Character Building in Fiction

 

All authors strive to create interesting relatable characters. They spend a lot of time character building. This is the process of creating unique, multi-dimensional characters with defined personalities, backstories, motivations, and goals that make them relatable and believable to readers. The reader rarely sees all the aspects of the character that the author creates because not only do they develop an initial detailed character profile before writing but also during the story the writer must show how that character changes and evolves over the course of it in response to events, known as the character arc.

Various details are essential to create a credible fictional character and the author must know the character inside out, however the reader must not be burdened with this but they need enough information to keep them gripped to the tale.

The first thing the reader needs is to know the identity of the character. This includes basic traits like name, age, appearance, ethnicity, and gender, helping to define who the character really is at their core. This allows the reader to understand how and why the character reacts as they do.

To assist the reader with that, they need to know enough of the character’s back story, that is their past experiences, both good and bad, which shape their present behaviour and reactions to new events into which the writer throws them. This provides the necessary depth to give the character’s actions with a sense of realism.  This is important because the reader must understand the character's motivations which are driven by their desires, goals, fears, and what the character feels they are missing. This helps explain their actions and decisions within the story. 

It is necessary for the writer to give a character both positive attributes and weaknesses because this makes them imperfect and relatable and mirrors the personalities of real human beings. A character’s personality and their traits including their habits, quirks, and personality aspects can distinguish one character from others and make them more memorable. 

During the course of a book the main character or characters their story arc will develop, learn or change. The character arc refers to those changes a character undergoes during the story, often as a result of overcoming obstacles and learning from the experiences the author creates for them. 

 

When creating fictional characters, try to make your characters as interesting and well-rounded as possible by considering all these points.