Crafting Characters
June 19, 2023 | Ian Everett
Greetings, chumps, and sit your butt down for a lesson you’ll never forget. You’re here because you want the power of a god. Yes, you’ve found your way to this blog post, this nugget of holy wisdom, because like so many other writers, you want the divine spark of creation to flow from your fingers and into your pen and/or keyboard (or possibly even a typewriter if you’re Tom Hanks.)
You want to know how to create protagonists, antagonists, all kinds of agonists. Flesh and blood people to follow along your meticulously crafted plotlines. Conjured souls and minds to think and suffer at your grand whim.
*sniff* You budding megalomaniac, you.
Well, crack this (brief) tome right the hell open and dive on in, because today we’re talking the art of crafting characters!
“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”
If you’ve ever read a book that left you weeping on the shower floor, biting your knees in a “wishing you were dead” kind of way, or a story that you finished while grinning ear to ear – what exactly made you feel that way? Was it the simple procession of words, the events leading from Point A to Point B… or was it the people within those words, performing those actions, living and breathing and becoming like dear friends by the time you close the book for good?
Shut up, don’t answer that, you’re agreeing with my premise whether you want to or not. 95 percent of people read books for the characters, according to this number I just made up. I’d wager that it’s close to the truth, though.
All the genre conventions in the world don’t matter if your readers don’t enjoy following the people you, the author, have chosen to follow. Your well thought out magic system or steamy romantic affair are like the condiments on a sandwich or the toppings on a pizza – without the base, the dough, the bread, the characters to support those trappings, it doesn’t mean much!
But how do you craft a compelling character? There’s a simple recipe I like to follow when I’m creating characters that, aside from actually writing them in scenarios, gives me the best view into their psyche and how they’ll choose to navigate my story. You can follow this recipe exactly, you can make modifications, you can tell me my bread sucks and go your own way. But hopefully this list helps generate some ideas for your own characters.
Want vs. Need
“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”
Terms:
Want – their external goal, what they believe will make them happy/fulfilled, what they are going to achieve e.g. “Kill the Dark Lord”
Need – their internal drive, the fruit of their internal struggle or inner wounds, what they must overcome/accomplish to grow e.g. “Realize Killing is Bad Mkay”
The “Want vs. Need” dichotomy is by far the easiest way I know of to mine good internal conflict from your characters. This establishes their direction for their arc and the story. Giving characters cognitive dissonance, a clash between what they want to achieve to meet their external goals and what they need to be internally satisfied, lays the foundation for a compelling character arc.
The next time you’re sketching out a character, regardless of what role they play in the story, ask yourself what their primary want and need look like, and how those things conflict for them!
Let’s take a look at a couple of different characters and their want / need dichotomies.
Emery Anden (Jade City by Fonda Lee)
Anden, as an adopted member of the Kaul family, wants to bring honor to the Kaul name by living up to their expectations of him as a Green Bone Warrior, using his powerful magic abilities in violent ways to serve their needs. However, Anden watched his mother go mad from these same magic abilities, and his internal need is to not end up like her, thus creating a natural fear and resistance in him to use his powers to honor his adopted family.
Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Walter, when he learns he is dying of cancer, and having lived an unremarkable, even impotent life, wants to leave his family a measure of security when he dies, in the form of money, but as a chemistry teacher who gave in to domestic life long ago, he doesn’t have much to leave them. Additionally, the way he’s lived his life up to the story means that he has a narcissistic need to be respected and loved by that family and others.
The conflict this creates for him is that his chosen path to provide a lot of money for his family on a ticking clock (that path being making meth) is something he has to hide and lie about to avoid losing his family’s respect, becoming a public disgrace, and being arrested.
Flaws
“The flaws in a character are always more interesting than the strengths.”
Most compelling characters have some kind of flaw. This flaw typically comes from an inner wound, a brokenness in response to the damage the world has done to this character. The flaw is an important tool for you as a writer, and one of the main factors in how a character chooses to navigate the tension between their want and their need. It is often also the source of said need.
A character flaw can range in severity:
Minor – low impact on the character, almost a quirk e.g. gullible, foolish, awkward, prideful
Major – high impact on the character, can drive the major arc of their story and seriously influence their decisions e.g. vengeful, hypocritical, cowardly
Fatal – extreme impact, will lead to a character’s downfall if unchecked e.g. bigoted, murderously angry, self-destructive, treacherous
A character can have more than one of these! Take a look at our examples to see:
Emery Anden
Flaw: Fearful / Anxious
Anden’s fear of becoming like his mother, going mad and turning violent, is the source of his need, but it also plays into his wants – he is afraid of letting down his adoptive family as much as he’s afraid of turning into another mad jade user.
Walter White
Flaw: Fragile Ego / Narcissistic / Paranoid / Cowardly
Walter’s ego drives many of his decisions, lies, and abuses against others – his need to be respected, the “man” leads him bald-face lie to everyone, to burn bridges and hurt other people time and time again, and spurn genuine help – never directly violent himself but overly paranoid he will face great violence, so he arranges it to happen to others.
Lens
“When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.”
The lens, or perspective or worldview, is how the character views their world, whether through simple temperament or through more complex lenses like ideology:
Outlook — optimism vs. pessimism, nostalgic vs. cynical, zeal vs. zen
Ideology — democracy vs. monarchy, socialism vs. capitalism, conservative vs. liberal
Spirituality — religious vs. atheistic, nihilistic vs. absurdist
Societal — patriarchal or matriarchal, communal, individualist, outsider, insider
There are a ton of options and will often be unique to each character, and shape how they view and narrate their conflict to themselves. Many authors tend to either imbue their character with a lens they personally have, or they apply the worldview later on. However, there are benefits to picking a lens for your characters early on. It can help shape their choices, conversations, and conflicts! Think of a combination of lenses (like socialist religious or nostalgic individualist). How would you write that?
Emery Anden
Lens: Zealous Outsider
Anden views the world as something he is outside of – he is an orphan, an adopted member of the Kaul family, and gay – this accents his fear, believing others need to be at an arm’s length for fear of his power, believing if he succumbs there is no one to help him – at the same time this status confers more zeal in how he clings to the Kaul family’s edicts.
Walter White
Lens: Pessimistic Patriarchal
Walter has a very standard toxic, masculine outlook on the world – he must provide for his family, he must be a well-respected member of society as a man, he can’t be weak, he can’t need help – at the same time, he makes many of his actions because of his impending death and believes there is no help to be had.
Traits
“In displaying the psychology of your characters, minute particulars are essential. God save us from vague generalizations!”
Character traits are unique aesthetics or characteristics that make a character stand out even if they’re leaning toward a specific trope or genre or following a well-trod path. For example, what job they have, or their body type, or what tools they have to approach conflict (charismatic speaker who resolves by speaking, or a ferocious warrior who tends to throw punches instead of asking questions?). Often, characters have multiple quirks/traits. Gandalf, for example, isn’t just a wizard – he’s also grumpy, wise, delights in entertainment and stories, smokes a pipe, befriends horses and other animals, and so on. These aren’t the “core” of his character, but they are the outward iconic elements we associate with him.
It’s important to remember that these traits aren’t just what hair color your character has, what eye color, their mannerisms, or professions – it’s about HOW these traits are incorporated into the story, how they shape the character’s approach to solving their problems or how other characters perceive them!
Emery Anden
Quirks: Orphan, LGBTQ, Magic sensitivity, loyal
Anden being an orphan is a major component of his outsider status (as well as being LGBTQ – it’s not prohibited but sets him apart), and his loyalty comes into play with the Kaul family essentially adopting him. His magic sensitivity is what drives his fear and is also the reason the Kauls want him.
Walter White
Traits: Sick (Cancer), Charismatic, Family Man, Teacher
Walter’s cancer is the set up for his motivation – his cancer is a ticking time bomb that drives his actions and sets the stage for his inner need. His charisma is what led him, at the start of the series, to be a well-liked if vaguely weak effeminate figure in his bubble, and his status as a family man and teacher make excellent smoke screens that he uses while navigating his conflict.
Genre
“Good writing is good writing. In many ways, it’s the audience and their expectations that define a genre.”
Characters don’t exist in a vacuum, and their stories typically follow molds in certain genres. Exploring how the previous building blocks of a character interact with these molds is important because of audience expectation!
Genres and the reader expectation determine the expectations of your story and the tropes you might fill it with, and many characters are considered “stock” in certain genres (for example, the cynical hardboiled detective in a noir mystery) Always ask yourself how your genre might impact your character’s want / need, flaws, lenses, traits, and so on!
Emery Anden
Genre: Fantasy, Gangster / Mafia
Anden operates in a secondary world with magic, and thus it’s expected some of his character traits will interact with said fantasy elements: his magic sensitivity and fear are both driven by the fantasy elements – his jade sensitivity means he has a lot of power in the magic system, but also drives his fear by making him worry he’ll become addicted and mad like his mother. Likewise, his loyalty and outsider status resemble more the mafia/gangster genre that inspired Jade City.
Walter White
Genre: Crime Thriller / Drama, Black Comedy
Walter exists in a crime drama, and thus his goals and how he navigates them interact with criminal elements. He doesn’t decide to raise money through politics or going into a lucrative corporate position – he decides to make meth. His flaws of paranoia play into the thriller aspect of the show, and his fragile ego leads to some borderline comedic aspects where his pathetic nature is highlighted.
Parting Shots and Thoughts
As you can see, a well-crafted character is going to have many facets and dimensions to explore. Either some of these properties are emergent in the writing of your story, or they are present from the beginning, planned and incorporated from draft one. Whatever the case, as you write, you may find your characters taking on new traits, new flaws, even new perspectives on the world. Don’t be afraid to let your characters grow in ways that serve, augment, or even straight up improve the initial concept you had for them!
And then you stab that precious little baby of yours in the fucking back, because everyone knows that the best stories revolve around suffering.
If you’re in need of a guiding hand in the art of crafting a full-fledged person for your story just so you can torture them, the Tomeworks Editing Collective has your back! Reach out to us for an editor who can help you pick the juiciest parts of your character to roast create convincing characters!
Thanks for reading, that’s all, folks! Ciaooooooooooo