Developing Characters Readers Will Love: 5 Essential Steps
In fiction, creating characters who feel as real and multi-dimensional as actual people is crucial. This involves exploring their inner world, including their desires, needs, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as their outer appearance and behavior. It also entails depicting their growth throughout the story—known as their character arc.
In this guide, we'll walk you through a step-by-step process to develop characters that readers will love. Additionally, you can download our free character development template to start creating your own protagonist.
How to Develop a Fictional Character:
Define Their Wants and Needs
Identify Their Strengths and Flaws
Outline Their Antagonists
Develop Their Appearance and Behavior
Research Their Background and Culture
1. Define Their Wants and Needs
The main character's goals and desires are closely tied to your story's plot. As Tom Bromley notes in his writing course, "the protagonist should shape the plot, and the plot should shape the protagonist." Key building blocks in character development are their Wants and Needs. A Want is what the character believes will make them happy and drives their journey. A Need is a deeper, more fundamental truth they must discover.
For example, in Pixar’s Inside Out:
Want: Joy wants Riley to be constantly happy, avoiding negative emotions.
Need: Joy needs to understand that all emotions are essential for Riley's psychological health.
In The Great Gatsby:
Want: Gatsby desires to reunite with Daisy through wealth and status.
Need: Gatsby should learn that happiness cannot be bought and that clinging to the past is harmful.
Exercise:
What does your character think they want?
What do they actually need to feel fulfilled?
Mapping out these aspects helps determine their initial psychological state and their progression throughout the story. To understand their journey and the obstacles they might face, we must also consider their strengths and weaknesses.
2. Identify Their Strengths and Flaws
A character's strengths and flaws shape how they respond to conflicts. Characters need both positive traits to help them and flaws that challenge them. For instance, Woody from Toy Story is a natural leader but can be vain and jealous, making him relatable and complex.
Exercise:
What are your character’s best qualities?
What are some of their negative traits?
A balance of both makes the character capable of overcoming challenges while risking failure, adding depth to their journey. This leads us to their main antagonist.
3. Outline Their Antagonists
Characters are defined in relation to others and their environment. As John Truby explains in The Anatomy of Story, “To create great characters, think of all your characters as part of a web in which each helps define the others.” The hero's main antagonist is crucial, as they often embody the hero's greatest weakness and force them to grow.
For example, Voldemort in Harry Potter understands Harry’s weaknesses and continually challenges him, pushing Harry to grow.
Exercise:
Who is your hero’s antagonist?
What is their background and motivation?
How do they challenge the hero?
Other secondary characters also help shape the hero by offering support or creating obstacles.
4. Develop Their Appearance and Behavior
While internal traits are crucial, external characteristics like appearance and behavior should not be overlooked. Unique mannerisms and physical traits make characters memorable and distinct.
Exercise:
What do they look like? Does their appearance play a role in the story?
How do they communicate? What is their gait and body language?
Adding distinctive mannerisms helps convey their personality without explicitly stating it.
5. Research Their Background and Culture
Authentic character development often requires research into their profession, culture, and background. Understanding these aspects helps create a believable and nuanced character.
Exercise:
Research their trade, culture, and any other relevant background information.
Consider engaging sensitivity readers to ensure authenticity and avoid stereotypes.
Be Patient
Character development is a challenging but rewarding process. It takes time and refinement to create a protagonist who feels as real as a person. With a fully developed character, your story will almost write itself.
By Sal Framondi,
CEO/Founder, OPPRIME.tv
Producer, Black Filmmakers Matter
For independent filmmakers, distribution is a key factor in achieving success, and OPPRIME.tv offers a significant opportunity to showcase their films to a worldwide audience. By teaming up with OPPRIME.tv, independent filmmakers benefit from a dedicated distribution platform that emphasizes the promotion and visibility of their films. This partnership helps them reach a larger audience, earn significant revenue, form vital industry connections, enhance their reputation, and engage in social and cultural discourse. OPPRIME.tv supports independent filmmakers by providing the resources to share their unique stories, foster meaningful discussions, and make a lasting mark on the filmmaking landscape. With OPPRIME.tv as a distribution partner, independent filmmakers can navigate distribution challenges and capitalize on growth and success opportunities in the industry.
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