Developing an existing character is one thing, but how do you get started?
While I was first planning my novel in October 2014 I ended up collecting a variety of useful techniques I could employ to establish the personalities of my cast. Prior to No More Heroes I had written mostly short stories, generally with a small cast of two or three, and all very different in theme and tone to the universe of The City. There's a reason why I decided to switch then to writing a fully-fledged novel with a sizeable cast of characters, but I'll save that story for another time. For now I thought I might share a few of the tricks I use when it comes to writing or planning interesting characters.
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1. Contrasting/Conflicting Traits
One of the first things I do when it comes to breathing life into my characters is to write down a short overview of their personalities using contrasting and/or conflicting descriptors. "Character is This but also That. Does X but is also Y." I find it's a nice starting point in making them realistically complex, and also diverse – having Character A be "X but Y" and Character B be "X but Z" can be a good way of establishing what kind of dynamic Characters A and B have or would have.
Example:
"CLARE – Assertive, confident, but sometimes too eager to put her abilities into use. Shrewd, more observant than she lets on, but sometimes jumps in before knowing all the details. Quick-witted and has a good heart, but unconsciously thinks of herself as being a bit invincible."
One of the first things I do when it comes to breathing life into my characters is to write down a short overview of their personalities using contrasting and/or conflicting descriptors. "Character is This but also That. Does X but is also Y." I find it's a nice starting point in making them realistically complex, and also diverse – having Character A be "X but Y" and Character B be "X but Z" can be a good way of establishing what kind of dynamic Characters A and B have or would have.
Example:
"CLARE – Assertive, confident, but sometimes too eager to put her abilities into use. Shrewd, more observant than she lets on, but sometimes jumps in before knowing all the details. Quick-witted and has a good heart, but unconsciously thinks of herself as being a bit invincible."
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2. Character Arc & Motivation
One of the basic storytelling principles boils down to "Someone wants something badly, but is having a hard time trying to get it". This is pretty much the same idea, just with different wording – "Character wants X but is opposed by Y. Needs to do Z, which they may not want to/be equipped to do". I use it to get an idea of what sort of obstacles I might throw at my character during the story's events and the arc they'll undergo – it doesn't tell me what the obstacle will be exactly or how the character will deal with it, but it's a fun place to start and a good reminder/reference point to come back to if I get stuck.
Example:
"LINUS – Wants to protect his friends and his city, but lacks the self-sufficiency and experience to oppose his enemies on his own. Needs to overcome his naïvety and self-doubt and learn to take the initiative in a tight situation."
One of the basic storytelling principles boils down to "Someone wants something badly, but is having a hard time trying to get it". This is pretty much the same idea, just with different wording – "Character wants X but is opposed by Y. Needs to do Z, which they may not want to/be equipped to do". I use it to get an idea of what sort of obstacles I might throw at my character during the story's events and the arc they'll undergo – it doesn't tell me what the obstacle will be exactly or how the character will deal with it, but it's a fun place to start and a good reminder/reference point to come back to if I get stuck.
Example:
"LINUS – Wants to protect his friends and his city, but lacks the self-sufficiency and experience to oppose his enemies on his own. Needs to overcome his naïvety and self-doubt and learn to take the initiative in a tight situation."
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3. Response to Conflict
This is one of my personal favourites and also helps me determine how a character might move, be it in a fight or making their way through a crowd. Since No More Heroes is fairly action-heavy (following in the footsteps of the visual media I love so much) this is a pretty key aspect to my planning stages – I use this as a way to plan in advance how my action/fight scenes might play out, but it could prove useful to you as well, depending on what you're writing (conflict doesn't have to be literal, after all). There are three parts to this technique:
A. Fight, flight, or freeze?
B. First strike, or wait it out?
C. Offence vs Offence, Defence, or Deflection?
Example:
"MALLORY – Prone to freeze; will wait for their opponent to make the first strike before moving. Combats Offence with Deflection, using their opponent's strength against them."
This is one of my personal favourites and also helps me determine how a character might move, be it in a fight or making their way through a crowd. Since No More Heroes is fairly action-heavy (following in the footsteps of the visual media I love so much) this is a pretty key aspect to my planning stages – I use this as a way to plan in advance how my action/fight scenes might play out, but it could prove useful to you as well, depending on what you're writing (conflict doesn't have to be literal, after all). There are three parts to this technique:
A. Fight, flight, or freeze?
B. First strike, or wait it out?
C. Offence vs Offence, Defence, or Deflection?
Example:
"MALLORY – Prone to freeze; will wait for their opponent to make the first strike before moving. Combats Offence with Deflection, using their opponent's strength against them."
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And there you have it, my favourite three tricks when it comes to establishing and developing my characters. Of course, there are other ways of doing it as well – I find it cool when people use Pinterest boards or 8Tracks/Spotify playlists, for example – and I'm sure there's something out there that you find works best for you. If you have your own methods you like to use, let me know! I'd love to hear them. In the meanwhile, if you'd like to see how I employed these techniques in No More Heroes, you can get a copy from Amazon, Kobo or Gumroad.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
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