Creating Realistic Characters: Part 3

Goals. Most of us in adulthood have them. We might aim to lose weight, obtain another degree, save to buy a house, date to find a significant other, apply to adopt a child, or in some other way reach for something beyond our current existence. Characters need to do the same thing, even in short pieces of fiction.

When we last talked about creating a character, I had the students putting their characters through various scenarios to flush out their strengths and flaws. As part of this exercise, they should have the character do things to make the author proud as well as do things to make the author despise the character. Every character creation needs to have his or her “terrible twos” moment of author disgust.

A great way to discover the inner desires of a created character is to have the student interview the character as though the character was on a talk show. It is often very revealing to have the students take on the role of the character while peers interview them. Journalists interview people to learn more about a topic, create an interesting story from the answers, and put the interviewee a little on edge. They begin with small talk to make the subject comfortable, and then move into probing questions. The interviewer needs to tolerate long pauses. The questions can also be on a worksheet, but I have found it works best to have someone talk through the questions with the student.

I use these interview questions:

1. Which scenario did you find the easiest to envision and why?
2. What did you learn about yourself as a result of that scenario?
3. Were there any surprises in your response that caught you off guard? Why?
4.  Which scenario was the most difficult to use and why?
5. What did that scenario tell you about yourself that surprised you?
6.  Think about someone who would be a good friend for you. Who did you select, and what aspects of that person makes them a good potential friend?
7. What situation might turn that friend into an enemy? What could cause that to happen?
8.  How would you mend the relationship, or would you not try to mend it? Why?
9. What do you love the most about being you?
10. What do you hate the most about being you?
11. What one thing do you want the most in the world, and why do you want it?
12. To what lengths would you be willing to go to get it?

From this exercise, the student should learn the goal of the character as well as his or her motives. Wants and desires emerge from the later questions, and the needs are categorized by status (immediate, near term, and future). An easy way to work with this concept is to have students look at printed advertisements in magazines to identify the wants and desires reflected in those images. That little visual nudge can help to crystallize the personality of the character, making it sharper and more memorable. The Pinterest pin for this post is a clear image showing how this idea works. It is clear what the piebald cat wants, and it is clear what the black cat is thinking. The next discussion point for the class is determining the motive or motives which drive the characters.

The next step is to create a backstory for the character. Who is this person, and what made him or her be like that? What life experiences did the character have? Where did the character live? We will cover that next time in Creating Realistic Characters: Part 4.

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