Character Development 

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What is a character? They are the figures who tell your story. A character can be a person, animal or being.  Most commonly they are people, but fiction is full of animals and other creatures.

The four main types of Characters: The protagonist, antagonist, dynamic and static.  

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Protagonist: The hero of the story. The character whom the story revolves around and whom the readers root for. Example- Harry Potter

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Antagonist: The “enemy” or the character whom most challenges the protagonist most in the story.  Example- Lord Voldemort.

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Dynamic: The character that goes through some kind of metamorphosis (change) in the story.

Example- Neville Longbottom

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Static: The character who remains the same throughout the story.

Example- Professor McGonagall

 

Developing a character:

 

Every character in your story should play an important role. Create a backstory for every character, even the minor ones. You will not use every detail, but the more you know about your own characters, the better. Each character must have a personality and way of speaking and it’s important to stay consistent. If your character is a mean old grouch, readers shouldn’t suddenly find them smiling and skipping down the street. Your characters should have flaws. A perfect character isn’t a character that can be learned from.  And above all, your characters should have human elements to them, even if they are not human in the story. Aliens can be loving; animals can be jealous, and robots can be silly. The more human a character comes across; the more readers can relate to them.

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Character development chart:

 

It’s important to map out each character in your story. This goes beyond their name and where they are from. Readers should also know their likes and dislikes, what type of clothing they would most likely be wearing and enough of their personality to guess how they might react in a given situation. Give your characters little quirks such as scratching their ear when they are nervous or coughing when they get angry.  Think of the things you do when you're sad, stressed out, or happy and build it into your characters.

 

Things you must know about your characters:

 

Character’s Name (given and ‘nickname’):  

Age:                 

Height:                                    

Hair color:                             

Eye Color:  

Ethnicity:                                               

Place of Birth:

Details about their family: 

What clothing do they like to wear?

What are the foods they like to eat?

What do they do in their free time?

What are their religious beliefs?

How do they respond to anger?

What makes them happy?

What kind of person are they?

What scares them? 

What are their goals (in the story)?