Finding the heart of a character

[rj_anderson]

I've seen a lot of discussion about how to generate and flesh out new characters for books, and I've dutifully worked my way through a variety of questionnaires designed to help me get to know my fledgling heroes and heroines better. Which seemed like a good idea in principle, but in practice turned out to not especially helpful, at least for me

Comments

[fandoria]

Making data sheets for my characters never really works for me either. I find myself just making up stuff that totally doesn't fit them just for the sake of having an answer. The way I develop my characters is I let them slowly form themselves in my head along with the rest of the story before I'm ready to write them. I learn bits and pieces about them over time, enough that I feel like I'm ready to start really getting to know them. And that I do by writing them. I just plunge them in the middle of something and see how they react.

[sartorias]

Yep, same here.

[pameladean]

Me too.

P.

[rj_anderson]

Making data sheets for my characters never really works for me either. I find myself just making up stuff that totally doesn't fit them just for the sake of having an answer.

Oh, yes. That's my problem too, exactly. And if I try to keep myself from making up stuff too hastily, I end up spending forever thinking about filling in the character sheet and feeling guilty about not doing a proper job of it, instead of actually writing the character and getting to know them naturally in the process.

[kerravonsen]

One thing I'd like to try, the next time I have to create a character (not that I'm going to do that often, seeing as I write fanfic) is to use Meyers-Briggs personality typing for them. The reason why I think that would be helpful is that it gives a core for how they act/react to situations; whether they are extroverted, whether they shut down and think about things, or whether they go from the gut without thinking, whether they're messy or fussy, cautious or impulsive... that sort of thing.

To me, those questions of desire, attitude and action are the really crucial ones in the formation of a character, not whether said character's hair is brown or black or what their favorite food might be.

Absolutely! Mind you, if their favourite food gives us insight into their desire and attitude, then bring it on. Or if they hate the fact that their hair is the colour of cream-of-tomato-soup, that's another. 8-)

but because the MC seems to have no clear goal or desire, or because they fail to take any action to push the story forward.Yes

[shoebox2]

I can't begin to imagine trying to 'manufacture' characters from data sheets. In fact, now that I come to think of it, I can't quite articulate how I go about creating characters in the first place.

They just sort of...are, same as anybody I meet on the street. Their adventures follow from their personalities (one reason I have real trouble with plotting, I think). I only realise they're fully-fledged when I try to make them do something they don't want to do. Apologies for sounding like every bad creative cliche every, but it's true.

As for what makes another's character 'real' to me...well, again it's indefinable in the main. I do think a lot of it has to do with the absence of an...agenda? The moment I detect that the character has been cobbled together to serve the plot, rather than the other way around, I'm lost.

[taimdala]

Oh. My. G-- *THUD!*

This is brilliant! This manages to distill down to a few simple words what I've been trying to figure out for years.

Desire + Attitude/Energy = Action

(Desire + [Action + Joy]) > Pain = Plot

I wish I'd had this *before* I'd started writing--my characters would have been better fleshed out and my fic would have been finished sooner.

Since I didn't, I had to rely on a different questionaire that my husband uses for his RPG campaigns. Some of the questions were pretty standard ones about family, where born/from, favorite foods, etc. A few, however, stood out and helped me get a handle on my character's inner landscape:

1. Under ordinary circumstances, what does your character wear to bed, and why?

2. If your character has theme music, what would it be?

3. What political views, if any, does your character hold?

Those three questions seem pretty lame compared to Cheryl Klein's exercise. Thank you so MUCH for posting your entry and the link to her blog. Thank you! ^_^

[tapinger]

You might be interested in this idea by arhyalon: Drop each of your characters into a morally ambiguous situation and write what they do. On the other hand, maybe it's just fun to read the results