Character Creation
You have a character, you think. But who are they? How will you as a writer give birth to an entirely new person?
There are a few different ways to go about creating a character. Some people find it helpful to fill out a character sheet or a chart of some kind. Some like to start with a general concept or archetype, like a high school student struggling with finding their way. Others are more comfortable with other methods.
First, let’s briefly touch on the archetype method. There’s the chosen one, the reluctant hero, the comic relief, the anti-hero (sorry for getting that song stuck in your head again). The list goes on. Looking up character archetypes can give you a fantastic jumping off point. It helps define who the character is within the confines of the story. In order to make it unique to you, you’ll probably want to flesh them out some more.
In that spirit, let’s go over the character sheet method. You can find plenty of templates by searching for them on the internet. I find these to be fairly self-explanatory, as the sheet tends to lead you through the questions you want answered.
The most important information you need to know about your character is what they fear, who is important to them, what they look like, any hobbies or skills they have, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. That information is going to be the most relevant when writing a story.
I find that the most essential part of a character sheet, the part you absolutely should not skip under any circumstances, is what they look like. I cannot tell you how many times a character’s eye color has changed throughout a book because I didn’t write it down beforehand.
Why do I say that’s the most essential part? Well, because there is one thing that has never worked for me when it comes to character creation. And that is a character sheet. I can fill them out to my heart’s content, but I never feel like I know my characters any better at the end of it.
When it comes to creating a character, I just have to write them. That’s the method that’s always worked for me. I can’t have them exist in a theoretical sense. I have to create a space for them to exist in.
Approaching writing a character you don’t know yet is no simple task.
When writing my book, The Marbhaven Reaper, I started by writing a bunch of different scenes between my characters. Some who have yet to interact with each other. Most of these scenes didn’t make it into the book. And that’s ok! I’ve got a deleted scenes document if I need them later.
It helped me figure out what kind of people I was dealing with. Some of the characters say a lot while others don’t speak much at all. Some characters are going to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Others are going to keep every emotion buried deep within.
But it’s difficult to think up scenes when you don’t know a character yet. And, if you’re a pantser like me, you probably don’t even know the plot yet. So, I’ve got some lists for you!
A list of situations to put your character in, and see how they respond:
They fail a test
They’re interviewing for their dream job
Their best friend becomes friends with their mortal enemy (This may or may not be inspired by the Bridgerton season 3 trailer.)
A crush asks them to prom, but they already said yes to someone else
How do they handle grief?
How do they go about grocery shopping? Do they have a list or are they throwing things into the cart with wild abandon?
What will they do to cheer themselves up after a bad day?
What songs are they skipping when they come up on Spotify?
The worst thing imaginable has happened to them. Then something worse happens. What is that thing for them?
A list of things for characters to talk about:
The weather (or small talk of any kind. It’s good to see how a character approaches small talk. Some people hate it. Some people thrive on it.)
What they ate for breakfast
How their day has been
Their happiest memory
Their saddest memory
Their favorite thing to eat or cook
What are we doing for dinner tonight?
Their plan for storming the castle (who is naturally taking charge? Are they bickering over who is in charge?)
Joking with each other
Arguing with each other
I found that throwing my characters on the page together helped me figure out what kind of person they were. And in turn, what would work plot wise. A well written character is going to interact with the plot in their own unique way. They might even decide to change things up a bit while they’re at it!
You might find that a character sheet helps you get the same information. It’s all about trial and error, finding your own process as a writer. There is no set rule for how any of this works. A giant list of writing rules is essentially a challenge to see how many you can break in one project.
One of the thrills of character creation to me is that, much like a real person, everyone who reads my story will have a different perception of the characters. It really is like raising a child sometimes. They’re only mine for a short while after all. Eventually, they will belong to the readers.
Maile Starr writes stories with graveyards and magic that are laced with sarcasm. By day (and night), Maile is a bartender. By even later night, she writes her upcoming debut novel The Marbhaven Reaper. She lives in Colorado with her husband and loves hearing from readers!
