Character Personality

[*~EMMER~*]

Ive been told that my characters lack personality and i try reli hard to develop them and make them seem much more real ... bute i cant. I write down their thoughts and feelings and shock but i cant give them any depth.
Does anyone have a certain way they let the audience relate with the character??
Please help

 

[Stewart]

Give an example of your current efforts.

 

[Mari]

I write down their thoughts and feelings and shock...

The trick in all writing is not to write what they feel, but to write what they do. Their actions should show how they feel.

 

[Doug Johnson]

Put them in more interesting situations. Everyone is boring when they are sitting on the couch watching TV.

Think about what makes each character different. When a character does something you'd never do, you may be on to something interesting. When they all react differently to the same event, you have a story. When they act in conflict with each other, you have drama.

 

[sirmyk]

Make your characters uncomfortable and see what they do.

 

[G4G]

Many people make the mistake of using themselves as a template for their characters. Try to avoid doing this too often, otherwise all your characters end up the same, with the same voice. And no, I'm not suggesting that you "lack personality!"

 

[wilderness]

give us an example of something so we can see what we are dealing with...

When I'm developing a character, i make a plan, with things like their physical features, their past/background/history, how they would deal in certain situations, any weird things (black nail polish, piercings, tattoos, random metalic hairclip...etc)...yer...i can go for pages and you can differentiate them like that, i guess...works for me.


also, perhaps for practice, make up 5 characters and develop them a bit. Place them all in the same situation and imagine what they would do, how they would handle it. (if done properly, they should all react differently to the problem)

Lani

 

[Crystal]

Make your characters uncomfortable and see what they do.

Emm? Sounds like a tinkling writting tip. Any more? *craving eyes*

 

[sirmyk]

Emm? Sounds like a tinkling writting tip. Any more? *craving eyes*

Kill one of your characters and see how the others respond (I guess that falls under making them uncomfortable... but that's how I develop "character" in characters). You can learn much about an individual by placing them in disturbing situations.

 

[Billy]

I was listening to an author give a speech to senior students today and one of the things she talked about was character development. Some hints she gave were:

1. interview your characters.
2. take a trip as the character, eg. a ride in a bus, etc. and take a note book with you describing the reactions, thoughts and feelings of that character.
3. research, eg. If your character is a peach picker then hang out with a peach picker for a day.

 

[Kookamoor]

I was thinking about this while waiting for the bus in the rain this morning. Why not try describing real people and writing them as characters? Go sit in a public place (public transport for example) and start creating characters from the people around you. Look at their faces, clothes and most importantly their mannerisms and posture and imagine what they would do in different situations. I have a notebook that I used to keep from my tram trips in Melbourne. It's full of character sketches of the strangers who used to sit around me, particularly late at night when I was on my way home from work. It makes for interesting reading! I might start a thread of 'stranger sketches' when I get a little more time to write some new ones (I don't take public transit these days, unfortunately).

The fact is that your characters will really only be as good as your experiences, as all characters are based on what you know. So keep reading and, most importantly, keep experiencing!

 

[Doug Johnson]

The fact is that your characters will really only be as good as your experiences, as all characters are based on what you know.

Only up to a point. Anne Rice was obviously never a vampire and JK Rowling never went to wizard school. Many readers want to read about incredible places they've never been to before. Imagining those places, and imagining the characters reactions to them, is an important part of the writer's job.

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

Instead of you telling how the character feels (ex. He was angry.), you should let the character tell the audience (ex. "How could you do that?!"). A good idea for the writer to get into touch with the character, however lame it may sound, is to "interview" the character in a scene you never plan to put in the book. This method was suggested by David Gerrold in Worlds of Wonder, and it really works for me.