Hello, I have come to continue my lesson. Now, the second part is breathing life in to your characters. Making them seem real, authentic and 3-D. Not just cardboard cut - outs.
Develop a Personality
Everyone has personalities, right? Well, just ways we react to certain things. For example, for someone who has a bitter personality, If they saw someone who was drowning in a river because they jumped from the bridge, might scold them for their stupidity and not help them. Someone who was caring and kind would probably do both.
Once you have figured out a personality for your character, what I like to do is spend a day as your character - doing what they would do. When you go the the cafe for breakfast, would your character get french vanilla or dark roast coffee? How would they greet the librarian at the library when help is needed to find a book? Obviously, If you have a rude, physco-maniac character or an ultra jerky one, you don't want to take it too far. For this, you could either
a) Explain to people what you are doing.
b) Only act as your character for minor situations, such as when you are choosing for a hamburger or hot dog, whether to take a shower at night or the next morning, etc, etc.
Develop Interests
Everyone has things that they are interested in, right? Well, so will your character. You can pick things like their birthday, their favorite foods, songs or colors, whether they like reading or dancing, singing or running. These are just some minors things you can do to get a more well rounded feel to your characters.
Well, Hope this helps. I'm Lazy, so I'm gonna post the final part, which will talk about execution and making your characters pertain to their world, tomorrow.
