Author | Lucas Willows | Dec. 16th 2019
Creative writing is a great outlet for stressful times. And I love writing my own stories, it’s fun and it allows me a creative outlet. I have always struggled to write interesting and fun characters to read. Before making my own strategies I would write the story before developing a character, and every time I would lose interest in the story after two weeks of writing. I have found that when writing your own creative story you need to have many things like settings and plots. But one of the most important things you and I will need before writing is a developed map of your character. Without knowing your character's interests and goals your writing will go nowhere, as mine did. Here are six of the internets and my best tips for developing your own character.
1. Make a character template. You can easily make your own character template by searching for premade templates online. The templates usually have a range from the character’s name and look to his or her’s motivations. After finding the right template that works for you, you can use paper or Google sheets in order to record your decisions.
2. Write small dot-jots on sticky notes. While similar to a character template, writing on sticky notes creates a short and compact vision of your character. Writing on sticky notes allows you to focus on the most important details and speed up the process.
3. Take inspiration from life. Take ideas or parts from people in your own life. Most great stories have characters based on someone in real life. Use your own experiences to enhance and jump-start a character if you’re stuck.
4. “Keep Character Arc in mind throughout”. It is important to have a character arc, without an arc, your character becomes boring and stays the same. When developing your character always keep an arc on your mind at all times. Some of the best fictional characters go through major changes in their arcs.
5. “Make sure he or she is human, vulnerable, and flawed”. In order to have a balanced and fun character, you need to add flaws. These flaws make the character feel more real and life-like. If a character is too strong the readers will have no interest in rooting for your character and will lead to a poorly received story. Be careful not to make the character too weak or the realism of the character will be destroyed.
6. “Give them a history”. History adds detail and character goals. Always include a deep and rich backstory to support your ideas. I can’t explain it better than this quote. “Give your character a rich history that affects both the person they are when your story begins and how they will handle the journey to come.” (Kristen Kieffer)
References
Kieffer, Kristen. “33 Ways to Write Stronger Characters - Well-Storied.” Well, Well-Storied., 11 June 2015, www.well-storied.com/blog/write-stronger-characters.
Jenkins, Jerry B. “The Simple 10-Step Guide to Character Development.” Jerry Jenkins | Proven Writing Tips, Jerry Jenkins, 12 Nov. 2019, jerryjenkins.com/character-development/.
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