Arguably, the most important thing about a story are the characters heading it. Would you want to read J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings if it starred a cast that already knew what to do? A cast that didn’t make mistakes? God forbid they skip the 2nd and 3rd book to ride eagles to Mordor – don’t get me started on that.
The point is, young Frodo Baggins had to undertake some character development to make Lord of the Rings interesting. It wasn’t just him, either; from reliable Aragorn to the wise Gandalf, everyone had to undertake some development and changes to finish their mission.
Today, I’m going to take a look at some prominent character development tips and provide my own take and feedback on them. I’ll be using a mix of the most popular, well-known tips and examining them. Are they tips forged in steel that must be followed, or have they been outdated and declassified?
- Character flaws. This one speaks for itself: if your characters are perfect, who wants to read about them? Not just your main cast, but the supporting cast as well. This can, however, work for you in multiple ways. A reader can really grow to like a character that appears perfect, only to completely fall to their own flaws later on.
I’ll use a character from my books as an example. Will Ramun, the heroic soldier of Syaoto. He appears to be everything one could hope for in a guide. He’s handsome, outdoorsy, and a talented warrior. However, his foot can end up in his mouth at important times, like when he has to come up with an alias and musters up “Sir Jeffrey Lampsword.” Much of his personal strength comes from his father, Jason of the Argonauts, who wound up to be a drunkard and abused his son.
Not every flaw needs to be endearing, either. I won’t get into too much detail, but an even more humanizing error to have is having done something unforgivable. A riled-up character can wind up making a serious mistake that leaves them open for judgement, and their heroic deeds can’t always balance it out. Everything they do should have an impact on the story at large, whether it comes to fruition immediately or later on. A side character who never forgave the flawed character’s sins might end up the judge in an important situation, affecting their outcome of stopping the Big Bad once and for all.
2. Character growth. As important as it is to have flaws, another important story aspect is that they must grow in some way. A cowardly character might come to terms with some inner bravery to complete their journey. Additionally, a brave character could lose so much that they become cowardly and miss a critical chance later on because of it. Beyond that, consider morality changes. A villain becomes more realistic and challenging if they show some humanity. Seeing the main villain stop to save a stray child or an injured soldier might make your characters rethink their plans.
In Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee didn’t particularly want to go adventuring, but he did swear to protect Frodo. He was one of his most influential and devoted companions. In the end, he carried Frodo all the way to the top of Mount Doom, saved him from Orcs, and killed the great spider Shelob. Would Sam’s initial traits have led him to commit such brave acts, or did he grow as a result of the journey?
In contrast, Frodo grew in other ways, and even succumbed to the power of the One Ring. Without the interference of Gollum, he may not have been able to complete his journey. Still, he wouldn’t have gotten so far without some personal growth of his own.
3. Character complementing/opposition. Consider your main character’s team. Of them, most or all of them should be foils to your hero in some way. Some compliment each other’s strengths and personality traits. A band of braver heroes can readily rise to the occasion – thus the opposition characters. Not to be mistaken with villains (unless you do, which can be an epic plot device in itself), these are the characters with sympathetic causes, but not the same train of thought. The main character might want to charge in and save the villagers, while their friend insists that they don’t have time and should just beeline for the enemy himself.
A good example of this is the main trio of Harry Potter: Harry, Ron, and Hermione. All three often had different ideas for how to do things, usually divided in their ways. If Harry and Ron wanted to charge in, Hermione wanted to study the situation and think of a better way. If Harry and Hermione were set on something, Ron became jealous and unresponsive. If Ron and Hermione agreed on something, Harry insists on going on alone.
The same sort of mechanic can be useful in creating conflict within conflict in your stories. It makes situations complex. While all may agree that the big baddie must be stopped, they all may have differing views on how it should be done.
4. Build characters based on your interests. This can be really easy to do, but it can also easily rule your story. A reader can tell if your main character is a carbon copy of you and your friends. This isn’t to say that you and your close ones can’t be reflected in your books. Doing so will make your writing and connections stronger, but in a scattered way. Your hero could have several things in common with you, but making something about them quite different will keep things complex. Give another character your love for sports, and they will pop out of the pages.
As I mentioned in my last post, research on your topics will prevail through your words. An avid hiker can explain the process much better than someone who tries to pants their way through it. And for every character you make who reflects your interest, you should have some who oppose it. A talented author can deploy a love and hatred for their favorite things in writing, and do so convincingly.
5. Reveal them by detail. There are multiple ways to do this, and I’m going to talk about physically. However, this isn’t cut-and-dry. You might know a character by her scarlet hair, another by his sapphire blue eyes, and another by how impeccably he dresses. Almost always, unlike real life, traits like these can tell something about that character. The hero’s friend who always enters town in a tailored suit likely has an impeccable attention to detail. His heat-pressed sleeves can show he is focused and elaborate. In tandem, he probably has neat hair, is clean-shaven or neatly-trimmed, and generally takes care of himself.
This isn’t the only way, though it can be a powerful one. A more subtle way to show detail is through POV and how they see the world. One character might notice how people react to his words, small physical details about others, and other subtleties. Another might notice political things, small revealing notes about how the city they’re in is run, and other details comparing hierarchies. These can be keys to their inner personality.
6. Skills based on their world. This just means that your characters’ abilities should be based on the world of your book. Does it make sense that your character is a pro skateboarder if they never use it in the book? Not to completely shy from it, but emphasizing something strongly and never utilizing it leaves the reader confused.
My book uses this in a different way. Since Ryoku Dragontalen is from the real world (which is failing), his skills largely focus on the modern world and lack any natural skills to begin with, like hiking or foraging, whereas Will does, who hails from a medieval kingdom. Other characters from pseudo-modern worlds have different skillsets, too, and they usually have to work in collaboration with those that do.
7. Memorable qualities. This is especially important if you have a larger cast. For the readers to remember everyone without needing to spend a paragraph calling back every couple chapters, they should have at least one fairly noteworthy trait. It can be habits of speech, a startling color of hair or eyes, or even a tag term that can call upon just that character. It doesn’t work that well if you have a few scarlet-haired warriors for the reader to blend with each other.
For example, Relus Ashbane is a character absent for much of the first book,, and has simple callback lines such as the bespectacled vampire or the Timeless One’s assistant. While the Timeless One has many assistants, it can help that Relus is the closest and often as his side. He’s one of the only characters in the first book who wears glasses, too. For Sira Jessura, it is often the scarlet-haired swordstress or terms of the like, which are things almost all characters know her by. Referring to her by her temper or her great red broadsword are both equally fitting ways to call attention to her. For other examples, you might know Aragorn as Strider or the ranger, whereas Gandalf is simply the grey/white wizard.
Even if the full details of your characters are sometimes foggy, including memorable things about their traits helps them live in the background without having to refer to their old accomplishments each time.
8. Internal monologue/conflict. Works best with your main character or regular POV characters. Seeing their thoughts and reflections on the situations without info-dumping can be very revealing to their character. Keep in mind that its much better to be ambivalent than direct in these cases.
For example, you usually don’t want to say “I hated that” in their point of view. Some excellent ways to show the thought without telling it are by facial expression or indirect thoughts. Showing them thinking about the situation without directly saying it is the best way. For example, “I scowled and quickly thought of how to argue the point,” or “I felt a bit of respect for name dissipate, and my fists unconsciously clenched.” It can work equally for other characters to show their facial expressions or obviously just express it in dialogue.
There are easily many more tips to follow, and these are sort of finishing points for character development provided you’ve got some of the basics down already. I read this article for many of the points, and it’s worth checking out as a means of a checklist whether you’re just starting or finishing your character development. It even includes a few writing exercises to sharpen your views of your characters! In general, I tend to have character profiles and details written out (I use Evernote) and use them to fall back on if I ever doubt myself. Actually, something I did for my first book was to write character profiles, then go through the (finished) book itself and write notes, and compare them. If there were any discrepancies, it was easy to find and fix as long as you don’t mind plenty of notes!
That’s all for now, but I have many more ideas and tips to share if anyone expresses interest. Please do check out my first novel recently available in paperback, hardcover, and E-book! If you liked any of the details about it I have a lot more information on the site, so please feel free to check it ot! Thank you, and please drop a like or leave feedback if you’ve made it this far!
Sovereign Soul 