Well, I recently came across some great information I’d like to share with you on character development.
So, to show you how to do this, you’ll need to start by making a small list of four or five good traits for your character, in addition to some traits like age, career, ect. Done? Let’s move on.
My character will be a man named Steven, who has a good memory, fun to be around, reads a lot…that’ll be enough for our example.
Now, think of each trait like a double-edged sword. For every good trait, there is a bad one that goes with it.
Trait A) Memory - Can’t keep a secret
Trait B) Reading - Neglects other things
Trait C) Fun - Untrustworthy
That make sense? OK, so now we have a realistic, semi-developed character. Now, our next step is to formulate his past. We must ask ourselves what genre the book is going to be now, because that’ll affect this. Let’s say, to make this simple, Stephen is living in the present.
Now, why might he have these traits? We must try and formulate a past that could result in them. Maybe his family moves a lot, so he doesn’t attach to friends, thus trait C. That could also result in trait A, because he wants to remember people. Lastly, maybe he likes books because the characters in there can’t be taken away by a move.
See? Now we have an idea of what kind of person Steven really is. Now it’s very easy to look into his life and learn about this person. Doesn’t he already feel real?
Now, from this, we can even formulate a story. Perhaps his dad works for the military, causing all this moving. Maybe his dad retires, but he already has become a social outcast. Maybe this leads to depression, an alcohol addiction…
There are so many ways you can make a plot just by developing a character. When you follow this process, you can make your characters realistic and relatable, which can really sell your novel.
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