not necessarily mean they become a better person. It’s just as possible to have a character who becomes worse as the story goes on. They might not even change at all, and that might be the point. So do what works for the character and for the story.
  • Know what the character’s afraid of. You don’t need to necessarily come out and say this in the narrative, but it can certainly be helpful in determining a character’s actions.
  • Give the character interests, and not just one or two. This is a problem I’ve seen a lot recently. People have interests outside of the big things in their lives.
  • Have the character tell an anecdote or two from his or her past. Don’t overuse this one, but I’ve found having a character say or think of things that have happened to them helps flesh them out. Our minds wander and think of the strangest things, even at random times.
  • Develop the character’s relationship with other characters. By this I don’t necessarily mean romantic relationships. If your main character has a best friend or someone they’ve just met, they’re going to interact with that other person. Put these two characters in the same room and have them have a conversation. See what happens.
  • Have the character’s flaw(s) REALLY screw something up. A flaw isn’t a flaw unless it causes problems for the character and/or the people around him/her.

Other Tips

  • Don’t be afraid to experiment! The old adage “write what you know” is actually pretty bad advice when taken too literally. Unless you really just want to write one type of character, you’re going to need to expand your horizons. And the only way to do that is to try new things.
  • Just start writing the story and see where the character goes. This may not work for some writers but for others this is the best way for them to write. You can always go back and edit later to fix continuity issues.
  • Don’t be afraid to cut characters. If a character isn’t working in your story, they might need to go. Perhaps you can find room for them in a future work. Inversely, don’t be afraid to add a character if you need to. Just be careful that he or she fits into the story.
  • Write a character sheet. Again, this isn’t something all authors do, but it certainly works for some. A character sheet can help you keep track of your character as you write the story by giving them basic information, personality traits, and goals. It can also help you visualize different characters relationships with each other.
  • Be careful with dialects and accents. Having a character speak with a strong accent can be effective, but make sure it doesn’t detract from the writing.
  • Don’t get too caught up on flaws/a tragic backstory. A person is more than their problems.
  • Get feedback. This is true about any creative expression, but if a character isn’t working or you’re not sure what to do with them, bounce ideas off someone else. This doesn’t have to be a writer, and in fact, shouldn’t always be. A casual reader’s outsider point of view can be invaluable.
  • Details, Details, Details! It’s not the grand, sweeping character arcs that set your story and characters apart from the rest. It’s the details of their lives and their behavior. If you’re worried your character isn’t “original” enough, add details about them to make it so!

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