source.
Character Creation – History and Personality
So, you
have the body of your character, but it's only the body. It has no life
or personality yet. This will hopefully help to give it one.
History
Creating
a history is not often fun or easy, but what has happened in your
character's past will affect their personality. Of course, like with
everything else, there are traps that you can fall into. Some things are
horribly overused, it's not illegal to use them, but just keep in mind
that they are really common. Whatever you do, don't have an overly sad
past, and I don't mean that they can't be orphans, or be abused by a
parent or partner, because it does happen in real life (sadly). Just
don't have every single thing happen to them.
Example:
"Growing up, Amy was never happy. She had been orphaned at the age of 5
in a car crash. She was soon adopted by a family who seemed nice at
first but then they started to abuse her. She would cry herself to sleep
every night because of this. When she started school, she was always
bullied and had no friends. When she was thirteen, she started cutting
herself and then one day her parents crossed the line and she stabbed
them to death..."
(I think writing that just killed a part of my
soul.) There was too much happening to her, and none of it was happy. I
don't think that it's realistic to have a past like this. Not that
everyone has a life filled with sunshine and rainbows. Don't do this:
Example:
"Lisa's life has always been great. She was loved by both of her
parents and got everything she ever wanted. Everyone wanted to be her
friend at school and she always got top marks..."
(I don't even
want to finish writing that one.) Something bad is bound to happen to
them at some time in their pasts, they'll have no personality otherwise.
They have more of a past if something has happened to them.
Example:
"Anne has had a relatively happy life. She was born in South Australia
but moved to New South Wales when she was six because her father got a
transfer. She had a small but good group of friends that she always
played with at lunch and recess times. Sadly, her father was posted back
to South Australia, so at the end of year 3, she moved to a small
country town with her family. Her family had to stop in Sydney because
her grandfather died of cancer and they had to go to the funeral and
memorial services. Year 4 was nothing special; she had a good group of
friends and joined the local girl guides group in town with her younger
sister. In year 5 she started having a bit of trouble, she started
getting bullied, it got worse in year 6. Because of this, she started
writing stories. Ever since then, writing has become a hobby for her and
she does it in any spare time..."
(That was basically my past.)
See, not everything is good, but not everything is bad either. To
practice, you could write up your own past. When you make up a past for
your character, make sure it is realistic.
Personality
This
is not the easiest thing to come up with but your character needs a
personality. Some parts are natural; other parts are influenced by what
has happened to them throughout their lives. Like their past,
personality should not be perfect.
Example: "Lisa is an
extremely kind person. She is generous and bubbly. She would never hurt
another living thing especially animals, she loves them too much. She is
extremely loyal and trustworthy. She never raises her voice and she
feels moved when somebody cries. She is happy with her life and doesn't
wish it to be any different..."
That was hard to write because
absolutely no one is like that. She has no flaws at all, and everybody
in the whole wide world has character flaws. Perfection doesn't exist.
There should be a balance of good and bad.
Example: "Anne
is a very shy person; she doesn't often speak to others unless she knows
them well. She isn't a very confident person, she prefers to blend in
rather than stand out. She is also sensitive, making it easier for
others to pick on her. She is a bit of a perfectionist, if she has to do
something, she will do it well. She is polite and never swears. She can
be a bit bossy, especially when working in a group. She can be
impatient at times and stubborn, she also has a fairly short temper.
When she is in a bad mood, she can be extremely sarcastic. She is
intelligent and a bit of a spelling and grammar Nazi..."
(That
was basically my personality.) That is a fairly good example of a
personality. It's neither completely good nor completely horrible.
Practice writing up personalities by trying to (truthfully) write down
your own, the personality of someone from your family or the personality
of a good friend.
Conclusion
So, now your
character has a body, a personality and a life. Now they need clothing,
don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that. There is a method to my
madness.
