6 Alternative Ideas to Develop Your Character

Try these alternative exercises to get to know your characters

Your characters are the most important element of your piece of work. They are why the reader cares about finishing your story. The story is next, because the story is driven by your characters. Not simply crow barring them in to take actions in a certain order to reach the end. 

Coming up with your initial exciting characters is one thing, a female assassin raised by a corporation, survivors of an alien invasion or feisty teenager rebelling in the 70s. Getting to know them, developing them into someone 3D, living and breathing, and getting into and out of trouble, is another. 

I’ve read posts on this, most of them offering free ‘character creation sheets’, where you’ll answer dull questions on looks, facts on backstory and supposedly deeper questions. (It’s so dry I need a cup of tea) 

I haven’t downloaded any, when I started my novel I barely knew anything about mine but I’ve found some great techniques for getting to know them far deeper than a quiz sheet.  

Lets go through these below exercises instead. 

1. Live with them

If they are newly formed, I suggest you live with them awhile. Let them simmer in the back of your mind, just make sure as ideas and details come to mind, you jot them down. Let yourself keep picturing them in your head, day dream about them. 

By then you should know if they are male or female, child or adult, what they do as a job as such, which character they are in your story (protagonist, antagonist, love interest, best friend, mentor) and any exciting and unique details you thought of.

2. Write scenes with them (but free your mind)

These are not necessarily scenes to be included in your story, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the plot yet. Any scenes you like. Put them in different settings, with different people and see what comes out. The scene may be a short 300 words, or it could go on longer, if it’s still flowing and you’re learning something, keep going. Let your imagination go for it. 

• Try a scene where they met your actual mother / father / sibling / manager.
• Try a scene in an office kitchen where they are trying to make a brew quickly before a meeting. 
• Try a scene that is related to your story idea.  
• Try a scene from your story idea, where they engage with another character you’re developing. 

My experience of this came early on, as I put the protag and her love interest in close proximity for the first time to have a nice getting to know you conversation. They didn’t, they had a spat. Not because I’d decided they would in order to push to the story or create conflict, not because I’d already made my mind up on every little detail of their previous existence on a sheet. No, because once one of them said something, the other replied and by sticking to the few bits I did know already, my flow started and I let it go. I hadn’t decided they had opposing views on a matter, turns out, they do. I also hadn’t decide that he was the one with patience, turns out, he is. 

All these details, from one short scene, helped me understand what they would do in any other setting. Equally, you can look back and say no, I don’t like that about them but you’ll know better what you do want to change it to. 

Another example, involving the same two characters, was I wanted to show my protag being jealous of her love interest showing attention to another female. It’s not what I got. Jealousy is obvious, what I got was far more personal. I put her in an uncomfortable position to make her jealous, instead, what was worse for her was realising how naive she is in intimate relationships. A floor that will stay with her and cause conflict for her and others around her as the story progresses.

3. Change the Point of View

Write in third person to watch how they walk, wield a weapon and any habits. Write in first person to put yourself in their shoes and in their head, feel what they feel and why. You could get them to explain their worse fear and where that has come from or how they feel about the other characters.

4. How others would describe them

You have this incredible picture in your mind how your character looks, whether that’s a stunning women, a mutant human or a humble shop keeper. So you mind dump it onto the page in one big paragraph telling us the eye colour, skin colour, hair colour, what they are wearing. But that is dull and obvious for the reader.

Instead, have the other characters or real people you know, describe them. Try each of the different characters seeing them for the first time. The love interest will be favourable, the antagonist will pick up on irritations. Think about how you mother may describe them, you want her to be a stunner but your mother may say she was tarty, or a bad influence for dressing provocatively.

You’re looking to find the one or two details that bring a vivid picture to the reader, while letting them fill in the blanks.

5. Take from real life

Need a detail or two to cling to, look to real people you know. Your not stealing their personality or revealing their secrets, you’re just borrowing an odd tip bit of realism.

Annoying habits may be fidgeting, hair flicking, pen clicking, their laugh or not listening.

I know someone who thinks they are a lovely human being but to me are often selfish, arrogant and a bully. They make for a great character basis to build round. Both real and flawed.

6. Feeling artistic

Draw them. Draw what they wear, their hair style, their weapons.

Get on Pinterest, create a board and pin images that match or reflect what you’re picturing in your mind.

This can help with how they move, what they do. They can’t fight like a shadow if they wear heavy metal armour. Or can they, the armour could be magic?

In summary

Not once have I found knowing a characters favourite colour at the start has made a single bit of difference later on. It certainly has never made them rounder.

People are complicated, often conflicted and always flawed and lovely at the same time. This is the magic you are trying to find and develop, maybe the above exercises will help.

You can discover my other posts in the blog section.