Creating Realistic Characters: Part 1

If you have ever applied for a management position, you have probably had the interviewer ask you to describe your greatest strength as well as your greatest weakness in the work environment.

There is a good reason for that.

Determining what you value as a strength quickly gives the employer a view into your personality. It also is a great way to see if someone might or might not be a fit for a particular position.

It is also a wonderful way to start building a character.

When working with students, they often have trouble understanding what character traits are. Yet, once they do understand, they are able to create three-dimensional characters who act like real people in fictional scenes.

We start with a piece of paper divided into quadrants. The labels for each are: Says, Does, Thinks, Traits. Long before we think about what a character looks like or even select the gender for a character, we create this four-part profile. 

For elementary school students, I use basic trait lists with qualities like “kind” or “patient”. For middle school students, the lists include traits like “anxious” or “reckless”. 

Here are my starting lists:

Elementary – Brave, Honest, Kind, Fair, Patient, Loving, Wise, Funny, Humble, Friendly

Middle School – All of the above plus Hopeful, Spiritual, Appreciative, Disciplined, Prudent, Forgiving, Merciful, Observant, Loving, Persistent

There are many more traits than this, but I have found that these lists work well in the beginning.

In the quadrant labeled “Traits”, the kids must choose three positive traits. They then must also list the inverse traits for three more. That gives us a chance to talk about antonyms as well as an opportunity to discuss examples of negative behaviors resulting from character flaws.

For example, a pirate captain may be brave, patient, and wise. The character may also be arrogant, reckless, and amoral. Once the student has the three positive and three negative traits identified, the student writes a paragraph describing how the character might show these traits when challenged.

For example:

When cornered, character X immediately draws a weapon whether or not the situation warrants it (brave yet reckless). Once the weapon is in hand, character X studies the opponent for an opening blow opportunity (wise yet arrogant). Character X is taken aback when the opponent identifies himself or herself as a brother or sister lost to a kidnapping, yet X proceeds to disarm the opponent anyway (amoral).

Students enjoy playing with different traits in different situations, and it gives them a chance to explore the type of character the student wants to create. Middle school students in particular enjoy researching additional character traits and using movie characters as models from which to extract traits. 

When we are starting a creative writing unit, we start this way. It lets the kids create the essence of a character without the usual focus on character appearance.

Next time, in Creating Realistic Characters: Part 2, we will look at additional factors to develop for a well-rounded character.

Keywords: character, cartoon, traits, writing, writing sprints, character traits, students