Secrets of Character Design-Gettin' Gritty
Feature Creep? What's that?
This originally started because I wanted a place to share some of the resources I've accrued for Character Development over the years. Unfortunately several deadlines are crashing against each other and I can't yet give this full article the attention it deserves. in the meantime, Here are some tools you can use when you're ready to take your character development to the next step.
It's really, really easy to fall into the trap of "use a 500-sentence long prompt to develop my character" or endless lists of ideas, personality types and minor minutae of quirks. While these are fun and can be great for character development, it's also really easy to fall into the weeds and end up with a bunch of half-baked characters and no story.
I personally use the following when I'm expanding my characters beyond my base template:
And now, for another important tip;
I know, I know, no one wants to have a racist/mysoginist/no longer socially acceptable character anymore. If one does, it's usually a one-note villain to contrast how morally-upstanding the heroes are. But Bad Flaws lead to great character development. One of my favorite examples is Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender. He could easily be called "mysoginist" at the start of the show, and with reason; he doesn't believe that women can fight, and should stay in the village. Detractors to this flaw often miss that this Flaw comes from a real and grounded background; he was, at least for a couple years, the only 'man' in a village full of defenseless women and children. The only other person anywhere close to fighting capability was his sister. Naturally, he's shown outgrowing this flaw after meeting the Kyoshi Warriors in his journey with the Avatar. But he had to have the flaw first in order to outgrow it.
So long as your characters 'Bad Flaws' come from a Real and Grounded place, they'll have a great foundation for character growth. Don't just give them flaws, 'bad' or no, just because they need some form of flaw. You may as well not give them a flaw at all.
This is the point where I wrap up for now, but not before I share my list of Character questions! I do hope you enjoy them!
Rachel's list of Character Questions!
Don't overthink it.
Random Inspiration.
Just observing the world around you can lead to some interesting developments! I've had characters learn to play the flute because they are terrible at learning lyrics, can't read a map because they looked confused holding a map in concept art, and enjoy a piece of jerky because I don't want them smoking, but they need *something* to chew on contemplatingly. And never assume you are done! Your characters, like any real person, are going to develop and change over time! always be open to new ideas and influences.Explore Scenarios
Those "Group at the grocery store" memes followed by a list of 'roles' for characters to fill can be a great way to get a 'feel' for your characters. You can also use things like "They're at a party, who's passed out on the couch?" or "They're going on a road trip, who grabbed shotgun and who has the snacks?" Even if such scenarios aren't realistic in your world, they're great for building out party dynamics and giving your characters interesting quirks without forcing them. My personal favorite is "What FFXIV class do your characters main, and why?"List of Prompts
Aside from my warning earlier, lists like these are a good way to further develop your character. The trick is discerning what questions are relevant to your characters, and which are unecessary fluff. I've provided my personal favorite list below, stolen from one of my favorite authors. (Jill Williamson-if you love Christian teen fiction, go check her out!) I would scan through several lists, pick the questions most relevant to your worldbuilding and character development, and leave the rest. Remember that you want to do this for most, if not all, of the characters you work on, so the less you have to do , the better!It's okay for your Characters to have bad flaws.
1. What does your character do when they think no one’s looking?
2. What’s the one thing your character would save in a fire (beyond the necessities)?
3. Who’s on speed dial?
4. Your character gets turned down for their dream job. What’s their second choice?
5. What would they tell their ten-year-old self?
6. Where would they want to go on a first date?
7. What’s the best advice they’ve ever received?
8. What’s the worst advice they’ve ever received?
9. What’s one physical detail they’d change about themselves?
10. When was the last time they were held? By who?
11. What’s their favorite thing about their favorite season?
12. Their wallet gets stolen. What do they do?
13. Prioritize: Love, money, power, knowledge?
14. What’s something nobody knows about them?
15. What’s in their fridge?
16. What (creature, object, substance) are they most disgusted by?
17. What’s their second worst habit?
18. What are the victory conditions for their life?
19. In the end, your character fails to save the day. Assuming they survive, what do they do?
20. Your character is charged with a crime they didn’t commit. What do they do?
21. Your character is charged with a crime they did commit. What was the crime?
22. What’s the 140-character version of your character’s life?
23. What important statistic would they want displayed above them?
24. What’s the first thing they would buy if they won the lottery?
25. What profession do they most respect?
26. What childhood injustice did they never get over?
27. How would they handle having a panic attack?
28. Your character is burdened with an inconvenient superpower. What is it?
29. If they died and could come back as any person, animal, or object, what would they be?
30. What’s the best meal they’ve ever had?
31. Where would they stand at a dinner party?
32. Who would they invite to the dinner party?
33. What makes a perfect day for your character?
34. If given the opportunity, would they want to know how and when they died?
35. What’s the one thing they’ve always wanted to do? Why haven’t they done it yet?
36. What do they tend to joke about?
37. What’s off limits?
38. Whose wedding would they cross the world to attend? Whose funeral?
39. What impossible choice did they make that turned out to be the right one? The wrong one?
40. Your character now has a hype man (or woman). What would they say to get everyone excited about
your character?
41. What recurring dream does your character have?
42. What is the meaning of life to your character?
43. If your character wrote a NaNo novel, would they be a planner, pantser, or plantser?
44. What book does your character pretend to have read?
45. Someone takes undeserved credit for your character’s work. What do they do?
46. What controversial belief or view does your character hold? Why? Do they hide it?
47. Your character is at a theme park. Where do they go first?
48. What’s your character’s favorite name?
49. What’s the biggest compliment they’d give themselves?
50. How does your character feel about bugs?
51. If your character could hit a reset button on their life, would they?
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