Characters are one of the major hearts of a fiction book. We can identify with them, we can despise them with dripping hatred, and we can either root for them or hope they fall. Without moving characters, the story can fall short very quickly. Have you ever read a book where you didn’t care what even happened to the characters? It was a lack of characterization.
Characterization and strong dialogue is what I pride myself on, and where my speciality lies when it comes to writing. Could I write a crazy sci-fi or fantasy novel? Most likely not, because world building is not easy for me. Could I write a gripping thriller with mystery? Also most likely not, because I do a terrible job with plots a lot of the time. I usually build my plots around my characters, while lots of people do it do other way around. But could I rip your heart out a bit, and get you in all the feels? I try!
There are a couple of ways that we can make a character realistic, and bring them to life by giving them some solid background information. Jodi Picoult once described her characters as speaking to her and she is just typing on her keyboard what they are whispering to her. How do we hear them better? How do we differentiate them from other characters in the book? And more—how do we differentiate them from ourselves? (For example, if you are a very adamant Republican, could you write a very left sided Democrat effectively?).
I’ve made a list of five key elements I believe really helps give a character background. Knowing these key traits will help you not only develop more plot, but also give them depth. For the sake of making this “a tutorial”, I will also create a character on here to show examples.
MAKE THESE REAL, NOT FLUFFY. Humans do not just live on the surface of “it’s fine all the time”. They go way, way, wayyyy below the surface, and kick around and sometimes start to drown and come up choking. They struggle, they make mistakes, they do dumb things, and not everyone agrees with everyone. Do not make these light, do not worry if it will be “inappropriate”, and do not hold back. Readers identify with realness.
Background of character: Lilly, 22, lives in a normal town. We will say she’s working a low paying front desk job, and is struggling to pay bills. She also drinks way too much.
A PAST: Everyone has a past—and this can be good or bad! We all have things we are proud of, and things we aren’t proud of. Sometimes we don’t want people to know this past (characters can hold secrets, just don’t keep them hidden from the readers for too long or it will seem too random), and sometimes we boast way, way, way too much about the achievements of our past. Our past shapes how we view the world. If we’ve been hurt, we might not trust people as easily, and that’s going to affect how our character interacts and handles relationship. However, if you want it to be a very heavy topic (for example, sexual assault), please make sure you do proper research.
Lilly will have a good past, and was top of her class in high school, and graduated college with a 4.0 degree. However, she couldn’t get a good job during the recession, and took a front desk position just to get bills paid. Now let’s build off that: She feels like her family looks down on her because of it, and she feels like a failure for the first time in her life. She has started drinking to cover up the feelings of inadequacy. Let’s build farther. Maybe alcoholism runs in the family? Maybe her dad is an alcoholic and wanted better for her, and sees her making the same mistakes that he did and it’s causing problems in their relationship.
HABITS: Everyone has habits! These can also be good or bad. Bad: nail biting, smoking, doesn’t answer texts, let’s laundry pile up. Good: gratitude journal in the morning, 30 min workout every day at 6pm, drinks water all day. To help: what habits do you have? What about your friends? What habits do you hate that your significant other has? Make a list, and then pick which one makes more sense to incorporate through the story. But it has to make sense. For instance, if your main character was a busy lawyer, it probably wouldn’t make sense for them to spend 30 mins every morning writing in a journal, then 30 mins working out in the evening, and a bubble bath before bed. Their habits would probably be grabbing Starbucks every morning on the way to the office (the workers know their order there), reheating leftover takeout items while they shower when they get home, and a shot of whiskey right before bed to help them sleep for four hours. See? Make sure you continually have your character do these, as you do yours! One of my favorite to incorporate is… smoking! I almost always have a character that smokes. If they’re angry, they have to go out and smoke (background change), if they are stressed—smoke break! If they need to socialize—share a cigarette! If you need someone to judge them—they’re a smoker! It’s an easy one.
We’ve already established that Lilly drinks too much. But she might have a pattern (some severe alcoholics do). We can have her open a bottle of red wine when she gets home and pours a glass, takes one sip, and then takes a shower while it breathes. She always brushes her teeth before bed even if she’s crazy drunk. She could have more habits, but we will start there.
HOBBIES: There’s soooo many to choose from. Crafts, sports, reading, writing, cooking, art, interior decorating, podcasts, etc! Characters are either going to do these a lot… or never have time to do them. Make sure they’re doing their hobby throughout the book as much as possible, or add a bit of grumbling in there on how they want to do it, but don’t have time. How much time do you spend on your hobbies? Are you always having to put them last on your priorities because work and family comes before it? Does that make you bitter? Have your mistakes made it impossible to do those hobbies? Or, are your hobbies something you have time to make a priority and really enjoy? Is your job your hobby? Maybe it’s religion, too. Every morning they read their Bible and pray (habit), but their hobby is learning more about Jesus. Everyone does something.
Lilly clearly is unhappy at work, but her alcoholism probably makes it so she either goes home and drinks, or goes out and drinks. To find a hobby that she can enjoy both at home and out, she is going to like to draw. It brings her happiness. Let’s build. She had trouble finding a job because her degree is in Art History, and it can be a difficult field to find work. She probably needs a Masters, too, so we might have to adjust for age here! Maybe her family doesn’t think Art is a “worthy field”—another route of tension to build on.
VOICE: Everyone has a style. Are you sarcastic, funny, depressed, reserved and quiet? Which ones makes sense for your character? This will determine dialogue! If you have a character that is sarcastic, make him that way! Even combine two—maybe they are depressed and sarcastic. But make sure you don’t use the wrong one if you’ve established it. If you have a depressed character, they’re most likely not going to be the life of the party entertaining everyone. If you really need them to do that in a scene, ask how you can get them there. Maybe something happy FINALLY happens to them, and they’re celebrating (and maybe will crash from the happy high later). Or maybe they get ragingly drunk, take drugs, etc. I find that once I start writing and pick the voice for them, and really listen (thanks, Jodi!), that my characters speak to me in the voice appropriate for them.
I think it makes sense that Lilly is going to definitely be depressed, but she’s probably a little bit sarcastic. She needs this to get through the day, and make things a little bit bearable. Let’s build. Maybe she has a really perky and bubbly coworker that drives her nuts all day every day because their voices and personalities don’t match (negative tension). Maybe the Fedex delivery guy that she thinks is cute likes her sarcastic jokes she makes when he comes in (positive tension).
MEMORIES & MEMENTOS: I really think this is super important. It can also be good and bad. This could be a person—someone that passed away that people just can’t let go of, an older person such as a grandparent that influenced how they live, or someone that hurt them. A memory at a place they miss, or refuse to go back to because emotions are too high. Often times, there’s an object associated with them. An heirloom (china dishes, a diamond ring), the only thing you have left of someone (an ex’s hoodie, their collections, a house). Is the memory or memento sad or happy? Does it motivate them, or pull them back? Do they have a box of photos they go through when they’re sad? Do they have something they look at every day and saw “I can do it!” (that’s a habit, BTW!). It can be as simple as their Grandma’s old casserole dish that when they use it, they think of her (I have one). Or it can be as complex as they lost their virginity at the lake house.
Lilly might think that the degree that hangs on the wall is her most prized possession, because she did so well. But it’s a source of contempt, and she feels angry by it. If we wanted to add a human element into it: Lilly’s grandfather always told her that she would go on to do great things. He passed away when she was a semester away from graduation, and she has his pocket watch.
There you have it! We’ve created so much! Here’s what we’ve created so far:
Lilly, 22, lives in a normal, boring town. She was always top of her class, and graduated with an 4.0 in Art History, which her parents didn’t want her to get, but is now struggling to find a job due to the recession. Feeling like a failure for the first time in her life, she takes a job as a front desk receptionist just to make ends meet. Her colleagues are too bubbly for her, the Fedex driver smiles too much (and makes her smile too much), and the only companionship is her daily bottle of wine and sketchpad after work. With the relationship between her parents on the rocks (her dad is also an alcoholic), and her grandfather recently passing away, Lilly needs to find herself again.
Cool! Now, how could we build? The relationship with her dad, a possible love story with the Fedex driver, maybe she blows up at her colleague for smiling at her, etc. Maybe she meets someone at an Art show. The possibilities are endless!
Good luck!