Ahhhh character creation. Quite possibly my personal favorite stage in writing. There are a lot of different characters out there, and possibly almost all of the major archetypes appearing in one novel. Unfortunately, as writers, we have no character creation sheet that you may find in D&D or Pathfinder. BUT! This is a good thing. It keeps us from filling in all the same basic data for all of our characters, (major and minor) and the end result is a cast of characters that are completely unique! So how exactly do we create memorable characters? In this article, we will explore the first of four main criteria commonly used to create characters.
When arriving at the character creation stage, you should have some idea (or possibly already some writing done for newly introduced characters) as to what your story goal is. Your story goal is important! It is what is going to drive your story from beginning to end. And guess what? It is also the main organizing element for character creation!
Your characters should meet the needs of your dramatic functions. Usually this is something that is vital to the plot of your story playing out. There are a couple of ways of doing this. You can start your novel by first creating a group of characters (or players for the theater savvy) and try to imagine them in particular situations or when confronted by problems. Then you just have to force them to interact. This method usually will end up creating your plot and as some would argue, would result in extremely original characters.The other main method of attack is to choose a topic or theme you may want to explore. For example, one may choose rebellion against a religious monarchy as a theme and choose characters with opposing viewpoints and opposing goals. Whichever way you choose to attack it, you may want to consider each characters function and resolve their motivations early on (in your head, not your story) to possibly save time in revisions later. Especially when writing a very dense and complicated story.
Dramatica Theory recognizes 16 basic character functions. To make your novel feel complete you should include a character who...
1.) Pursues the goal and ...
2.) one who avoids the goal.
3.) one who helps someone's efforts and ...
4.) one who hinders someones effors.
5.) one who tries to get someone to consider a course of action and ...
6.) one who tries to get someone to reconsider a course of action.
7.) one who seeks a course or explanation that feels emotionally fulfilling and ...
8.)one who seeks a course or explanation that is logically satisfying.
9.) one who exhibits self control and...
10.) one who appears uncontrolled
11.) one who makes an appeal to conscience and ...
12.) one who makes an appeal to temptation.
13.) one who supports any effort and ...
14.) one who opposes any effort.
15.) one who expresses faith or rather confidence in something being true despite lack of proof and ...
16.) one who expresses disbelief.
Make a consideration of these 16 basic character functions, and you may soon have your own special set of characters! And don't get too attached to them, killing them can be interesting.... muahaha! Now go forth and forge your story!
-Derek
/*Writing Prompt*/
Consider the first four of the basic character functions and create characters to fill those four roles. Write as many scenes as you wish to exercise these new characters!
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