creative writing character development

Character Development: Create Characters That Readers Love

by Joe Bunting | 16 comments

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Readers love great characters.

Think back to your favorite stories of all time. You might remember the story arc or not. You might remember the best bits of dialogue, or you might not. You might remember the setting descriptions, but let’s be honest, you probably don’t .

But the characters? Original characters? Your favorite characters? You’ll remember them for the rest of your life.

Character Development - Create Characters Readers Love

How do you create great characters? The short answer is character development, but what is character development and how can you use it to create characters readers love?

That’s what we’re going to talk about in this article. We'll start by discussing the definition of character development and why writers need to do it. We'll talk about each phase of the character development process, from creating to developing to storytelling with them.

Throughout, we'll look at lots of character development examples. Finally, we'll get you started writing with a character development exercise.

Here's a quick table of contents so you can jump to your favorite tips for character development in the article.

Character Development Video Guide What Is Character Development? 3 Steps Types of Characters How to Create a Character Sketch 6 Steps to Character Development Through a Story Character Development Test Character Development Writing Exercise

Character Development Video Guide

But first, would you prefer to watch this guide? Here's a video I made for it:

Character Development How To Create Great Characters

Make sure to like the video and subscribe to our channel for more videos about the writing craft.

Now, ready to get started with this characterization lesson? Let’s do it.

What Is Character Development? The 3 Steps to Well-Developed Characters

Character development is the process of creating and telling a story about a fictional character. It's far more than a personality trait list.

When it comes to compelling characters, there are only three steps:

Create a character
Develop the character (making them more sympathetic and/or villainous)
Then, put them into a story

That's it. Easy right?

Actually no, it's not easy at all. You'll need to make hundreds of decisions to develop characters people can fall in love with. Each of these steps might take you days or months or even years .

Or they might happen in just a few moments.

J.K. Rowling said Harry Potter began when she had a vision of a young boy with a scar on his forehead board her train.

You might already have an idea for a character or a whole crowd of characters.

Of course, for Rowling it took her another five years to develop Harry Potter and write her first book.

And that's what we're talking about in this article: the process of taking ideas and turning them into living, breathing characters that can drive whole stories.

Let's begin with the first step: creating characters, as well as the different types of characters you might need to create.

Step 1: How to Create Characters for Your Story

Of all the character development steps, this is the one I have the least advice about. That's because characters are rarely created, they are discovered .

Before I came up with the idea for my last novel, I had a vision of a curly haired boy on a beach. I didn't know what my story was about by that point, but I knew it had to have him in it.

Just as J.K. Rowling discovered Harry Potter when he boarded her train, so most great characters come from a source that their writers have little control over.

You might come across inspiration in real life—real people who inspire you, but there are complex characters around you all the time in every movie, book, or story you read. Start noticing and you'll get a strong sense of what might inspire strong characters.

That being said, there are types of characters that you might need in your story, and if you know that you need that type, you can sometimes reverse engineer the characters.

Types of Characters

There are two broad categories of characters and many different subtypes:

1. Protagonists

2. Secondary Characters

Most stories only have one or two protagonists, or main characters, which means that most of your characters will be secondary characters. What is a protagonist?

Protagonist definition: The primary character of a story. The character at the center of the plot whose choices drive the story and whose fate determines the story’s outcome.

Protagonists tend to be dynamic characters who have a character arc that changes throughout the story. More on character arcs here .

Protagonists also tend to be point of view characters , meaning the narrator follows their point of view or they are a first-person narrator. (More on point of view here .) These characters carry the narrative, and in a story told in third person limited point of view , they will be the only character whose thoughts and emotions the reader can see.

Warning: Unless you're writing a love story, which frequently has two protagonists in the couple, be careful about having more than one protagonist. There's a reason George R. R. Martin is still (still!) trying to finish A Song of Ice and Fire . The more point-of-view characters you have, the more complicated your narrative, and the more problems you face.

There are three types of protagonists:

The Classic Hero. Think Harry Potter, Jane Eyre, Atticus Finch, or Katniss Everdeen. Classic heros are brave, are selfless, and try to do the right thing.
The Anti-Hero. Think Severus Snape, Huckleberry Finn, or Han Solo. Anti-heroes are not noble, rarely do the right thing, and might, in ordinary circumstances, be considered the villain.
The Ordinary Hero. Think Neville Longbottom, Holden Caulfield, and Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse. These characters have an even mix of admirable and less noble qualities, just like most of us.

Which type is your protagonist? Let us know in the comments. Also, read more on the three types of protagonists in this guide .

Secondary characters are the next category, and they contain all the other types of characters, including:

Villain or Antagonist . Not every story has a villain , but for the ones that do, the villain is the chief source of external conflict.
Love interest and love rival . In stories with a love plot or subplot , the love interest is the chief love interest for the protagonist and may even be a protagonist themselves. They may be static, meaning they don't change over the course of the story, or dynamic, meaning they do change, but they add to the romantic tension. Similarly, most love stories involve rivals, another love interest who creates a love triangle and increases the romantic tension.
Foil Character. A secondary character who acts as a mirror to the protagonist and is often very similar but different in one major way that allows us to better understand the protagonist's personality and choices.
Mentor . The mentor is a character who steers the protagonist, helps get them out of trouble, and provides chances for reflection. A mainstay of the hero’s journey plot structure , in many types of stories, without a good mentor, the character’s journey will end in tragedy (e.g. think about Hamlet, who had no mentor).
Sidekick . A sidekick is a character who supports the protagonist. Besides the protagonist and villain, they have the most opportunity for characterization and provide dialogue opportunities and insight into the character’s mindset. Sidekicks appear in all genres, from romance (e.g. Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet ) to adventure (e.g. Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings ) to mystery (e.g. Inspector Beauvoir from the Inspector Gamache series) and more.
Side Characters . Side characters often have fully developed personalities, long interactions with the protagonist, and perhaps even deep backstories. However, they rarely make decisions or change throughout the story.
The Chorus . A term from playwriting, these characters may have names and vague descriptions, but they do not have fully developed personalities and are chiefly there to serve as bystanders.
Suspects . Specific to mysteries and thrillers, suspects have fully developed personalities and they serve as objects of exploration for the investigator. They should all have motives and appear at least somewhat guilty of the crime, if only to serve as red herrings .

These tend to be static characters with a flat character arc, at least within the confines of the story. However, great writers know that all characters have their own arc. Your job as a writer is to choose how much of that arc to show the reader in the story.

For more on each of these character types, check out our guide, 6 Character Types Your Protagonist Needs Around Them .

Step 2: Develop Your Characters by Making them More Sympathetic (and/or Villainous)

Once you have a few characters, your work is not done. Now you have to develop them.

To do that, I've created a framework called the Seven Characteristics of Sympathetic Characters.

I learned this from Brandon Sanderson's fantastic characterization lessons as well as Blake Snyder's Save the Cat and my own research into story structure and characterization.

These characteristics are reader candy . We love characters with these personality traits, and by adding them you can quickly create a bond with your readers.

Think of this list as a checklist. The key is to include at least two or three of these characteristics early in your story, ideally in your protagonist's first scene.

This list also works for your secondary characters, and it can be used to quickly add depth and connection.

For your villains and antagonists, you can use this list in the opposite way, making the audience dislike them or even combining negative traits with sympathetic ones to give us a truly round, dynamic villain.

Here are the characteristics:

7 Characteristics of Sympathetic Characters

Use these seven traits to create believable characters who connect with the audience:

Takes action. Show your protagonist being proactive. Show them making a hard choice when faced with a dilemma and taking action to get what they want.
Treated unjustly . Show your character being bullied, persecuted, treated unfairly, or as the victim of injustice. One easy way to do this is to make your character an orphan , a trait shared by Hamilton, Harry Potter, nearly all of Charles Dickens's protagonists, Anne of Green Gables, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, and many more iconic characters.
Shows competence . Readers are interested in people who have competence, who show off their skill (even if those skills are unusual).
Has friends . We’re attracted to people who show that they already have other people who like them. Just having a friend makes us more interested in someone. Show your protagonist is likable by surrounding them with other interesting characters.
Does a good deed . “Save the cat,” as Blake Snyder says. By helping someone in need, your protagonist establishes themselves as “the good guy,” despite any other negative qualities.
Has a humanizing quirk . Quirks are memorable things that create an instant visualization of someone, like Harry Potter’s scar on his forehead, Ron Weasley’s bright red hair, or Hermione’s frizzy hair. These can also include distinctive mannerisms, like a speech pattern, unique voice, or habits. Humanizing quirks are especially important for side characters, but a simple quirk can be a shortcut to help us quickly get to know a protagonist.
Secret vulnerability . Everyone has a secret, whether it’s a phobia like Bruce Wayne’s fear of bats, Superman’s weakness toward kryptonite, or Inspector Gamache’s terror of heights. By letting the reader in on your protagonist’s secret vulnerability, you create a bond that can last the entire story.

Once you've picked two or three of these that fit your character, include them in your early scenes. You can also include these throughout your story to make us fall in love with your character even more.

How to Create a Character Sketch

Once you've picked the traits, you can create a character sketch or character profile. This is where you record details about a character to remember for the writing process or continue to develop them.

I’ll summarize the process below, but for a full guide, you can read about how to create a character sketch using Scrivener , one of our favorite writing tools, here .

You can mix and match elements to create your own character sketch template, but here’s what a character sketch might contain:

Character name
Photo (I just find something on Google image search to serve as a likeness)
Character type (see 8 types below)
One sentence summary
One paragraph description (including a physical description , occupation, flaws, good attributes, and mannerisms)
Goals (what do they want)
Conflicts (what keeps them from getting what they want)
Narrative (what do they do in the story)

Remember, the best way to do character development is to throw characters into a story. Don’t sketch characters for their own sake, but to find where they fit into the story.

Character Development Questions: 78 Questions to Ask Your Characters

Another development technique is to interview your characters, imagining them sitting before you, asking them a series of questions, and imagining their response.

You can invent your own questions, but there are also established lists of questions that have been used by writers for decades. Here are three helpful lists that, together, total seventy-eight questions:

The Proust Questionnaire . Used by novelist Marcel Proust when he was just fourteen years old, this questionnaire includes thirty-five questions that writers have used to find out who their characters are.

37 Questions to Ask Your Character . This list of unique and often surprising questions will help you discover many different sides of your character. Here's an example: “What did you eat for breakfast? Did you make it yourself? What time do you eat breakfast? Do you wash the pan after you cook the eggs or do you leave it for the maid to clean? Do you have a maid?” We first published this list by Pamela Hodges in 2016 and since then it's been shared over 6,000 times!

6 Revealing Questions to Get to Know Your Protagonist . This one is especially helpful to get to know your protagonist.

Try one or more of these lists and see if it helps you get to know a new side of your character's personality.

Step 3: Throw Your Character Into Your Story

This is the most important step, and one that many writers take far too long to get to.

Some writers believe they have to know every aspect of each of their characters personality before they start writing their book, from their earliest memories to their favorite afternoon snack.

However, this is often a waste of time. Why? Because your job as a writer is to put your character into stressful, high-conflict situations, and in those moments, their favorite afternoon snack is going to be the furthest thing from their mind!

That isn't to say you shouldn't spend some time getting to know your characters. Just recognize that's just the beginning. The real character development begins when you start telling your story.

6 Steps to Character Development Through a Story

Character arc and story arc are usually the same thing. By telling a great story, your character will change and transform.

This arc follows the six elements of plot, which we go into detail in this in our plot structure article , but which we'll summarize here:

1. Exposition. Begin with the character's “normal.”

What does “normal” look like for your protagonist? In about one-half to no more than three scenes, show what normal looks like for your character.

2. Inciting Incident. A problem or opportunity interrupts the character's status quo.

In the inciting incident , something interrupts the character's normal life and forces them to respond.

For example, Harry Potter receives an admissions letter from Hogwarts. A dead body is discovered in three pines, leading to a call to Inspector Gamache. William Wallace's wife is killed by the English. The devil appears to Dr. Faustus offering him a deal.

3. Rising Action/Progressive Complications. Problems and complications increase, causing conflict for the protagonist.

As the story continues, things must get more and more challenging for the protagonist. Maybe they're getting better, maybe they're getting worse, but they're definitely getting more complicated.

Here it's useful to remember the century-old writing advice:

In the first act, put your character up a tree. In the second act, throw rocks at them. In the final act, bring them down.

This is the rock throwing part.

But as you increase the internal conflict and external conflict, your character will develop right before your eyes. You may discover new aspects to their personality you had no idea about as you watch how they handle adversity.

4. Dilemma. Give your character an impossible choice.

The purpose of the rising action is to put your protagonist into an impossible choice, a dilemma where they have two equally difficult choices.

I find this moment in Frozen to be a useful example for this (spoiler alert if you somehow haven't seen Frozen !):

Frozen (2013) - Act of True Love (10/10)

Princess Anna is moments away from freezing solid. The only thing that can save her, she thinks, is true love's kiss from Kristoff, who is racing toward her. However, at the same moment, she sees Prince Hans about to kill her sister. What does she do?

Option A: Save herself, continuing toward Kristoff but allowing Elsa to die
Option B: Save her sister, choosing to stop Hans but sacrificing herself in the process

An impossible choice. But it's dilemmas like this that are the engines of great stories and great characters.

5. Climax. The protagonist makes their choice and high conflict and action follows.

The protagonist chooses and the result of their choice leads to the moment of highest action and conflict in the story. Remember, conflict in fiction directly impacts your character development.

This choice is so essential because it truly tests and reveals their character. Don't skip it!

6. Denouement. The protagonist's new normal is established.

What does the character's new normal look like after going through the conflict and drama of the story?

This is a moment, usually just one scene, where we get to enjoy and bond with the character for a final time before the story ends.

Character Development Test: What Makes a Good Character?

On my podcast, Character Test , my cohost and I have found that there are four criteria that you can use to evaluate a character, to test and see whether a character is good or not.

Here, I’m not talking about whether they are morally good, but whether they are interesting, relatable, entertaining, and worth following. In other words, this is about figuring out will readers love them.

Also, this is what makes a good character. If you want to know how to make a good character, scroll down to the Character Development Steps section.

1. Good Characters Have Goals

Good stories are about characters who want something, and they experience challenges to get what they want.

Desire is central to good stories, good characters, and to the human condition itself. Good characters have deeply held desires and are willing to make sacrifices to achieve those desires.

That being said, those desires don’t have to start out as anything big .

As Kurt Vonnegut said, “Make your characters want something right away even if it's only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.”

2. Good Characters Face Challenges to Their Goals

As nice as it would be for your character to get everything they wanted without having to do any work, it would make for a very boring story! This is part of the conflict we discussed above.

I like what best-selling author Kristina McMorris told me : “I only give my characters a happy ending if they’ve worked really hard for it.” Kristina’s novel Sold on a Monday was on the New York Times Best Sellers list for twenty straight weeks, so she knows what she’s talking about!

3. Good Characters Make Decisions

Good characters take control of their own fate. They take action. They make choices, and they suffer the good or bad consequences of those choices.

Bad characters let life happen to them . Bad characters allow others to make choices for them. They never take action in their own lives, and it’s their lack of decision-making ability that makes them boring.

4. Good Characters Are Empathizable

I made this word up, but I think it’s going to stick!

Editorial note from Alice: Stop trying to make “empathizable” happen, Joe. It's not going to happen.

You can empathize with good characters. Even if they are villains (especially if they’re villains), you can understand where they’re coming from, and maybe even relate.

Good characters, in other words, are human.

Bad characters are so foreign or perfect or evil that you can’t relate to where they’re coming from.

Bonus: Good Characters Change . . . Sometimes

Many will argue with this, but not all good characters change. In fact, you can tell a great story where the protagonist doesn’t change.

Take James Bond. In a few novels and films he changes (e.g. Casino Royale ) but in most, James stays the same stoic, cocky person he started out as. And the novels are still great!

Or Inspector Gamache, my favorite detective from the series by Louise Penny. Inspector Gamache starts out as the perfect gentleman, thoughtful leader, and unerring investigator and ends each novel the same way. There are a few individual books where he goes through deep inner turmoil, but even then he re-emerges the same amazing person, just a little bit stronger and surer in his ways.

There are many great stories where the character changes . It’s especially a hallmark of the hero’s journey (which is itself a form of character development). But it’s not always a requirement of a good character.

Character Development Writing Exercise

Now that you know everything about developing characters, let's put your new knowledge to practice! Use the creative writing exercise below to practice bringing your characters to life!

And if you're to create a character sketch for your novel, check out our guide on how to create a character sketch with Scrivener .

Good luck and happy writing!

What is your favorite characterization tip above? Are there any I missed? Let me know in the comments .

Let’s put your character development to use with this creative writing prompt :

Choose one of the character types above and spend five minutes sketching out their character using the character sketch template above (Character Name, type, one-sentence summary, goals, conflicts).
After your five minutes are up, write about your new character as they go through a scene using the character development steps in a story: desire, conflict, dilemma, choice, and change. Write for ten minutes .

When your time is up, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop . And if you post, be sure to give feedback to at least three other writers.

I'm looking forward to meeting your characters!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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WSJ Bestselling author, founder of The Write Practice, and book coach with 14+ years experience. Joe Bunting specializes in working with Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, How To, Literary Fiction, Memoir, Mystery, Nonfiction, Science Fiction, and Self Help books. Sound like a good fit for you?

16 Comments

I write & file pieces about my characters (main & major secondary) & for the main ones, may return to them several times. There are lots of folks in my novels, good guys & bad, so at some point I also write a for-file piece on which other characters are their ‘shadows’…even antagonists have feared antagonists. The first files help me bring them to life in my head, so I can monitor their behavior. The shadow file is important to off-main-plot resolutions. In truth, I seldom go back to my original files…having written them is usually enough. I’m on the last 40-50ppg of a novel draft right now…so there are over a dozen people living (& interacting) in my head. It’s around this point in the process that I begin muttering to myself that my next book is going to be 500 very short personal essays!

Good one, Emily. I’m going to review my work-in-progress with these notes in mind. Thank you. I have one guiding principle, and that is — what will cause my protagonist to utterly fall apart. Because that’s where my stories have to go. Whatever will bring my character to a radical change of heart. All those things you mention are key to that happening. Cheers. ~ PJ

The four Questions: Diana Daughter of Darkness

My character Diana, is from the kingdom of Firefall and is it’s princess. All Diana wants is to find her father and get justice for her mother’s untimely death. But she finds herself haunted by her destiny more and more as she tries to achieve those goals. Diana’s relationship with her father is the most outstanding in the book but her relationship with her handmaiden and the two boys she grew up with are also very important to her. Diana’s biggest fear is failure. She doesn’t want to fail her father or her Kingdom. The power inside of her grows every day but she fears that it will soon take over her and leave nothing but destruction in it’s wake. This is perhaps what scares her the most…herself.

Some good tips. My character questionnaire is at least 100 questions long and I often take characters to lunch—or let them take me to lunch.

But I like your four tips for character development. They get to the heart of things quickly and provide an excellent framework for more complex development if that’s what a writer wants to do.

I’d like to add one suggestion.

A character’s worldview plays a major role in the way he or she responds to life in general and to individual incidents. A person who believes life is the result of time plus matter plus chance generally behaves differently than someone who believes they were created for a purpose.

All five factors–your four and my addition–contribute to the development of person’s personality and behavior.

Thanks again for the excellent tips. I’ve been away for several weeks polishing my own novel. This was a wonderful way to get back into the routine.

Great tips, Emily!

I’ve found that writing side stories about my characters helps me to explore who my characters are. I’ll make up a scenario, drop a character in the middle of it, and then give them free reign. This practice helps me flesh out how they make decisions and how they interact with the other characters in my story. Plus, it’s just fun to do!

Awesome article.

The article was extremely helpful it gave me ideas of how to strengthen my short story.

My character is about a teenage girl that has strong family values due to her upbringing in a strict home where her mother is the head of the household, suddenly her mother dies she fills empty and alone, as all of her siblings are grown they have there own children. She start’s to explore the world and gets caught up in it.

Excellent tips, especially number 3. People often understand themselves through their relationships with others. How they’re greeted, how they’re treated, how others understand their humour, their moods, their needs and wants. To understand a person’s key relationships, and what they’re willing to do for the people they love (as you say), means understanding what makes them tick.

I also liked the point you made in Q4. Our fears sometimes reveal our true nature, in that they are a direct consequence of our values. In your example, Katniss fears being forced to kill others, because she values life and humanity. Our values sets us apart.

Great tips, thanks for sharing Emily. I think what a person wears says a lot about his/her personality. So that’s where I often like to start:

On the door stood a mid-aged woman in a black coat reaching down to her knees, a red scarf around her neck and a winter cap that covered most of her luscious brown hair. She had a book in her hand that she kept between her palms. Every now and then she would flip it open, read a few lines before closing it again and stare back at the meadow beyond her porch. It seemed as though she was deep in thought, and I afraid of interrupting stood still waiting for her to look back and notice my presence.

Nice post! Number 2 is the most important, but # 3 is the one I need to spend more time on. I never really even considered that with character development, and now I’m kicking myself because it’s such an important aspect of creating a “real” person in your character.

Thanks for the tips, Emily. I believe #2 is the most critical one since it will somewhat define who your character is. I’d like to share another article on character development that I hope could be of help to others. Here’s the link: https://www.chatebooks.com/blog-Character-Development-that-Entices-Readers

Awesome 🙂 Finally something that helps developing characters other than long ass questionnaires, interviews or worksheets that became too tedious to do.

Thanks for this article, Emily! I never thought with only 4 questions I’d be able to come up with a set of believable characters. I’ve always had a long line of questions just to have a concrete description of what and how my characters would look and sound like. I’d like to share an article I found on character development. Hope this could help as well: https://www.chatebooks.com/blog-Character-Development-that-Entices-Readers

My character is a teen-aged girl brought up by a young, single mother who has had to work very hard to take care of her child. The girl doesn’t want to make things harder on her mother and tends to smile a lot and pretend everything is just fine, even when it’s not. Her relationship with her mother and the lack of one with her father shapes many of her views from romantic relationships to political ideology. Her greatest fear is to not end up as someone her mother can be proud of raising. Another quirk is her fear of sharing her feelings with others.

For starters, Joe, I find you tremendously empathizable and vow to fully support you should you take action to replace your foil character, Alice, with someone equipped with a bit more imagination and a lot more humor.

Jokes aside. This article is a gem. I am not a writer, definitely not a great storyteller and do not come with an endless supply of creativity, however, I take great joy in writing, especially when inspired. I have found that when I share my “pieces,” that something tends to draw people into my creation (much to their and my surprise!).

So, as of, oh, about three hours ago, I made the decision to give it a more serious try and actually write something more substantial and less silly than Local Google Guide reviews. But to be any good at most anything, research is a must! I have about thirty tabs open, ready to be inhaled, masticated, repeated, digested and possibly incorporated in my book of writing “recipes.” Roughly ten of those tabs are direct links from your articles and I am starting to wonder if I’ll be able to find a good stopping point or if I’ll just lose myself in the world of creating worlds.

Not to worry! I do come equipped with a stubbornness factor and, if anything, your guidance has served to exponentially “peak” my interest. Many thanks! And please do something about that editor. 🙂

Warm regards, Joana (Jo)

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Home / Book Writing / 17 Character Development Exercises for Writers

17 Character Development Exercises for Writers

Character development exercises are short forms of deliberate practice to improve your writing skills and round out your characters.

They are typically not used in the final novel, but are little extras that help you understand the personalities that you are writing.

Because for some of us, nailing down that perfect character can be hard. And to help with that, we’ve assembled 17 different exercises to improve your characters.

Why character exercises are important
A list of 17 different exercises that you can implement today
Examples and advice to improve your characters

Why Are Character Development Exercises Important?
Exercise #1: Write a FULL Description
Exercise #2: Play Dress Up
Exercise #3: Write a Description Scene Through the Character’s Eyes
Exercise #4: Practice Showing Emotion
Exercise #5: Write a “Slice of Life” Episode
Exercise #6: Write Other People Gossiping About Your Character
Exercise #7: Write a Progression Short Story
Exercise #8: Draw the Character
Exercise #9: Create a Character Profile
Exercise #10: Conduct a Character Interview
Exercise #11: Play the “Why” Game
Exercise #12: Create a Character Based on Someone You Know
Exercise #13: Imagine What Happens Before and After the Novel
Exercise #14: Put Them in Horrible Situations (Muahahahahah)
Exercise #15: Create a Timeline
Exercise #16: Do a Little Fan-fiction
Exercise #17: Use Character Writing Prompts

So why use a character development exercise in the first place?

This may be a valid question, especially for authors like myself, who just want to dive into the writing and let the characters unfold as I write.

But honestly, a little work up front can save you a load of headache afterward.

Running through a handful of these exercises will help you to:

Understand your character’s emotions
Give you practice writing in their voice and from their point of view
Find out what sets them apart from other characters
Flesh them out to create round and dynamic characters
Establish the relationship between your characters and the setting, or other characters
Deliberate practice of the process to create complex and well-written characters

In short, it’s a great way to deliberately practice writing and reduces the need to go back and do extensive revisions on your characters.

That said, this might not be the best thing to do if you’re a pantser and just want to dive in and discover your characters along the way. But it can be a great tool in your author tool belt.

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So without further ado, here are 17 of our best picks for character development exercises.

Exercise #1 : Write a FULL Description

When it comes to writing characters, most of us focus on the facial features, things like hair color, eye color, etc.

A great way to begin getting to know your character is to do a full description of them. In a book, we might not do this to the extent you might in a creative writing exercise, which is why it’s good to practice here.

Here are some things to consider:

Skin/hair/eye color
Do they have any warts or moles?
What is their hair style?
What is their build?
Do they have any scars, tattoos, etc.
What is their general complexion. Is their skin smooth and silky, rough and calloused, or even bruised and battered?
What default facial expression do they have?
What does he/she smell like?

Exercise #2 : Play Dress Up

What we choose to wear says a lot about a person. Someone wearing an extravagant French-style outfit from the 18th century will give you a completely different impression than a cut business suit from the 21st century.

The problem is that most authors, when they’re writing about their characters, often forget to add a lot of detail about the clothes they are wearing. It’s easy to see these things in your mind and forget that your readers don’t see what you see. They see what you write.

One way to help overcome this oversight is to continue the exercise above, but focus on clothing.

And don’t just focus on any one type, because your protagonist will most likely use several types of clothing throughout the course of your novel. Here are just some examples:

Travel clothing
Clothes for a night on the town
Clothes for wilderness survival
Combat wear

Exercise #3 : Write a Description Scene Through the Character’s Eyes

Ideally, every character should experience the same thing differently, depending on their background, their wants and desires, and their tastes.

Additionally, great prose is often written from the perspective of the character making the observation.

For example, let’s say you have two people, one who has grown up in a desert their whole life, where water is scarce, and the other who grew up in a place where water was plentiful.

Imagine these two people on a hot day, observing a third person splashing water on their face. If you’re writing from the first character’s perspective, you could describe this as “and the man took a handful of water and wasted it on his face.” The second person might describe it this way, “I watched as the man poured the cool liquid and splashed it all over his face. I wish I were him right now.”

Do you see the difference there? In one, the character sees using water in one way as a waste, and for the other, it’s something to be sought after.

Exercise #4 : Practice Showing Emotion

We’ve all heard the adage to “show, don’t tell,” but what does this really look like for most characters?

This is something that really only comes with practice. Once you’ve done it enough times, you’ll recognize instances where you’re saying things like “he felt hungry,” and can replace them with something like “He winced and put a hand to his stomach as it growled, and he swallowed hard.”

Character emotion is one of these areas where showing rather than telling can really enhance your novel.

Exercise #5 : Write a “Slice of Life” Episode

There are a lot of scenes in a book, and most of them have a purpose. That said, there are many scenes that probably occur in that character’s life, but that we don’t talk about because they’re not important for the story.

However, you as the author should have an idea of what happens in these less important moments.

Some examples of a “slice of life” episode might include:

Having dinner with family
Going to the bathroom
The morning routine
A conversation with a co-worker
Late-night conversations with a spouse
Cooking a meal
Going on vacation
Playing with their kids
Coming home a little too drunk
Visiting a museum

Exercise #6 : Write Other People Gossiping About Your Character

Very often, we learn more from others about ourselves that we might not have known on our own. Others can provide unique perspectives, and in some cases expose huge biases (on both sides).

For example, a proud character might not realize that he/she is proud, but it’s easy for an outside observer to spot this.

Exercise #7 : Write a Progression Short Story

In real life, people change a lot, and characters should change in stories too (most of the time).

A great way to show this is to write a short story that examines the character at different parts of her/his life. You can focus on key moments in their life, but you could also just follow exercise #5 and focus on a few more everyday events.

The purpose of this exercise is to show how that person may have changed. Do they view the world differently as a working adult, vs as a teenager? A child? An elderly person?

What about before or after experiencing some kind of trauma?

Exercise #8 : Draw the Character

I’ll be honest, I’m not an artist. But I am a visual person, and getting some solid visuals of the character can be a huge boost in helping me understand them.

If you’re like me and really have no design skills , then finding a few photos is fine.

I’d recommend several photos though, since one might not be enough. You could have some for their face and general appearance, one for their clothes and how they look, etc.

If you know a program like Photoshop, you could even crop these together to get an even better sense of what you character looks like.

This is a great exercise for understanding the feel of a character, which is often harder to put into words.

Exercise #9 : Create a Character Profile

Imagine you work for the FBI, and you have to draft up a dossier about your character. What might that look like?

Fortunately, we’ve done a whole article about this topic, so you should definitely check that out, and also don’t forget to pick up our character profile template, which can easily help you through this process.

If you want a thorough process to identify the character’s appearance, personality, background, and more, this is the way to go.

The best aspects to focus on are the flaws, motivations, and fears of your character. What prompts them to action? Understanding these things will help you get at the core of your character’s personality traits.

Exercise #10 : Conduct a Character Interview

Imagine you sat in a darkened room, across the table from you is your character. You can ask them anything, they won’t be offended, and they will understand the question.

What do you ask them about?

Writing a character interview is almost like writing yourself into a short story where you get to personally meet your character and ask them questions.

This is huge for helping you understand the character’s voice, but also a good strategy for building solid character backstory and character traits.

To help, we’ve already assembled over 200 character development questions that can aid you in this process.

Exercise #11 : Play the “Why” Game

This goes along with the idea of an interview, but sometimes in order to dig really deep into the motivations of your character, you’ve got to ask why.

Is your character aggressive? Ask them why.

From there you might find out that his mother shouted at him as a kid, and he saw his parents fight a lot. Ask why.

You might learn that his father had a drinking problem and it meant that his mother took it out on him. Ask why.

From there, it might come out that his father had lost a lot of money in a business deal, leading him to turn to drink.

I hope you get the idea. The more you ask why, the more you’ll dig deeper into your character’s past, and the better you will understand them.

Exercise #12 : Create a Character Based on Someone You Know

This can be a little dangerous, because to be honest, most of the people we know are not that interesting. And we also want to avoid lawsuits for defamation if the comparison is too obvious.

That said, the people we know can be a huge inspiration to pick and choose ideas to incorporate into your characters.

For example, my own father and uncle have a really fun way of talking to each other. They’re always ribbing on each other and calling eachother weird, made-up names. You can tell that they love each other, but it’s an uncommon way of showing it.

This might make a good relationship between two people in a book.

Exercise #13 : Imagine What Happens Before and After the Novel

The writer is mostly concerned with what happens during the plot of her novel. But if written well, a character will feel like they exist long before and long after the pages of the book.

So it’s a good idea to try dreaming up what happens to these characters in that time.

It can be dramatic, or it can be mundane. Impactful, or ordinary. It doesn’t matter much. All that matters is that you have a past and future in mind for that character (unless you plan to kill them off of course).

And who knows, you might even come up with some good ideas for other books involving those characters.

Exercise #14 : Put Them in Horrible Situations (Muahahahahah)

I’ve heard it said that you should basically put your characters through hell in a story, and never let up.

While this is good advice, it’s not always practical. That said, putting your characters through the meat-grinder is a great way to learn how they react to conflict.

These scenarios don’t have to be trials you will actually use in your novel. These are just different ways to put your character in pain and see how they react (I know I sound like a very unethical scientist, don't @ me).

Here are some possibilities:

The loss of a loved one
A diagnosis of cancer
The loss of a limb
Getting tortured
Breaking up with the love of their life
Losing everything they own
Being betrayed by a friend

Exercise #15 : Create a Timeline

Sometimes it’s hard to keep every part of a character’s life straight. That’s where a timeline can be helpful.

A timeline is a simple list of events in the character’s life, though they can get more complex and interesting, and you can even put some design skills to work if you want.

But timelines only have to be a simple list of events. They can include events from before their birth to their death, or they can be focused on a specific period of their life.

It will depend on the character and the story you will want to tell.

Exercise #16 : Do a Little Fan-fiction

When we’re writing a story, we might not have a full grasp on it yet, and that’s where writing fan fiction can help.

Imagine your character interacting with characters from a story you already know? Imagine the ultimate crossover between your story and your favorite franchise.

For example, what Hogwarts house would your character belong in? What might it look like when he/she is sorted and interacts with other characters in that house or other characters from the Harry Potter books.

It’s a great way to lean on characters you already know, to help unveil more about the characters you’re trying to discover.

Exercise #17 : Use Character Writing Prompts

There are a bunch of character-related creative writing prompts out there, and many of them can be quite helpful in getting your brain to think outside of the box.

In theory, we could have a list much longer than 17 if we wanted to include more of these prompts, but that would end up being too much.

Instead, I recommend this post , or checking out our list of character questions to give you ideas.

Final Thoughts on Character Development Exercises

If you’ve made it far, first of all, well done.

Second of all, you might be a little overwhelmed, but don’t worry. This list is not meant to be a checklist for everything you should do to expand on your characters.

Instead, this is a handful of ideas that you can take (or leave) and use them to better understand your characters.

As you apply these exercises, I can pretty much guarantee that you will grow as a writer, become more familiar with your characters, and increase your chances of having a great dynamic character in your books.

Let us know how it goes!

Jason Hamilton

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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A Powerful Guide to Character Development: 8 Steps to Success

Table of Contents

If you’ve ever found yourself lost in the pages of a book, so deeply immersed in the story that the characters feel like friends, you’ve witnessed the magic of effective character development. A cornerstone of narrative writing, character development is the heart and soul of any tale. Be it novels, short stories, scripts for television and film, or even narratives within video games, without relatable and realistic characters, a story may lack the substance to captivate an audience.

Good character development is central in a story

Statistics further cement the importance of character development in a story’s success. According to data from Goodreads, books that incorporate robust character development are 60% more likely to receive high ratings from readers compared to those that lack this element. This stark statistic underlines the critical role character development plays in the world of writing.

Why Character Development Matters

The art of developing a character is equivalent to instilling life and vitality into the bare-bones structure of a narrative. A complex, thoroughly crafted character acts as an immersive conduit for the reader, plunging them headfirst into the world created by the narrative. Readers are instinctively drawn towards characters that stir a broad range of emotions, spurring them to cheer in triumph, weep in despair, or boil in rage at the character’s actions and experiences.

Consider, for instance, the exemplary character development present in characters such as Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, or the charismatic Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man. The power of their appeal lies in their dynamic personal journeys, the obstacles they face, the losses they endure, and the victories they savor. Their multidimensional personalities, complete with strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and unique histories, make the narrative not just engaging but incredibly relatable.

Each of these characters’ paths of growth and transformation captivates the reader, triggering an emotional investment in their stories. Whether it’s Harry’s transformation from an obscure boy living under the stairs to the renowned savior of the wizarding world, Katniss’s evolution from a district girl to the face of rebellion, or Tony Stark’s journey from an egoistic genius to a self-sacrificing hero, it’s the journey of these characters that keep us glued to their stories.

Without such intricately developed characters, these narratives, despite having compelling plotlines, might not have made such an enduring impact on readers and audiences worldwide. These characters’ vividness and complexity ensure that their stories persist in our collective consciousness, leaving a lasting legacy.

Hard data further bolsters the pivotal role of character development in determining a story’s success. According to user data gathered from Goodreads, a leading book recommendation website, books that demonstrate substantial character development enjoy a significant advantage. These books are 60% more likely to receive high ratings from readers compared to those that don’t invest as much in this crucial aspect of storytelling.

This substantial percentage difference isn’t a mere statistical anomaly but a testament to readers’ preferences. It underscores how significant well-developed characters are in resonating with readers, influencing their perceptions, and shaping their overall reading experience.

Character development, therefore, isn’t just a minor, insignificant component of narrative writing. Instead, it’s a robust tool that, when employed effectively, can greatly enhance the narrative’s appeal, deepen its impact, and elevate it from an ordinary story to an extraordinary one.

The Anatomy of Character Development

The creation of a dynamic, believable character is a sophisticated process that involves harmonizing several key components. Each of these elements contributes to the depth and realism of the character, providing readers with a more immersive and rewarding reading experience. These elements include:

Backstory: This is the history of the character, providing context that shapes their personality, drives their motivations, and influences their decisions. A character’s backstory might include significant events, relationships, or experiences that have shaped them, contributing to their current behavior and attitudes. The more robust and detailed a character’s backstory, the more readers can understand and empathize with their actions within the story.
Physical Attributes: Physical attributes are the tangible characteristics of the character that contribute to their personality and determine how they interact with the world around them. These can range from basic traits like age, gender, and appearance, to more nuanced attributes like mannerisms or physical abilities and disabilities. These attributes often influence a character’s experiences and interactions, and can play a significant role in their personal journey.
Psychological Attributes: This dimension covers the character’s mental and emotional traits, including their desires, fears, strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and insecurities. These traits are pivotal in shaping the character’s perspective and reactions to the events and challenges in the story. Characters with well-defined psychological attributes can offer readers an intimate view into their thoughts and emotions, leading to a deeper emotional connection.
Character Arc: A character arc refers to the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of the narrative. This could involve a change in the character’s beliefs, attitudes, or behavior, often in response to the challenges and experiences they encounter in the plot. A compelling character arc can serve as the backbone of a story, driving the narrative and resonating with readers long after they’ve finished the book.
Philosophical Outlook : Every character carries with them a set of beliefs or philosophies that govern their behavior. These can range from political ideologies to beliefs about human nature. For instance, a character may believe in people’s inherent altruism, while another may view humanity as fundamentally self-centered. These philosophies shape how characters interact with others and perceive the world around them.
Moral Code : This refers to the set of guiding principles or values that influence a character’s decisions. These values can be positive or negative. One character might believe in equality and justice, while another might hold prejudices based on gender or race. These moral codes form a significant part of a character’s identity and impact their interactions.
Personality Traits : These are the characteristics that define the individuality of a character. Personality traits form the basis of a character’s behavior, response to situations, and overall demeanor. Traits can include aspects like introversion, extroversion, optimism, cynicism, or a myriad of other characteristics that make a person unique.
Aspirations and Goals : Understanding what a character wants or desires is crucial to defining their journey. Their goals could be anything from seeking revenge, aspiring for a promotion, or a desire to protect someone. These objectives often act as the driving force behind the plot and the character’s development.
Personal Flaws : No character is perfect, and their flaws make them relatable and human. Flaws can be personality traits such as arrogance, impulsivity, or even laziness. These flaws often lead characters into dilemmas, thus creating conflicts and enhancing the narrative.
Spiritual Beliefs : A character’s religious beliefs or spiritual inclinations can significantly influence their actions, choices, and perspectives. Whether they follow a mainstream religion or have their unique belief system, it can lend depth to their character and can be a potent motivator or guiding principle.

Consider, for instance, the renowned character of Sherlock Holmes. His backstory is laden with brilliance and isolation, shaping his intriguing personality. His physical attributes – tall, thin, with sharp eyes – add to his distinctive image. His psychological attributes are even more compelling: extraordinary observational skills, eccentric habits, a borderline antisocial demeanor, and an addictive inclination towards complex problems. And while his character arc may not be drastic in each story, the cumulative effect of the series allows readers to witness subtle shifts and growth in his character. All these aspects intertwine to form the core of his character, dictating his interactions with other characters and the world at large.

In-depth character development isn’t just a tool to fill pages or add superficial flair. Instead, it’s a fundamental building block of effective storytelling that enriches the narrative, humanizes characters, and ensures a lasting impact on readers.

The Character Design of Captain Marvel: A Critical Perspective

When it comes to discussing Captain Marvel’s character design, it’s important to note that criticisms are subjective and often vary from one viewer to another. However, several common concerns have been raised that suggest her character is not as well-crafted as it could be:

Lack of Personal Flaws : One common critique is that Captain Marvel, portrayed by Brie Larson, lacks significant personal flaws. This absence of vulnerabilities or shortcomings can make her seem too perfect or invincible, which detracts from her relatability. Great characters are often imperfect, just like real people. They make mistakes, learn, grow, and thereby connect with the audience on a deeper level.
Underdeveloped Backstory : While the film does touch on Carol Danvers’ past, critics argue it fails to explore her backstory in a substantial or meaningful way. An engaging backstory can contribute to a character’s depth, helping the audience understand their motivations, fears, and desires. The way Captain Marvel’s past is presented leaves little room for emotional engagement, making it harder for the audience to form a connection with her.
Absence of a Clear Character Arc : A well-designed character typically undergoes a clear transformation or growth throughout the story, often referred to as a “character arc”. This could involve overcoming personal challenges, learning from mistakes, or evolving their worldview. In Captain Marvel’s case, some critics suggest her character remains largely static from beginning to end, showing minimal personal growth or evolution.
Lack of Personal Goals : Although Captain Marvel has a mission—to stop the war and find her true identity—these objectives are somewhat imposed on her rather than being driven by personal ambition or desire. Well-crafted characters often have clear, personally significant goals that drive their actions and decisions.
Underutilized Relationships : Relationships often play a crucial role in character development, revealing different facets of their personality, influencing their actions, and propelling their growth. Critics argue that Captain Marvel’s relationships with other characters, such as her friendship with Maria Rambeau, were not fully developed or utilized to enhance her character.

In conclusion, while Captain Marvel has several qualities of a compelling superhero—strength, determination, and resilience—critics suggest her character design could benefit from more complexity and depth. By exploring personal flaws, deepening her backstory, providing a clear character arc, establishing personal goals, and developing her relationships, Captain Marvel could become a more relatable and well-rounded character.

Ghostwriting and Character Development

In ghostwriting , the role of character development becomes even more crucial. The ghostwriter is tasked with the responsibility of crafting characters according to someone else’s vision. This requires a keen understanding of character development principles and the ability to translate that understanding into writing.

For instance, if the author wants a character who is a flawed hero, the ghostwriter must know how to balance the character’s virtues with their vices while ensuring their actions align with the character’s backstory and motivation.

Common Pitfalls in Character Development and How to Avoid Them

Character development is a delicate art, and there’s plenty of room for error. Even experienced writers can stumble, resulting in inconsistencies that can jolt readers out of the narrative and disrupt the immersive experience of the story. Some of the most common pitfalls in character development include:

Inconsistent Character Behavior: One of the most jarring mistakes a writer can make is to present a character acting out of character, especially without providing any reasonable justification for the behavior. If a typically reserved character suddenly becomes talkative and outgoing, or if a brave character inexplicably displays cowardice without an understandable reason, it can disorient readers and disrupt the narrative flow.
Lack of Character Growth: Another common misstep is a static character that doesn’t evolve or grow throughout the story. Characters that remain stagnant, unaffected by the events and experiences they encounter in the narrative, risk becoming uninteresting and unrelatable to readers.
One-Dimensional Characters: Creating flat, one-dimensional characters is another frequent error in character development. These characters lack depth and complexity, often falling into stereotypical roles without any unique or distinguishing traits. They fail to engage the readers’ interest and may even detract from the overall appeal of the story.
Neglecting the Backstory: Underestimating the importance of a character’s backstory is a pitfall that can lead to superficial characters. Without a well-crafted history, characters can lack the depth and motivation that drive them to act within the story.

To avoid these common mistakes, it’s essential to invest time and thought in understanding the character’s background, personality, motivations, and potential growth. A character’s actions and decisions should always align with their established personality traits and backstory, maintaining consistency throughout the narrative. Characters should also evolve and grow, learning from their experiences, and changing in ways that resonate with the plot and theme of the story. Finally, creating multidimensional characters that possess unique traits, complex emotions, and personal struggles can add depth to the narrative and keep readers engaged from beginning to end.

Taking the time to deeply understand your characters not only helps to avoid these pitfalls but also elevates your story, making it more captivating and emotionally resonant for your readers.

Crafting Authentic Characters: Lessons from Cinema

When it comes to storytelling, one of the key elements that make a narrative engaging and unforgettable is its characters. Here are twelve strategies used in creating compelling characters, with examples drawn from popular films.

Design a Rich Background : Every character has a backstory. Think of Andy Dufresne from “The Shawshank Redemption.” His background as a banker plays a pivotal role in his character development and the plot.
Equip with Strengths and Weaknesses : Characters should be well-rounded with both strengths and weaknesses. Consider Tony Stark in “Iron Man.” His genius intellect is a strength, but his arrogance often lands him in trouble.
Incorporate Idiosyncrasies : Quirks and habits make characters relatable. In “Pulp Fiction,” Jules Winnfield’s habit of reciting a biblical verse before executing someone is a unique quirk that adds to his character’s depth.
Avoid Creating Perfection : Characters without flaws are unrealistic. For instance, Captain Marvel, has extraordinary powers, elevating her to almost literally godhood, and has no weaknesses. She is a flat, uninteresting character, which is a shame, since the concept presented many opportunities for crafting a great character.
Set Believable Motives : Characters must have credible reasons for their actions. In “The Godfather,” Michael Corleone is driven by his desire to protect his family.
Add Unique Features : Distinguishing features can make characters memorable. In “Harry Potter,” Harry’s lightning-shaped scar sets him apart.
Build Diverse Personalities : Different personalities can enrich the narrative. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” are a prime example with their wide array of contrasting characters.
Highlight Influence of the Past : Characters’ pasts should influence their present. In “Batman Begins,” Bruce Wayne’s fear of bats and the murder of his parents shape his vigilante alter ego.
Utilize Foil Characters : Foil characters can accentuate your main character’s traits. Dr. Watson, in “Sherlock Holmes,” serves as a foil to Sherlock with his conventional and empathetic approach.
Give Each Character a Distinct Voice : Characters should be distinguishable through their dialogue. “The Lord of the Rings” characters each have unique speech patterns, reflecting their backgrounds and personalities.
Create a Multifaceted Cast : Diversity can add depth to your narrative. “Black Panther” is celebrated for its diverse and culturally rich cast.
Sidestep Stereotypes : Avoid one-dimensional characters. Elsa in “Frozen” breaks the traditional princess mold by rejecting a suitor to live independently.

In summary, creating believable and memorable characters is a delicate art that requires consideration of various facets. Drawing inspiration from renowned films can assist in developing a diverse cast of characters, each with their unique traits, motivations, and voices. This not only enhances the narrative but also deepens the audience’s connection with the characters and the story.

The Role of Logical Fallacies in Character Development

Interestingly, understanding logical fallacies can enhance character development. Characters, like real people, are not always logical. They make mistakes, jump to conclusions, and let emotions cloud their judgment.

By intentionally incorporating logical fallacies into a character’s thought process, writers can create more realistic and relatable characters. For instance, a character might fall prey to the ‘confirmation bias’ logical fallacy, where they only pay attention to information that confirms their preconceptions, leading to flawed decisions.

In the realm of writing, character development is not merely an optional tool; it’s a vital element that makes or breaks a story. Creating believable, dynamic characters is what gives life to the world you’re crafting, allowing readers to embark on an emotional journey filled with trials, triumphs, and transformation. As writers or ghostwriters, our understanding and application of effective character development techniques can mean the difference between a forgettable tale and a bestseller that leaves an indelible mark on readers’ hearts.

At the core, the art of character development is about creating characters who are not just elements on a page, but reflections of real people, complete with their virtues, vices, complexities, and idiosyncrasies. As writers, we must continuously hone our skills, striving to create characters that resonate with readers, immersing them in a world that, while fictional, feels incredibly real.

Takeaway: Character development, a skill that’s nurtured with understanding and practice, is more than just a writing technique; it’s a pathway that connects readers to the story, allowing them to experience emotions, partake in adventures, and ultimately, get lost in the captivating world of the narrative. With well-developed characters, a story becomes more than just words on a page; it transforms into a living, breathing world that leaves a lasting impression on its audience.

Takeaways : Character development, a skill that’s nurtured with understanding and practice, is more than just a writing technique; it’s a pathway that connects readers to the story, allowing them to experience emotions, partake in adventures, and ultimately, get lost in the captivating world of the narrative. With well-developed characters, a story becomes more than just words on a page; it transforms into a living, breathing world that leaves a lasting impression on its audience.

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2 thoughts on “ A Powerful Guide to Character Development: 8 Steps to Success ”

As a reader, nothing captivates me more than well-developed characters who feel like real people with their own unique personalities and struggles. It’s amazing how skilled writers can create a world that feels so immersive and engaging, all because of the characters they’ve crafted. It’s definitely not an easy task, but it’s so worth it when you see your readers connect with your characters and get lost in the story. Thanks for highlighting the importance of character development in writing!

omg this is sooooo interesting and very insightful! I love the character development guide, it is awesome.

Character Development Definition: What is Character Development?

Character arc definition, 5 character development examples, 10 character development questions to ask each of your characters, what are character traits, character traits list, advice for selecting character traits in your work.

Conflict and Character Development (from Instructor Jack Smith)

1. Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

How She Starts: Jane Eyre is a coming-of-age story (also called a bildungsroman) that charts the life of its eponymous character from childhood to adulthood. We are introduced to Jane as someone who is strong-willed and independent, but also impulsive and unloved.

Main Goals: Jane struggles to find love, acceptance, and a place she can truly call home.

Main Conflicts: Jane Eyre is populated with many different antagonists, including her adopted family, her headmasters, and occasionally her own love interests.

Key Dilemma: Jane’s situation is never wonderful, but to overcome her poor situations, she must learn to be self-sufficient —a fantastic proposition, given this was published in Victorian England. This includes acquiring work and entering adulthood, but most important to Jane’s character development, she must learn to maintain her own self-worth and independence, even in the face of true, altruistic, two-as-one love.

How She Ends: One Jane is truly self-sufficient, everything else falls into place, including her financial situation and her marriage to Rochester. With self-sufficiency comes the love and acceptance she desires, and the safe home she has always been without.

2. Janie Crawford in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

How She Starts: Janie Crawford has much in common with Jane Eyre: she is strong-headed, independent, rebellious, and has a complex inner world that no one can see. Janie is of mixed race, and constantly encounters an inability to fit in with both white and black communities, but she is very defiant of any labels assigned to her and constantly chalks up the prejudice she encounters as a lack of perspective among others.

Main Goals: Janie’s primary desire is a marriage of equal partnership: a love that’s not unbalanced because of wealth or gender or position.

Main Conflicts: Most of Janie’s relationships are, in fact, unbalanced. First her marriage is arranged to a man who doesn’t love her, then she marries a man who excludes her from her community’s social life. Though Janie desires an equal marriage, she may have to accept that her independent spirit is incompatible in the long-term with another man, especially given the gender roles of 1920s America. This forms the core of her character development.

Key Dilemma: Janie is often treated as either a trophy wife or a domestic worker, but never as an equal, always feeling disconnected both from the people she loves and the communities around her. When she meets and falls in love with Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods, she moves to the Everglades with him, only to lose him in the aftermath of a deadly hurricane.

How She Ends: Janie returns to one of her previous homes, still the object of other people’s gossip and disapproval, but satisfied, if weary, having once known real love.

3. Ethan Allan Hawley in The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

How He Starts: Ethan Allan Hawley is a grocery store clerk in New Baytown, a fictional city on Long Island, NY. His family used to be a member of the local aristocratic class, before Ethan’s father lost all of the family’s money; despite this, Ethan values honesty and integrity above all else.

Main Goals: Ethan wants to live a life of virtue and integrity, garnering respect from others simply by being a kind and honest person. He has no problem with his position as a grocery clerk, and wants only to provide a good life to his family.

Main Conflicts: Ethan’s family, however, is not satisfied with their life: money always seems to be a problem. In addition to his family’s continued dissatisfaction, members of Ethan’s local community frequently mention his family’s lost wealth and what Ethan should do to reclaim it.

Key Dilemma: Ethan’s character arc centers around his commitment to virtue and his conflicting desire for wealth. If he wants to reclaim his family’s fortunes, he must sacrifice his integrity and honesty, which he does—he turns his boss into the INS, he acquires his best friend’s land by (essentially) killing him, and he almost robs a bank. Ethan’s inner dialectic between his virtues and his actions prompts him to consider suicide, as a result of sacrificing integrity for money.

How He Ends: The novel ends ambiguously. Ethan commits to killing himself, but then finds that his daughter replaced his weapon of choice with a family talisman, prompting him to reconsider his decision and choose life, if only for his family.

4. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

How He Starts: Holden Caulfield is a depressed 17 year old who is about to fail out of private school. He frequently feels alienated from his classmates, family, and society at large, and while he refuses to plan for the future, he dreams of escaping somewhere that no one he knows will ever find him.

Main Goals: Holden is desperate for connection, feeling alienated from every person he talks to. While he puts on a show of being superior to the many “phony” individuals around him, he also hopes that one of those phonies might actually connect with him on a deeper level.

Main Conflicts: It seems that everyone in The Catcher in the Rye is a source of conflict for Holden. He is not on speaking terms with his parents, he frequently gets in fights with his peers, and his attempts at relationships are always spurned, which only leads to more fighting.

Key Dilemma: To put it simply, Holden is not a likable person. He is a collection of mostly negative character traits. He’s rash, annoying, and often comes off as both immature and pretentious. At the same time, he’s deeply aware of society’s superficiality, which he tries to push past by talking to people about deep, meaningful subjects. Holden’s character arc is defined by this conflict between self, others, and society ; in order for him to connect with people, he must find a way to hold both his love and criticism for people side-by-side, and also learn how to talk to people properly.

How He Ends: The Catcher in the Rye is a story in which the main character rejects his character arc . In other words, Holden ends the same way he begins, because he has not committed to the growth he has to undergo in order to find meaningful connections. He has not accepted that he is part of the problem. Nonetheless, the novel ends on a somewhat optimistic note, and Holden forgoes running away from society and enrolls to finish school.

5. Macon “Milkman” Dead III in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

How He Starts: From childhood, Milkman feels alienated and disinterested in his family, as well as most of society. He feels disconnected from his father, estranged from his aunt and sisters, and has a complicated relationship with his mother, who loves Milkman but uses him as an escape from her monotonous, loveless life. In adolescence, he strikes up a brief but fleeting sexual interest in one of his cousins.

Main Goals: Milkman is sent on a quest to find a bag of gold coins from his father’s young adulthood. Perhaps by finding this bag of coins, he can also find his father’s approval, something he secretly yearns for yet openly detests.

Main Conflicts: Milkman’s search for those gold coins raises many of the novel’s central conflicts. At one point, he breaks into his aunt’s house in search of the money; at another, he is hunted by Guitar, a former friend who believes that Milkman has found and stolen the gold. Milkman’s life is also threatened once a month by Hagar, the cousin he had a fleeting relationship with. But the most important conflict is Milkman’s relationship to himself and his family, both of which have been marred by his father’s wealth and negligence .

Key Dilemma: Milkman’s character development stems from his search for his father’s gold. While searching for clues as to where this gold might have ended up, he comes to learn more about his family history, learning to appreciate and even love the complex foundation his life rests upon.

How He Ends: Milkman eventually gives up on the gold to bury the remains of his grandfather whom Milkman discovered by accident, unburdening himself from the weight of his familial hatred. Guitar, still in pursuit of the gold, kills Milkman’s aunt and attacks Milkman, perhaps suggesting the enduring wickedness of greed. The novel ends ambiguously regarding Milkman’s life.

Character Development Examples: Summing Up

Each protagonist in the above character development examples endures their own set of conflicts. Those conflicts force the protagonist to grow and change in certain ways, adopting new outlooks on life or making difficult moral decisions. It is through loss, hope, sacrifice, change, and a commitment to one’s own beliefs that each character rises to their challenge.

It is through loss, hope, sacrifice, change, and a commitment to one’s own beliefs that each character rises to their challenge.

As you learn to write and develop characters, pay attention to the character arcs in the novels you read, and how certain challenges are paired directly against certain character traits. For example, Jane Eyre and Janie Crawford are both strong-willed and independent, which are undoubtedly positive character traits, yet these traits also expose them to their senses of alienation, and they must resolve the conflict between their selves, their desires, and society at large. This resolution forms the arc of the character’s journey, which also lays the foundation for a compelling plot.

Tips for Nuanced, 3-Dimensional Character Development

Every writer approaches character development a different way. While there’s no singular formula for crafting believable characters, all writers have tools at their disposal to get in the minds of their characters. Above all, remember to give each character depth, relatability, and flaws, and to provide specific details and backstories that bring those characters to life.

Remember to give each character depth, relatability, and flaws, and to provide specific details and backstories that bring those characters to life.

Have your characters take personality tests . No, personality tests aren’t comprehensive, and most aren’t scientifically accurate, but the practice of answering questions like your character will help you get into their mindset, potentially generating new ideas for plots and conflicts. Here’s a free directory of personality tests you can use .
Consider regionality . Where someone is from influences the way they speak and think , so language should directly reflect character traits.
Do some sketches . You don’t need to be a good artist, just do your best to pen down how you envision them. How tall are they? What is the size and shape of their eyes, lips, nose, and ears? What style of hair do they have? How do they like to dress, and where do they buy their clothes from?
Think about point of view . 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person points of view each have their strengths and weaknesses, and each affects how your character is written. Spend some time considering POV, and build the story’s setting and sensory details based on your character’s observations. Remember, how your character observes the world reflects their personality, making this a key component of character development.
Create interiority . Show us your character’s thoughts, flashbacks, inner conflicts, and deep desires. Tell us what your character does and doesn’t know about themselves. We are all messy, imperfect, and constantly growing. Your characters are, too!

Another method is to ask yourself certain character development questions, like the ones we’ve listed below.

Character Development Questions

Good characters have depth, experience growth, have flaws—they’re real people. Asking yourself a defined set of character development questions is one way to develop these kinds of characters, who jump off the page with realistic and compelling personalities.

Use the below character development questions to plan, write, or edit your story. Read on for some interesting character development questions to ask yourself, and do this exercise person by person for anyone in your story that you’d like to know better.

Ask your character…

1. Who are you?

Think of the “who” of your character as the firm foundation with which you will bring your character to life. This “who” might take the form of one or two honest sentences that really tap the essence of the character. Starting with a strong “who” can help you add depth to your character throughout your story, as well as inform their primary character traits.

2. What are your strongest motivations?

What, fundamentally, drives your character? To be accepted by their peers? To create something new and beautiful? To protect their loved ones from a dangerous world? To find perspective on mortality? What are the core, underlying drives that shape this character and the actions he or she takes? This will form the core of the story’s conflict and provoke its character arcs.

3. What are your hopes and dreams for the future?

What world does your character hope to see? What would fulfillment look like for your character? What is your character doing to reach toward these hopes—or do they seem too far out of reach?

4. What are your biggest fears and/or regrets?

Your character certainly has a future he or she doesn’t want to end up in. What is it, and why? What are the darkest secrets and the biggest failures from your character’s past? What haunts him or her?

5. What are your greatest strengths?

What comes easily to this character? What makes this character strong, and why? Your answer can simply be a positive character traits list, but try to go more in depth, fleshing out what informs this character’s morals.

6. What are your greatest weaknesses?

Every good character has weaknesses. What puts your character out of place, out of their comfort zone, vulnerable? Why? Your answer can simply be a negative character traits list, but try to go more in depth, fleshing out what informs this character’s flaws and achille’s heel.

7. What are you like socially?

How does your character view other people? Are they very social and extroverted, or a little more on the quiet, shy, introverted side? Thinking about how your character acts in social situations can help you “beef” up your character and add depth.

8. What is your role in the story?

Consider your character’s role in the development of the story. Why does your character exist in your story? Is the character a protagonist, antagonist, or secondary character? How does your character change the story? And how is the character changed by the story—what is their character arc?

9. What is your connection to the overall storyline?

This is the important link between your character and your overall storyline. What specific impact will your character have on the overall progression of your story?

10. What sort of dynamic exists between you and the other characters?

Consider the relationships your character will have with other main or supporting characters. How do they interact? How do their personalities and motivations bounce off one another? How do they come away feeling upon interacting with each other?

Create Your Own Character Development Questions list

Creating your own questionnaire can be extremely useful in the writing process and enhance your understanding of your characters, prompting you to develop new, unique elements of their personalities. It’s a great tool for figuring out what makes your characters tick, and it can help align your storyline and plot with your character’s overall personality.

As you work to create your own questionnaire for characters, you can search for existing examples. The ten questions above are one example, and here are a few others:

160+ Questions on ThinkWritten
Creating a Memorable Character Worksheet from Lee White
Character Profile Template on Reedsy

Lastly, as you look for questions to ask your character, it may be useful to take a hint from the “self-help” section of your bookstore. The same sort of self-inquiry that is important in our own lives can be applied to the development of your characters.

Character Traits

Lastly, let’s examine character development from the lens of character traits, as this will help you define and refine your characters as you start and finish your stories. First, what are character traits?

Character traits are recurring features of a character’s personality that shape how that character responds to their world. Those traits will show themselves whenever someone reacts to their surroundings, engages in conversation, has private thoughts, takes action, or makes a decision.

Character traits definition: recurring features of a character’s personality that shape how that character responds to their world.

Many great novelists have studied human psychology so intently that every of their character’s actions is defined by one of their traits. Even the minutest actions, such as making dinner or brushing one’s teeth, can in some way reflect a set of character traits. Many of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s characters, for example, reflect an intimate understanding of human psychology, and his work greatly informed Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis which, though scientifically outdated, continue to impact modern literary analysis .

As you develop your characters, you can remember their personality by boiling them down into a character traits list. Because these traits are often detrimental in face of the story’s conflict, they’re an essential component of your story’s character arcs, and your characters will often have to push back against certain traits to undergo necessary character development.

Without further ado, let’s look at common character traits in literature.

Take note that many positive character traits can also be negative character traits, and vice versa. For example, while a strong sense of independence is generally considered positive, it can also lead to a character’s sociopathy, hatred of society, and disinterest in family.

Many positive character traits can also be negative character traits, and vice versa.

Alternatively, while “disobedient” is generally seen as negative, disobedience can also bring about positive changes in society. Terms like “positive” and “negative” relate to society’s perception of those traits, but in actuality, most traits can be both positive or negative depending on that character’s circumstances.

Lastly, remember that a protagonist does have negative traits, and an antagonist does have positive traits.

Positive Character Traits List

In the below character traits chart, we’ve listed positive character traits and characters with those traits in literature.

Negative Character Traits List

In the below character traits chart, we’ve listed negative character traits and characters with those traits in literature.

Which character traits should my protagonist, antagonist, and secondary characters have? Does it matter?

When writing the people that populate your stories, it’s important to have a balance of character traits so that no two people are the same. Additionally, it’s important that everyone has both positive and negative character traits since, like people in real life, no one is perfect.

Remember that stories are, above all else, about people. Even if those stories are set on different planets, in magical realms, or between alternate universes, it’s your cast of characters that matter most because people drive plot . Your characters are the ones making decisions, reacting to situations, and embarking on journeys; they define their own character arcs, so having a strong set of character traits is essential.

Here are three tips for selecting the best set of character traits in your story:

For protagonists , give them positive traits to strive for and negative traits to overcome. The best conflicts occur when a protagonist has to overcome their own negative character traits to achieve something.
For antagonists , think about traits that will make them perfect obstacles against the protagonist. A protagonist who is kind and respectful, but conflict-avoidant, might have a hard time overcoming an antagonist who is loud, coarse, and arrogant.
For secondary and tertiary characters , consider their purpose in the story, and give them traits that help them uphold that purpose. For example, a secondary character that exists to support the protagonist should be helpful and generous; someone who misleads the protagonist might be well-intentioned but foolish.

Conflict and Character Development

Here are instructor Jack Smith’s thoughts on using conflict to deepen your character development.

Characters become interesting when they undergo conflict . A character without conflict is a dull character. Conflict gets the reader interested, as long as the conflict is important to the character in a way we can relate to—and in a way that motivates the character to take action.

This takes us to motivation. What prompts your character to do what they do?

What are the protagonist’s stakes? What is the protagonist’s goal?

You can always go back and rethink motivation later, but if your character just seems to be doing something for no apparent reason, it might be harder to fix. Get inside your protagonist. Be your protagonist. See what happens. Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, you’ll do well to identify with the protagonist and become that protagonist.

Think story : What’s happening? Where is this character going? What is the main conflict the protagonist faces?

Let the conflict build. Think about foreshadowing, about hinting at something that will occur down the road—for instance, a marital break-up, a run-in with the law, a loss of job. Little things mentioned early on plant seeds of things that will bloom later.

The earlier you hook your reader with interesting conflict, the better for character development. Just set the stage for what is to follow. But don’t treat these pages like a “thesis statement” for the novel; your reader wants to experience the novel, not be told what it’s about. That’s like reading a plot summary instead of the story itself.

Think of conflict as worked out in plot threads. What are the main plot threads in your novel? Assuming you have one main plot thread, what are the subplots that will thread their way through your novel? Watch for these.

A few things to keep in mind:

Fiction thrives on conflict : Not every conflict can be resolved, but avoid dead spots in your fiction—particularly scenes that go nowhere, ones that lack friction.

How about this one?

“How are you?” “Doing pretty well. You?” “Doing pretty well.” “Good.” “Great.”

It’s hard to say. If this is the mindless chatter that most people engage in just to be polite, that might work if you’re satirizing small-town life. But otherwise, cut it.

Weed out extraneous conflicts and plot threads: Do they contribute in some way? Are they like streams flowing into a river? Do they contribute to or parallel the main plot in some way or ways? Consider this: Paul, a police detective, wants to solve a major wave of murders in his small city. He’s been running into some problems, including false leads. Paul has a background in music; he was planning to be a professional violinist, but that didn’t pan out. He’s still conflicted about that goal. My thought is that, unless you can find some connection between his wanting to be a violinist and his being a detective—perhaps something similar in the way he approaches conflicts that sometimes seem insurmountable—I wouldn’t get into his goal in music. Including his music aspirations might help create a complex character, but might seem irrelevant, especially to his character development. Do everything you can to create a unified novel. Perhaps music is his way of reducing stress from a very stressful job.

Let’s say your pantser side comes up with this musical background and that dream to be concert violinist. Follow it up. See where it goes.

Be sure that the main plot thread, as well as those plot threads that relate to the main thread, are sufficiently developed and credible : What does this take? Ask yourself if your protagonist’s character arc is satisfying to a reader. Is more needed? Is that arc believable? It’s been said that the ending needs to be “surprising” but “inevitable.”

See my article on endings at this URL: https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/ending-your-novels/2/

Incidentally, be sure that you don’t end up with everything tied up in a neat bundle, but don’t just stop either. What questions does the protagonist’s arc answer? As you write through your novel, be aware, at least, of the direction of your overall plot. If you’re a plotter, you know what it is. If you’re a pantser, you’re discovering it as you go along.

The following articles take a deeper look at the specific kinds of characters you might develop a story around.

Character Development Advice
How to Write Dialogue
Crafting Your Protagonist
Writing An Antagonist
Foil Characters
Static Vs Dynamic Characters
Round Vs Flat Characters
Anti Hero Characters

Craft Compelling Character Arcs at Writers.com

Looking for feedback on your characters, their journeys, and the worlds they occupy? Get feedback on your work in a Writers.com course! Take a look at our upcoming fiction courses and receive detailed, personalized feedback on your characters-in-progress.

Great content, it will help in my business Thank you for sharing useful information. Respectfully, David from https://deteced.com/

To what extend does the content apply to Characters in non-fiction memoir book?

Hi Maneo, great question! Because the people in nonfiction are real life human beings, they aren’t “characters” in the same way fictional characters are. However, no piece of literature can encompass the ENTIRETY of a single person. So, these character development questions are great starting points if you’re struggling to write about real life people. What do you want your reader to know? How can you make this person seem like a flesh and blood human?

If you’re interested to learn more about the dichotomy between fiction and nonfiction, check out this article: https://writers.com/fiction-vs-nonfiction

Happy writing!

Very comprehensive! A thorough and very helpful exposition. I love the examples used, as many of those stories informed my childhood. Thank you for an incredible resource.

[…] onto character development, which is defined as “the process of creating fictional characters with the same depth and complexity as real-life huma… to me and many other fans is an important aspect of any story. Crafting a character that people can […]

[…] Character Development Definition and Examples | Writers […]

Everything You Need to Know About Character Development

by Fija Callaghan

One of the most common things new writers hear when receiving feedback on their work is that they need more character development. But what does this oft-flung phrase actually mean? How do you develop a character, and how do you tell the difference between a developed one and an undeveloped one?

Character development is one of the most integral elements of developing a story—particularly a longer work, like a novel. Without it, your readers won’t care how clever your plot twists are or how well you’ve described your setting . Readers care about people, and character development is what brings your fictional people to life.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about developing vivid, lifelike characters in your writing.

What does character development mean in writing?

Character development is the process of creating authentic, believable characters in a story. A writer does this through careful consideration of their character’s wants, needs, core beliefs, personal history, relationships, and view of the world. Character development should also involve exploring the way a character changes over the course of a story.

Effective character development before and during the writing process helps you create memorable characters that transcend typical tropes and clichés . We’ll look at the sorts of fictional characters to explore in your story, and how to create good character development, further below.

Character development is the process of making your fictional characters feel like real-life people.

Why is character development important for writers?

Character development is one of the most important steps in the writing process because it’s how you create believable characters that the reader will want to follow from beginning to end. Although readers might pick up a book for the plot premise or cool worldbuilding , they’ll stay for characters that feel alive and real.

Your main character in particular should have a full, dynamic character arc in order to give your story emotional resonance (and we’ll look more at the role of the protagonist below). However, all the characters in your story can benefit from this creative process.

If you don’t know your characters thoroughly enough, they’re going to read as flat and one-dimensional in your final draft. Great character development is your key tool when it comes to creating compelling characters that illustrate what it means to be human.

Types of characters to develop in a novel

Most stories will have at least a few different characters rattling around in them. Short stories might have somewhere between two and five, while complex novels can have dozens. Here’s a quick overview of the key players most stories will have.

The protagonist

The protagonist is the main character of a story . Most will have only one protagonist (the word means “principal actor,” or the lead), but some novels, such as those with dual timelines or dual points of view, might have more than one. These should be complex characters with empathetic motivations and transformative character arcs.

To create a well-developed character that readers will follow across an entire novel, you should have a strong sense of who they are, what experiences have brought them to the moment at which your story begins, what hole in their life they’re trying to fill (because everybody has a hole, whether they’re aware of it or not), and what it’s going to take to fill it. These are the elements that will drive your story forward.

Without a strong, relatable, and compelling protagonist, any kind of story will fall apart.

The main character should always have a full, satisfying character arc.

The antagonist

The antagonist is a character whose primary objective is in direct conflict with the goals of the protagonist. Often, this makes them the villain of the story—though not always. They might just be someone with opposing beliefs or a different way of approaching their goal. Regardless of whether they’re well-intentioned or nefarious, they and the protagonist can’t each get what they want at the same time. The conflict that arises from this mutual exclusivity is what creates your story’s plot.

Some stories will have a primary antagonist and several secondary antagonists. For example, in the Harry Potter series, Lord Voldermort is the story’s primary antagonist while Draco Malfoy, Dolores Umbridge, and Vernon Dursley are some of the many secondary antagonists.

When crafting an effective antagonist , good character development is hugely important—maybe, just maybe, even more important than when developing your protagonist. This is because your readers probably won’t agree with your antagonist’s actions, but they’ll be much more engaged if they can at least understand them. If your story’s villain does evil, unforgivable things, they should feel human enough to make the reader think, “What would I do if I were in their situation?”

This means thoroughly exploring your character’s backstory, beliefs, and formative experiences that led them to make these choices.

The supporting cast

Secondary characters can be some of the most memorable figures in literature . Very often the protagonist is what delivers the story’s key message, but the secondary characters—the smart-alec best friend, the covetable love interest, the toxic workplace boss—are the ones that readers remember most.

Some of your supporting players will be static characters, while other characters will be dynamic (quick refresh: a dynamic character undergoes an internal shift between the beginning and end of the story, while a static character remains constant ). But whether or not they’re given their own transformative character arc, they should still be fleshed out enough through your character development process to feel real to the reader.

Secondary characters are also a great opportunity to create character foils that enhance your protagonist and antagonist even more.

Don’t forget to develop characters that test your protagonist’s limits.

Steps for developing a strong character arc

As you develop characters, look for ways you can give them dynamic growth—even if it’s only in small ways. Here are some things to think about as you explore the fictional characters who will populate your story.

Explore your character’s backstory

Diving into your character’s past can be one of the most fun elements of building a story. You get to ask character development questions like: What was their relationship to their parents, and how did it shape the person they grew to become? What sort of household values and ideals did they grow up with? What is their best memory? What about their worst one?

Every time your character makes choices, these choices are driven at least in some part by the experiences of their past. This is especially important when developing villains and other unsympathetic characters. By knowing what your character has undergone and what has led them to the present moment, you can better understand your character’s motivations and create someone who is authentic, multifaceted, and human.

Give your character a goal

Your character’s goal is the thing they want most. This might be something practical, like money to cover the next month’s rent or to save a love interest from alien invaders; or, it might be an aspiration like making it to the Olympics or writing a bestselling novel .

Other goals might be interpersonal, like satisfying a demanding spouse, getting a love interest to agree to a date, or helping a friend get their life back on track. Once you have a goal in mind for your protagonist (and a conflicting one in mind for your antagonist, if you have one), the pursuit of that goal will create the story’s plot.

Establish your character’s needs

All of your main characters should have things they need in life. Your character won’t always know what they need—sometimes the things we need most are completely subconscious—but they’ll still be chasing after it on some level.

Sometimes, this will be the same thing as their goal. More commonly, however, the character’s need is a deeper, unconscious desire that informs their surface objective. For example, if their goal is to find a way to cover next month’s rent, maybe their need is safety, security, and a place that feels like home. If their goal is to write a bestselling novel, maybe their hidden need is validation from a blue-collar family that discouraged their creativity.

In a novel, not all characters will end up getting what they want. Most of them, however, will end up getting what they need.

Understanding the needs of your main character is essential to creating a strong character arc.

Know your character’s strengths

Every character will have something that they’re great at. Try to come up with some general value strengths as well as at least one concrete strength. Value strengths can be things like kindness, creativity, or ingenuity (things we would consider “soft skills”). A concrete strength would be something like the ability to fix cars, cook lavish meals, or speak several languages (what we would call “hard skills”).

In a fantasy or science fiction novel, these concrete strengths could also be super powers or something magical in nature.

When your main characters come up against adversity (even if, in the antagonist’s case, that adversity is the hero), they’ll need to rely on all of these strengths to carry them through to the end.

Know your character’s weaknesses

Protagonists that are too pristine and perfect (sometimes called a “Mary Sue” or a “Gary Stu” character) are unrealistic, unrelatable, and boring . A character’s flaws are what bring them to life. They’re also the aspects that create conflict and tension in a story.

Some examples of character flaws might be impulsivity, greed, cowardice, internalized stigma, or cruelty disguised as humor. In a tragedy (or a tragic character’s story, like your villain’s), these flaws will prove too powerful and ultimately lead to the character’s downfall. In a more positive story, these negative traits will be things your characters will overcome on their way to their happy ending.

A character’s weaknesses are also important because your readers are going to have weaknesses, too. If they see their own flaws reflected in your protagonist, and then see your protagonist overcome those flaws, it makes the reader believe that they are capable of the same strength in themselves. This makes them believe in and root for your characters as they find their way.

Push your character to their limit

Once you know your character backwards and forwards, inside and out, you need to see what they’re capable of. As your story progresses, the main characters will face increasingly challenging obstacles that make them draw on all their strength—and, sometimes, fall prey to their own weaknesses. Every time they face one of these obstacles, they’ll learn something from it.

When your novel reaches its climax—at the cusp of Acts Two and Three , or about three quarters of the way into the book—your protagonist will face their biggest challenge yet. This might be a battle that takes place with outside forces (in other words, an external conflict), or it might be a reckoning that comes from within (in other words, an internal conflict).

How your character responds to this moment is what decides your protagonist’s future—if they will fall beneath the weight of their flaws and become a cautionary tale, or if they’ve learned and grown enough along their journey to attain the thing they need most.

Complex strengths and weaknesses are an integral part of character development.

Show how your character has changed

Finally, show your reader how the character’s development has changed over the course of the story. This comes in the novel’s resolution, or denouement . The most interesting characters are always ones who transform in some way from beginning to end.

Your main characters will have largely attained the thing they needed (even if they didn’t realise they needed it at the time), or lost everything as a result of being overtaken by their flaws. A secondary character might change in a subtler way, or they might instead, if they’re a static character, highlight how much the protagonist has changed by comparison.

In the final pages of a novel, allow the characters to accept who they’ve become and consider where their journeys will take them next.

Character development examples

To see how other writers have used character development effectively, check out these examples of strong characters from stories with a complex overall character arc.

Note that these examples will contain spoilers for the books!

Inés Chauveau from The Winemaker’s Wife , by Kristin Harmel

The eponymous protagonist of The Winemaker’s Wife begins as a cheerful, optimistic, shallow, and self-involved newlywed barely out of her teenage years who still believes the world is a place of champagne bubbles and romance. While she’s not an unlikeable figure, she still has a thing or three to learn about how the world works.

As the story progresses, she comes to understand her own need—to be valued and loved. When she doesn’t receive this within her own household, she begins searching for it elsewhere. This leads to a complex web of betrayals, and then a long, slow journey of redemption and self-forgiveness for the mistakes that she made. By the end of the novel she has grown, matured, and taken steps to overcome the weaknesses of her past.

This novel uses a dual-timeline format which follows the protagonist as a young woman and as an elderly one. This allows the reader to see the two distinct stages of this compelling character side by side, and follow her story as these two parts of herself ultimately come together.

Tristran Thorn from Stardust , by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is a classic example of a Hero’s Journey story , which is all about self-discovery and transformation. Tristran Thorn begins as an “everyman” character who’s socially awkward and uncertain, with big dreams of winning the heart of the babe next door.

His goal takes him on a quest into fairyland, where he faces baddies and beasties and eventually learns a startling truth about his past. For the majority of the novel, all of his actions are in pursuit of the thing he wants—the heart of the woman he thinks he loves. Along the way, however, he learns that what he really needs is something else entirely. It’s not until he discovers his true strengths and overcomes his weaknesses that he’s able to earn it.

In true Hero’s Journey fashion, the novel closes by bringing the hero back to the world from which he came. Except now, the ordinary world is the same but the hero is different. This juxtaposition highlights how much the main character has grown and how his experiences have made it so he no longer fits into the home he once had.

The Hero’s Journey follows a main character who changes over time.

Mortimer Folchart in the Inkworld trilogy, by Cornelia Funke

In the Inkworld books (which include Inkheart , Inkspell , and Inkdeath ), Mo Folchart is a kindly bookbinder and devoted father to the first novel’s protagonist, a young girl named Meggie. As the series matures, however, the focus of the novels shifts from her and Mo starts to take center stage.

As Mo faces increasing dangers and becomes enmeshed in a thrilling, fantastical world, he starts to leave his real-life persona behind and adopt the mask of a folk hero robber called The Bluejay. Although he never forgets his loyalty to his family, his more traditional suburban values become overshadowed by his new life. By the end of the trilogy, this character has learned to bring all the discordant elements of himself into balance.

Character development is key to keeping your reader interested

Great character development makes a world of difference in all kinds of fiction writing, whether you want to write high fantasy or literary fiction, epic novels or short stories. By developing a strong character arc for your main characters and secondary characters, you create living people on the page that your readers will want to walk beside.

To take an even deeper look into developing characterization, you can check out an entire character development worksheet in our article on crafting character biographies ! It will lead you through developing your character’s personality, your character’s history, and ways to create great characters for your story.

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Character Development: Write Stronger Characters [with FREE Worksheet]

f there’s one thing writers will agree on, it’s that character development is super critical to writing a winning script.

It’s also a hard thing to master – oftentimes requiring spreadsheets and graphs for something that should be more… human.

But does it have to be that way?

How to create a character shouldn’t be an arduous process.

And, with our character development worksheet, it’s not.

Here I’ll show how to use our worksheet, which can help answer your own character development questions as you get into the weeds of writing.

This worksheet can be a powerful tool to help you figure out how to develop characters that follow a succinct character arc.

We’ll also go over what a static character and a dynamic character are, and which one may be best for your story.

First, what is character development?

Putting the “work” in character development worksheet, wait, hang on… what’s a flat character then, so... should i avoid static characters, how to develop a dynamic character, more dynamic character development examples, character development throughout black panther, character development: write stronger characters .

Character development is the process of creating a character for a work of fiction such as a feature film , television show, or novel.

As mentioned, it’s often boiled down to two kinds of characters: Static character development and dynamic character development .

You probably remember hearing your mom or teacher mention how some things help “build character.”

But what does that mean when it comes to writing?

Character development is also the way in which characters change throughout a story. And it's not that far from what your mom was talking about.

One foundation of writing is challenging your protagonists (and antagonists). As they work to achieve their goals, we must make sure it’s harder for them to accomplish those.

This - like the chores, the second job, the long slog to school everyday - helps with character development. It changes them as the narrative marches forward.

When characters change in the course of a story, it’s called having a character arc.

Character Development - The Character Arc

Audiences like this kind character development because it creates relatable, real characters.

The changes we push our heroes through reflect the human condition we're all a part of.

But what if they don't change?

That’s the static character development definition - one that does not go through an emotional or physical transformation by the end of the narrative.

This is also known as a flat character.

Ones that do change? Those are dynamic characters.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: WRITE STRONGER CHARACTERS

Character is defined as all the elements that make a character feel relatable and real.

While this may be encapsulated in a series of idiosyncrasies and preferences, it’s best summed up in belief systems.

Because what we believe defines what we do.

The best way to ensure that you have a compelling character is to create a list of beliefs in the beginning and fill in the box.

Next, come up with specific actions the character takes based on those beliefs.

Then, after you’ve established beliefs and actions, fill in them for each subsequent section as the narrative unfolds.

Whether your character exhibits a change in their belief systems over time is a topic we’ll pursue below, but the “delta” (or change) should be listed.

For example, in 12 Angry Men , Juror 3 believed that the boy on trial was guilty, so he voted guilty.

But, as the narrative unfolded, he went from vehemently believing that the boy is guilty and, therefore, voting guilty to flipping in the end .

He changed his belief and, therefore, his vote to not guilty - despite being the last and most aggressive Juror to do so.

That about as simple as an example can get, but it’s an example nonetheless of clear character development and a character arc.

It’s not uncommon for many characters to remain the same throughout the narrative - that’s a static character. We’ll go over what the definition of a static character is in a bit.

The ones who do change are called dynamic characters.

Dynamic characters follow a character arc - like Juror 3.

Flat characters don’t follow an arc, but historically have had tremendous success.

It’s simple: The static character is one that doesn’t change by the end of the story.

Which is also a flat character. They’re interchangeable.

That, on paper, sounds kinda boring.

Why would anyone make a static character?

Because audiences come to love their consistency.

Jerry Seinfeld was was always the same guy at the end of one episode as he was at the same time next week.

Character Development - Character Arc - Seinfeld

There was a rule on Seinfeld of, "no hugging, no learning."

Sheldon Cooper is always going to say bazinga .

And, even thirty years later, Roseanne hasn’t changed her recognizable laugh - if anything.

These habits and idiosyncrasies that we grow to love are part of great character development.

But if you were to fill in the character development worksheet with Seinfeld, Sheldon, or Roseanne, you would see that their beliefs never change from the beginning.

CHARACTER: JERRY SEINFELD

While they may try something new or different within the episode, your static characters always end up back at square one.

That’s because plug and play sitcoms need static characters so they can go into syndication and last for decades.

If Jerry changes, what happens to the show?

Change is necessary to all stories though, so what DOES change?

The world and the characters around them. Static characters stay the same, but the people around them change. The world around them changes.

Sometimes as a result of their actions. Sometimes in order to push them places, or challenge their static nature.

Despite all of this, dynamic characters have recently taken over the popular landscape in film and TV.

Complicated protagonists and anti-heroes who occupy a gray area in our narrative structures are breathing life into the case for dynamic characters.

In one word, yes. In more words... well, let's take a look.

It all depends on your priorities. As we mentioned, static characters have had a lot of success. Static character development has proven to create huge franchises.

More examples of static character development include Sherlock Holmes. How often does he carry the lessons from one book to another?

He's still the same wily Sherlock he was at the end of one as he is at the beginning of another.

Did James Bond learn and grow over the decades-long franchise? Is he a different person in Die Another Day as he was in Goldfinger ?

Character Development - James Bone Skyfall

Nope. And yet audiences still adore him.

So then why should you make dynamic characters?

Because, recently, less-serialized shows and properties have become more popular.

Breaking Bad was built on the back of a man going through a major metamorphosis.

Character Development - Breaking Bad Character Transformation

Mad Men painted a less black and white picture.

Positing that Don Draper may look as though he's changed, but he's only adapted to a changed environment (the '60s versus the '50s).

Essentially All Don's journey taught him is how to sell to a "new generation."

For an ad man, that's a big deal.

CHARACTER: Don Draper

The same can be said for Tony Soprano - a man who goes to therapy to sort out his mental health issues can’t be the same person at the end of the day.

Or can he? He’s still Tony Soprano the mobster, father, and son we knew him from the pilot.

Character arcs are trending toward ambiguity in some respects, but they’re still there.

If you want to create a dynamic character that uses its change (or lack thereof) to make an artistic statement, our character development worksheet is a great tool for you to use.

The only thing you have to do to make a dynamic character is force them to change - that’s the core of character development.

If we're being smart, that change will come from a process that character undergoes.

You know… like a character arc. Where they show changes in what they believe through actions they take.

This “showing” aspect is critical as it's the only way the viewer will get the perception of change.

It's a form of proof.

You can use our character development worksheet to make sure that your character’s values and, thus, their actions are different at the end of the story than they were at the beginning.

This can create a more engaging character. People are drawn to change because it creates an aspirational hero.

You can either present a protagonist as a charming person who will always be that way (Sherlock Holmes and James Bond) or as someone who betters themselves.

Showing someone push through adversity to create a positive change in themselves is inspiring.

For a character development example, look at Disney movies - every hero is dynamic.

No Disney princess, prince, or talking animal is the same at the end as they were at the beginning. They all ended up changing their belief systems in some way or another.

At the end of it all, how they lived changed as well.

Audiences want someone to look up to and having great character development presents that opportunity.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a classic example. It takes a pretty intense haunting to convince him that Christmas is good, but in the end he gets there.

Character Development - Ebenezer Scrooge

In Lady Bird , the titular character grows to become more accepting of her mother, her roots, and, subsequently, her actual first name.

Character Development - Lady Bird Character Arc

In Black Panther , T’Challa goes from wanting to isolate Wakanda so he can protect their way of life to being more willing to use their technology to make the world a better place.

Character Development - Character Arc - Black Panther

Each of these examples shows signs of growth and action.

The characters followed an arc, changed their belief systems throughout the narrative, and, therefore, their actions followed suit.

That’s the definition of character development.

To see how T’Challa fits into the character development worksheet, take a look…

Character: T’Challa (Black Panther)

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So, in review, we know that a dynamic character is someone who exhibits change and a static one is someone who does not.

We know that both are common and successful.

So whether your protagonist is dynamic or static is up to you as a writer and depends on what kind of story you are trying to tell.

If you want to make sure that the characters you created go through a powerful change, you should use the worksheet.

This will help you plot out exactly how they change throughout the narrative.

That way you can feel confident that you’ll write dynamic characters that create an engaging experience for whomever you send that next award-winning script to.

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Building & Revealing Characters

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

These resources discuss character creation and development in fiction writing. They provide an overview of character archetypes and tools to aid in character building.

By now, you’ve assembled a great deal of information about your characters. You can see them, you know what they’re thinking, and you know what they want. But conveying this information to your reader is its own unique challenge.

Just as you can’t rely on mere exposition to explain what happened before your story, you can’t preface your story with an interview with your character. Character is something you build throughout the course of your story. Recall that major characters, like your protagonist, are ones that will change during the course of the story; who they are in the beginning is not who they’ll be in the end.

That said, you’ll want to give the reader an impression of who the character is at the outset of the story. Fitzgerald uses the first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, to gradually reveal information about Gatsby; the reader learns more information about Gatsby as Nick learns about him. You might use minor characters to reveal information about your character if you’re writing from a point-of-view that is not the protagonist.

The protagonist must also be likeable (at least to an extent). If your reader cannot identify with your character, cannot picture themselves in the character’s shoes, then they won’t want to read on. While fiction is plot-driven, the reader isn’t going to care about your plot unless they care about your protagonist. You have to make the reader root for your character; we have to want them to succeed (as with Gatsby).

This doesn’t mean that your character should be perfect—quite the opposite, actually. We don’t want to read about perfect people; if a character is the most beautiful and talented person in the world, and if she has everything they want, there’s no story there. Besides, nobody wants to read about a character who’s perfect.

You may recall that every character in William Shakespeare’s plays has a “fatal flaw”: a personality flaw that will cause the character to fail, that Achilles’ heel that the antagonist will exploit. When you are building your own characters, think about what sort of flaws they have. The flaw should make sense for the character, as in, it should be related to their background/beliefs. You can’t assign flaws arbitrarily—the flaw should arise from the circumstances of your character’s life, where they are, who they know, how they were raised and how they’ve been treated.

ThinkWritten

Character Development: How to Write Strong Characters in Your Novel

These 5 steps for character development will show you how to create strong characters in your novel. Use these tips, exercises and activities to start building lovable and relatable characters your readers are sure to enjoy.

We may receive a commission when you make a purchase from one of our links for products and services we recommend. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for support!

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Strong character development is one of the most important aspects of writing a fiction novel. With strong character development, your characters will be more memorable, and most importantly, your readers will be able to relate well to them, just as if they were a real live human being.

With a little bit of experience and practice using these character development activities, you’ll soon master the art of character development in no time!

In this post we’ll share with you the 5 steps to learning how to create memorable characters in your novel, along with some practical character development exercises to help you gain practice and confidence.

What is Character Development? Why Does it Matter?

In order to fully understand how to build strong characters in your novel, you first need to have a good understanding of what character development is – and why it is so important in the first place!

So what does character development mean exactly?

While there are many different interpretations for the definition of character development out there, I define character development as this:

Character Development Definition: The process in creating a persona in a story AND the changes this persona goes through during the course of the story.

The key here is to realize the character personality development process is not just the act of sitting down and conjuring up an imaginary person – it is also showing your readers how this persona changes and transforms throughout the course of the story.

Who Can Be a Character In My Novel?

The characters of your novel are in most instances the people who the story is about. You will typically have between 1-2 main characters and a handful of minor supporting characters in your book.

Do you know the differences between main and minor characters? Learn More Here: What You Need to Know About Main & Supporting Characters .

Your main characters are usually the people in the book who are central to the story. If you are writing in the first person, the story may be told from their point of view. Without the main character, there would be no story.

Supporting characters are people who add dynamics to your story. They work to compliment the main character – and often need to add to the overall conflict to the story. A supporting character is not as critical as a main character, but the story should still need to rely on this person in order to be the same.

If you can completely remove a character out of the book without affecting the plot, you may want to reconsider whether you even need that character in the first place!

[sc name=”disclosure”]

Of Course, Not All Characters Are Human

Of course, I say “people” here – but characters can be any type of animate being. Animals, mythological creatures, and advanced artificial life forms are all candidates as main characters, depending on what type of genre you may be writing.

For example, when writing children’s literature , it’s not uncommon for many of the characters to be animals. One example of a non-human character would be Peter, the main rabbit character in the story Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

Even supporting characters do not need to be humans – many can be animals and other types of creatures. While we are on the topic of rabbits in fiction stories, one such case is the rabbit in the much loved classic Alice in Wonderland .

There are not a lot of rules on what a character can and can’t be – the key to making a character is all about the development of character – and these are all the personality traits and behaviors that make the character come to life!

Now that we understand what character development is and who our characters can be, we’re ready to get onto the 5 steps of strong character development!

Here are the 5 Steps of Strong Character Development to Create Memorable Characters in Your Novel:

These 5 steps will guide you along creating realistic and relatable personas in your story – and ensure that your character fully grows throughout the plot!

Step 1: Identify Your Characters & Their Roles in the Story

The first step may be an obvious one, but an essential one! You need to know who will be the main people in your book. It’s important to identify not just who they are – but also what their roles are in the book.

For example, if you’re writing a story similar to Peter Rabbit, you would identify first there is a rabbit named Peter. You may even consider some basic personality traits, such as being troublemaker or not being very good at listening to directions.

However, it’s important you also identify the roles of the character in the story. Peter is a main character, but you need to think about what role he plays in the overall storyline.

In the story, Peter is a young bunny. He is the son to the mother rabbit, and a brother of his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail. This adds to the overall character development of Peter, because if he were a grown-up rabbit in the story without a mother worrying about him or perfectly behaved sisters to compare and contrast with, you would miss a lot of the conflict in the story.

Even minor absent characters can have important roles. Continuing with the Peter Rabbit story, Peter’s father was turned into stew after being caught in the farmer’s garden. This “raises the stakes” in the novel on why it is such a bad idea to sneak into the garden in the first place!

We never see Peter’s father in the story, since he has passed on, but the introduction of him as a character adds to the suspense and conflict when Peter decides to pay the farmer’s garden a visit. Likewise, Peter’s sisters are relatively small supporting characters – however, without them being there we would not realize just how well-behaved a young rabbit could be compared to the bad decisions made by Peter!

These roles are classic archetypes we see quite often not only in books, but even our own human lives. Most of us who grew up with siblings can relate to a time where we were the “bad one” or the “good one”, as this is a common relationship dynamic between siblings and the parent-child relationship.

Remember, dynamic means stimulating activity, change or progress. Taking note of common relationship dynamics can be quite helpful in identifying how each character’s role is going to influence the outcome of your story and the overall growth of your main character.

An Important Note About Using Archetypes and Stereotypes: Avoid Cliches!

While using generic relationships between archetype characters can be helpful to identify roles and dynamics between people in your book, try to avoid character cliches while writing when possible!

avoid cliches in character development stereotypes

For example, many fairy tales have the evil step-mother – a wicked woman who despises or is jealous of the step-daughter. This character has been “done to death” as the saying goes – and likewise will make your story seem uninspiring.

If a character is a cliche stereotype, it will likely turn readers off, especially if they know the stereotypes are not usually true about individuals.

To overcome this, try changing your character to have some behaviors or motivations that are NOT the stereotype. Maybe the evil step mother is not cruel and narcissistic, but instead she’s seen as “evil” because she is too kind, helpful and overbearingly loving to a reluctant step-child.

If you find yourself working with common archetypes , ask yourself: What can I do that will add a twist? Can I think of any real-life examples of this stereotype? What would make the person a unique individual and not quite as predictable?

Try This Character Development Exercise:

In this exercise for step 1, ask yourself these questions:

Who are your characters?
What Roles do they play?
What is their relationship to the other characters?
What are the relationship dynamics between each character?
Does my character fit into any stereotype? What traits will help avoid any cliche’s and ensure my character is not flat or predictable?

Step 2: Get Inside Your Character’s Head

The next step, once we’ve identified each character and the role they play in the storyline, is to really get to know your character inside and out. While you will want to make a note of their physical appearance and main personality traits, it can be helpful to dig in even deeper.

Using Character Development Questions can be very helpful for understanding your character’s quirks – and their main motivations. Even if you do not use all of the details in your story (and you probably shouldn’t!) – it is still a worthwhile exercise to practice.

Answering questions about your character will give you as the writer a complete picture of the person and influencing elements of the story. Knowing how your character might react when angry for example will give you a starting place when you are ready to write the major rising conflict scenes.

Remember: It’s Not Just Who They Are in the Beginning – It’s Who They Become

Because development of characters is just as much about how they grow and change from the beginning of the story to the end, having an intimate knowledge of little details can make a big difference at how well you are able to convey this to your readers.

For example, let’s say you have an idea for a main character named Jane who is a rather shy, timid, middle aged woman who has all but given up on life. After being fired from her last job, she is desperate for any type of work, so accepts a job as a cafeteria worker at a tough inner city school.

The story of transformation can happen in a number of ways, depending on what story you want to tell. Maybe in the story Jane will be forced to speak up on an important issue on behalf of the students. As the writer, you could then show the readers how she transforms from being shy and depressed to finding something she is passionate about and building her confidence.

Or, you could have Jane fall in love with the principal and has to learn to believe in herself enough to initiate a conversation that leads to that first date. Or, maybe Jane finds out the school is planning to poison the students during lunch next Tuesday and only she can save everyone.

Whatever the plot may be, the important thing is that your character goes through changes in their personality and behavior – in a realistic and believable way.

If you understand the little details about Jane and why she is the way she is and how her inner mind works, you’ll be better prepared to write about how she changes in a way your readers can understand and relate to.

Step 2 Exercise: Download the Character Development Worksheet:

Download our character development worksheet and answer the questions for each of your main characters.

Once this step is complete, take some time to think about how your character will grow and transform by the end of the novel. What will change about your characters?

Step 3: Research, Research, Research

Research can be a writer’s worst nightmare – especially if you’re using the excuse to research as a procrastination method to avoid writing!

However, doing your initial research about your characters before you start writing is very important, because it can actually save you the time-sucking distraction of trying to find information mid-sentence or mid-chapter.

You should research as much as possible for anything you do not have direct experience with. Even if it is a topic you know a lot about, you should still try to research and fact-check just to make sure you have accurate information.

For example, let’s say you are writing a novel where your main character is a cardiologist at a busy hospital. Not only would you need to research some basic information on cardiology as a profession, but you would need to make sure you are aware of medical customs and laws where the hospital is located.

Even if you were the office assistant to a cardiologist as a past job, if the story is set in a different state or country, there will likely be many differences that readers who know better would be able to spot as being inaccurate.

Historical novels are another example of where a lot of research might be necessary. If you’re writing a story set in the revolutionary war time period, it would be important to make sure everything you write is historically accurate. Having mistakes about dates, people, places or events would surely cause some readers to become upset!

Yes, There is Such a Thing as Too Much Research

Of course, you do not want to spend too much time in research, because research can lead you to become very distracted.

Do as much research as you can beforehand, but if you’ve spent more than 2 months researching and have not written a single word yet, you are using research as an excuse to not write!

Step 3 Character Development Activity: Get Busy Researching!

Try one of these methods to gather research for the characters in your novel:

Browse Forums & Discussion Groups: Facebook, Reddit and topic specific forums can be quite helpful here. For example, if you were writing a story about a guitar player, you might want to spend some time reading the discussions at guitarforums.com , or at the very least joining a guitar related Facebook group.

Interview Someone: If you are writing a story about a nurse, find a friend who is a nurse who you can interview to learn about some of their day-to-day activities. Is your main character a college student? Find a college student to interview!

Step 4: Strong Dialogue = Stronger Character Development

Dialogue is an important part of almost every story. The way your character talks and interacts in conversations with others can make a big difference on how well your audience can connect with the person or creature.

There are a number of factors that can help you build strong dialogue between characters , but one important key is staying consistent.

Consistency is very important. Staying consistent with your characterization of each person is what makes the people in your novel memorable and helps readers identify with the character.

If your character is a conservative and traditional person and then all of a sudden out of nowhere starts swearing and dropping profanities, this might not only cause confusion – it could turn off some readers who related to the character’s traditional values earlier in the story.

It’s also important to make sure through dialogue your characters are distinctively different. For example, if you have the characters David and Daniel, you would want to make sure each has unique identifying phrases, tone of voice, and mannerisms while talking.

Otherwise, your readers may have to go back and reread a section as they try to remember which character is David and which one is Daniel – and that’s NOT a good sign!

Step 4 Exercise: Dialogue Writing Checklist

After you write a scene which contains dialogue, ask yourself these questions:

Is the dialogue consistent to the characters personality traits and behaviors?
Is the dialogue distinctive enough that it is easy to distinguish between multiple characters?
Does the dialogue stay true to what someone would expect of the character?
Is the dialogue realistic for the character I am trying to portray?

Step 5: Show, Don’t Tell

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “show, don’t tell” as one of the main writing rules.

Well, it may be cliche, but it is a very good tip for helping you write a convincing story with strong characters!

This is an example of telling:

Mindy couldn’t believe she would never be at the beach house again. Tears welled in her eyes while she walked away.

This is an example of showing:

Mindy locked up the beach house one final time and slipped the key into her pocket. She looked towards the edge of the ocean through puffy and blurry eyes. She didn’t think it was possible to cry any more than she already had, but the tears came on again anyways, bursting out of her like a fierce and unexpected storm over the ocean.

Now, I just made these two examples up, so they are nowhere near “perfect” of course – but for example’s sake hopefully you can see a big difference between the two.

The first one doesn’t really give a lot of detail, nor does it make us feel emotionally connected in any way to the story. We’re not really sure what’s happening.

With the second example, we are more descriptive – Mindy is looking at the ocean through puffy, blurry eyes and then comparing the outburst of tears like an unexpected ocean storm.

Making use of body language and feelings is very important when you are writing and will help you more effectively convey your message to your audience. When your readers can visualize a scene while they read and can relate to what the person might be feeling or experiencing, it is easier for them to be attached to the story.

It can take some practice to fully master the concept of “show, don’t tell”, but the good news is the more you write the easier it gets!

Step 5 Exercise: 1 Paragraph 3 Ways

Take something you have recently written and now rewrite it in 3 different ways – even if you are already confident it shows and does not tell. Try to use different ways to describe the character’s actions, thoughts, and feelings.

Here are three ways you can rewrite one paragraph:

Write the paragraph using vivid descriptive detail – include a literary device such as a metaphor or simile to describe a thought or action
Write the paragraph with as few as words as possible. How can you convey the same emotion, tone, and message with fewer details?
Write the paragraph as dialogue between two characters.

It might seem redundant to do this, but this simple act of rewriting one simple paragraph in three different ways can sometimes yield interesting results!

Character Development Writing Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

It doesn’t have to be difficult to practice character development in writing – and in many ways, it can be one of the fun and exciting parts of the process when writing a novel .

When you are able to convey your characters effectively, it will help your audience connect with the story and be drawn into reading about what happens next.

Taking some time to research and practice these creative character development activities and exercises can be a very helpful way to get on the right track of becoming a successful author.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Do you have any questions about character development? What techniques do you practice to help create realistic and strong characters? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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26 comments.

I starter writing a story a year ago for fun sake. but after chapter 15 I suddenly thought I would write it for real and serious. At chapter 40 I feel like I’m writing the story that goes around and around. And now I am at chapter 100 and a fella comment by saying my characters in the story are boring because of no character development. So here I am, identifying my weakness and mistakes in my writing. This information really help people like me to learn how to write. Although I have to admit I think the hardest part for me is the ‘Show, Don’t Tell’, because I know myself, I am not capable to elaborate to that kind of level, yet. So Thank You for writing this helpful guide.

Writing for fun is the best way to start! It takes some practice, but as with all things the more practice the easier it gets with time.

This was actually a good advise Especially the “showing not telling” part it helped me to understand how to write my story in a better way

Glad it helped you!

This is a wonderful guide to writting bestsellers. Keep it up.

In my school, we used to do a writing challenge every Sunday, there would be a prompt like ‘ Student safety was the only reason given for the school basement being off limits. But rules are meant to be broken…’ Tell this story. Then we’d spend the next hour or so writing a few paragraphs about it. And it so happens that one of these prompts gave me a new idea that developed into a series of events, and I decided to write a book. I didn’t know how to start or anything until I stumbled across this page and I found it really helpful! Even though I’m only 14, I have high hopes for this book.

Excellent article! It has helped me a lot in the development of my next novel, Sulcrus.

You are right Miranda,However you should keep in mind that I am directing a story where all this happens. In its first section there are a few characters including the author herself. However for the finishing touch in this section, a housewife appears with her husband in this story with few more characters .In the second section their little daughter will be born and this way the story will progress.

Thank you for doing such a wonderful job, Can you please help me with my writing please

Hi Dave, the best thing to do is keep writing, keep reading, and keep learning. 🙂

So, I’m writing a novel where there is a group of kids who all play significant roles in the story. My question is, can there be four main characters?

Hi Keon, while it may seem like you have 4 main characters, most likely there is still only going to be 1 or 2 main characters with the other 2 children as supporting characters. It can be helpful to think about the point of view to determine the main characters. You may also want to check out this resource on our website: Main vs Supporting Characters. Hope that helps!

Thank you for the great advice! i have been wondering if actually becoming the character, like talking out loud as the character, is a good way to build one? Does anyone do this?

I think it’s a great idea if its something you want to try. I could see that technique being useful for writing dialogue scenes.

Great ideas , thanks!

Most of my character ideas are drawn from my own past. Some are an amalgam of people I have crossed paths with in the past. Is this a good idea.?I tried inventing a character from scratch,someone completely alien to me in terms of class and psychology but as I continued to develop his personality,I noticed some of my own character traits creeping in to his . It’s as if one can’t escape one’s own vision of things. How can a writer escape this echo of themselves?

Try to not invision yourself being the character, but act as the character is you child and is completely different. Then again, if some of your character traits start to come through, that’s ok!

Your article helped a lot to know how to build character for a novel. Thank you very much.

Very helpful, thank you! To capture the interest of the readers and draw them further into a novel, authors use various literary devices such as narrative hooks and plot twists.

Please read my blog on The Art of Writing Action Scenes in a Novel

The book which I am talking about will have minimum 12 sections a nd maximum 48 sections, with a cinema after each 2 sections

I will give you its details after 2035

Hello! 🙂 I loved how you explained things to us. I am only 15 but I have always loved writing books. So I am going to do it, I am actually going to start writing my first book in hopes that it gets published. Because you don’t have to be of a legal age to do something you love, right? ^.^ So, I have set up the plot and everything but the characters aren’t interesting. My characters have unique names but they don’t have unique personality traits. I have tried but to no avail…. can you please give me some advice on this? 🙂

Hi Khadija, that is great you are writing your first book! You might also want to check out our list of Character Development Questions – that can help you really get to know your characters and develop them further. Hope that helps and best wishes for your book!

After reading your excellent article, my eleven y/o granddaughter, who is an aspiring writer of fiction, asked me a question that has me stumped. How do you show, and not tell, in 1st person? Thank you

That you people will see in https://thinkwritten.com/character-development/#comments

47 Character Development Prompts To Flesh Out Your Book Characters

What kind of person is your main character?

Maybe you’ve started to hear their voice in your head, but they just haven’t been very talkative.

What can you do to make your character reveal their full self, quirks and all?

The best way to get to know the people you’ve created is to use character development writing prompts.

We’ve created a list of 47 to put each of your key characters to the test.

Choose your own adventures for them. And see what your characters reveal about themselves.

Actions speak louder than words. But you’ll need both.

Key Benefits of Character Development Exercises

Identity or personality prompts, relationship prompts, reaction prompts, ethics and morality prompts, backstory prompts.

The more writing prompts you use in the development of your characters, the more of the following benefits you’ll enjoy:

Deeper awareness of the process of creating complex and believable characters
Experience writing from the character’s point of view (voice journal entries)
Experience writing dialogue (or taking dictation for the voices in your head)
Greater ease in making each character stand out as unique and three-dimensional.
Well-drawn, interesting characters , which help in the creation of unique plots.

The more you know about these people in your story, the more real they become to you.

Related: 16 Best Self-Publishing Companies For Your Writing Business

Then comes the challenge of helping your reader see them through dialogue and essential details.

The more character development prompts you use, though, the more experience you’ll have doing exactly that.

47 Character Development Prompts

Try any of the character scenarios below to see what each of your key characters is made of. Put them in situations that reveal their character and what they believe about themselves — as well as what they think of other characters in your story.

We’ve divided these into groups to make it easier for you to focus on the areas that are the foggiest right now. Dive in and choose a prompt for today’s freewriting exercise .

1. If your character has a superpower , what is it and how did they discover it? Is it something they’re proud of or would they like to exchange it for someone else’s?

2. What is your character’s biggest flaw ? Write about how they came to terms with it (if they have) or how they react when someone calls them out for it.

3. Write a scene exposing your character’s fatal flaw and include another character from your story. Write from either character’s point of view.

4. Write a scene revealing a mental health challenge for your character. Another character recognizes that challenge and offers help.

5. Your character is trying to decide what to eat on a Friday night alone at their place. Write a voice journal entry about their thought process, what they eat, and why.

6. Have three of your characters play “ Truth or Dare .” What do they learn about each other? And what character is more likely to choose “Dare” over “Truth”?

7. If your character has decided romantic or sexual love is not for them, write about what led them to identify as asexual or aromantic . How have others reacted?

8. Has your character discovered an attraction they’ve been taught they shouldn’t have? Write about how has that affected their beliefs and sense of identity?

9. Does your character identify with the gender assigned to them at birth? If not, write about how they came to identify as a trans person and who supported them.

10. Write a scene where your character reveals their sexual orientation or gender identity to someone who doesn’t respond well to the news.

11. Have your character take the 16Personalities test to identify their Myers-Briggs type. Write a voice journal entry about their reaction to the results.

12. Get your character alone with a parental figure that shaped their response to authority. Is your character generally obedient or more likely to question or rebel?

13. Get your character alone with someone they’re attracted to , whether they’ve acknowledged that attraction or not. Let them find out the attraction isn’t mutual.

14. Get your character alone with someone who hurt them and who now needs their help. Write a scene or dialogue exchange hinting at the hurt caused by the other.

15. Write a scene where your character cooks a meal for someone else in your story. Show how it turns out and what they talk about while they eat (or drink).

16. Write a scene where one of your character’s siblings comes to visit them. What do they talk about? What have they been through together?

17. Get your character talking about their first love , who it was and whether the attraction was mutual. Was it an epic love or just a crush? How did it end?

18. Does your character have a mentor , coach, or guide? Write a scene where they clash with this mentor or take issue with advice or directions they’ve been given.

19. Has your character ever lost a friend ? Write a scene leading up to that loss and then show how your character reacts.

20. Write a scene that shows what kind of friend your character is when someone they care about is going through a bad break-up.

21. How does your character get along with kids ? Write a scene where someone talks to your character about whether they want kids of their own and why or why not.

22. Write a scene describing an encounter between your character and someone who has an unrequited crush on them — and who writes poetry.

Creative Writing (Novels & Novellas)

Introduction
Generating Ideas

Developing Characters

Crafting Settings
Plotting Narratives
Sharpening Prose
Getting Published
Miscellaneous

"We humans are a social species. Whether you consider yourself an extrovert or an introvert, on some level you want to connect with others-- to build a web of friends and enemies that'll last a lifetime.

"That longing is, in large part, why we tell stories in the first place. We want to fill our lives with brave heroes, devious villains, and crushes that we would never admit in public (don't deny it), but it's a little too dangerous to actually meet those figures in real life. Also, they might secretly be dragons... or princesses. You don't know for sure that they aren't .

"So, we call upon the young farm boy and say, 'Look, I'm a little too scared to actually meet the princess of dragons, so you introduce me and I'll keep watch from back here, where it's safe.' To this, the young farm boy will simply respond, 'hmph,' because you didn't actually give him a personality before sending him on this errand.

"On behalf of all young farm boys everywhere, please spend some time on your characters."

Audio / Video

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Books / Ebooks

102 Ways to Write a Novel
Creative Writing For Dummies
Wonderbook: An Illustrated Guide...

NOTE: Ebook Central requires a username and password to access. However, creating a new account is free. Just go to the list of available databases, click Ebook Central , click "Sign In" at the top-right of the screen, and then click "Create Account" at the center. If you don't follow these steps, the site will not allow you to create an account. Once you have a username and password, you may use the link below to access this resource. The list of available databases can be found here.

102 Ways To Write A Novel: Indispensable Tips for the Writer of Fiction

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50 Character Development Writing Prompts

Last updated on January 5th, 2023

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your next creative writing project, why not try using some character development writing prompts? By coming up with creative and unique ways to develop your characters, you can ensure that your story will be more interesting and engaging for your readers.

From developing a character’s back story to exploring their motivations, these prompts should help you and your readers get to know your characters better and create characters that are more three-dimensional. By giving your characters prompts that help you understand them on a deeper level, you’ll be able to write them more authentically.

Plus, they can help you to break out of any writing ruts you may find yourself in and find inspiration. So if you’re ready to get started, here are some prompts to help you get inside your character’s heads. And if you are lucky, they might even surprise you!

What are writing prompts?

A writing prompt is a topic or question that is used to generate ideas for writing. As a writing exercise, character prompts specifically are used to generate ideas for writing about characters, and can be used for any type of writing, including fiction, non-fiction, and even poetry.

How do you use writing prompts?

There are many different ways to use character prompts. One way is to choose a prompt that focuses on a specific aspect of a character, such as their appearance, personality, or history. This can help to narrow down the ideas that are generated and can make the writing process easier.

Another way is to choose one that is open-ended and allows for a variety of ideas to be generated. This can be a great way to get the creative juices flowing, and can often lead to some very interesting and unique characters.

Whatever method you choose to use, they can be a great way to jump-start your writing and can help to create some truly fascinating and original characters.

Also, they may or may not lead to writing an actual scene that will be included in your story but will still give you more history of your character from which to draw.

Types of Character Writing Prompts

Things and objects.

When you are developing a character, you want to make sure that they are well-rounded and believable. One way to do this is to have them interact with their environment. What kind of things are in their environment? How do they react to them? Do they have any kind of connection to them? What does the object’s sentimental value say about the character who holds it dear? What kind of memories and associations does it bring up for them? All of these things can help to develop your character and make them more believable to your readers.

A character is cleaning out their attic and finds a dusty old box. Inside are things that belonged to a person they used to be close to, but haven’t thought about in years. What objects are in the box, and what do they mean to the character?
A character is going through a difficult time and finds solace in a particular object. What is the object, and why does it bring them comfort?
A character inherits a piece of jewelry from a relative they never knew. What does the jewelry look like, and what does it mean to the character?
A character finds a lost wallet on the street. What is the wallet’s owner like, based on the things inside it?
A character is going through a tough break-up and decides to get rid of all of the things that remind them of their ex. What are some of the things they get rid of (or keep!), and why?
A character is moving to a new city and has to downsize their belongings. What are some of the things they keep, and what do they mean to the character?
A character is going through a difficult time and starts collecting random things as a way to cope and regain a sense of control. What kinds of things do they collect, and why?
A character is going through their family’s things after a loved one dies and finds an old photograph. Who is in the photograph, and what does it mean to the character?
A character is cleaning out their closet and finds a box of things they used to love as a child. What are some of the things in the box, and what memories do they bring back for the character?
How does a character’s relationship to a thing or object change throughout the story? How does that reflect the character’s evolution and growth?

Personality

When developing a character, it can be helpful to explore their personality to get a better sense of who they are and how they might react in different situations. This can be done by considering their values, beliefs, and motivations, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

Your character is faced with a difficult choice and the consequences of that choice. How do they address it, or not? What did they learn?
What’s your character’s biggest secret? What would happen if it was revealed?
Your character tries out a new hobby and discovers they have a hidden talent for it. What is it? How does the hobby or that knowledge impact them?
Your character encounters someone who challenges their beliefs or worldview. What is it, and does either character change?
Write a scene in which your character tries out a new personality trait and it backfires hilariously.
Write a scene in which your character’s personality is the perfect match for a situation, and they make the most of it.
Write a scene in which your character has to restrain their personality for the sake of a professional setting.
Write a scene in which your character’s personality gets them into trouble but they manage to talk their way out of it.
Write a scene where your character has to fake a personality different from their own.
Your character has a revelation about themselves that leads to a radical change in their personality.

Character Interactions

One way to develop a character in your writing is to explore interactions with other characters or creatures in the story. This can help you to understand how your character thinks and feels, and can also give your reader insight into how other characters may react to your character. Additionally, exploring interactions between characters can help to create conflict and tension in your story, which can make it more interesting to read.

Have your character find a lost pet. What does this reveal about your character’s compassion for creatures?
Have your character overhear a conversation between two other characters. What does this reveal about your character’s relationships with others?
Have your character wake up in a room full of people they don’t know. What does this reveal about your character’s social anxiety or lack thereof?
What does your character do when they first meet someone new? Are they outgoing or shy? Do they make a good first impression?
How does your character act when they’re around someone they’re attracted to? Do they get tongue-tied or do they flirt shamelessly?
In what ways does your character open up to others, and in what ways do they hold back? What do they reveal about themselves, and what do they keep hidden?
What would happen if the character had to spend an entire day with someone they absolutely despised?
Your character is at a party and gets into a heated argument with another person. What caused the argument, and how does your character react?
Your character is at a museum and strikes up a conversation with the person next to them. What do they talk about?
Your character is stuck in an elevator with someone they don’t know. How do they pass the time? What do they learn about the other person?

Places and Locations

Developing a character in your writing can be informed by exploring places and locations in the story in several ways. First, they can provide physical details about the character such as how they dress, and what kind of environment they are comfortable in. Second, they can also provide information about the character’s past, such as where they grew up or what kind of experiences they have had. Finally, places and locations can help develop the character’s goals and motivations, as well as create obstacles and challenges for them to overcome. By exploring all of these aspects of a character, you can create a well-rounded and believable character that will resonate with your readers.

Develop a character who has a deep love for a certain place, whether it be a city, nature, or even an imaginary world. What is it about this place that draws them in?
Your character is haunted by a specific location. This can be a place from their past that they can’t forget, or a place they’ve never been to but feel a deep connection to.
Your character discovers a hidden room in their home that they never knew existed. What’s inside?
Your character gets lost in a place they have never been before. How do they manage the situation and find their way back?
Your character has to move to a new location and doesn’t want to leave their old home. How do they adjust to the new place?
How did your character come to live where they do? Why do they stay?
Your character visits a place that was significant to them in their past. What memories did it bring up? How did they feel?
Your character stumbles upon a place that is the complete opposite of what they expected. What was it like? How did they react?
Your character realizes they are homesick. For where? What do they do?
What was the last place your character visited that left them feeling inspired? How long has that been?

Another way to develop a character is to explore their senses, or the senses of those around them to add another layer of depth to the story. For example, if a character is trying to figure out what another person is feeling, they might pay close attention to that person’s body language and facial expressions. Or, if a character is trying to remember a past event, they might focus on the smells and sounds associated with that event.

Write a scene where your character is trying a new food for the first time and describe their reaction using all five senses.
Describe the first time your character ever saw snow. How old were they? Was it in-person, in photos, or on TV?
Your character’s child is learning an instrument. What does it sound like, and how do they feel?
What is your character’s sense memory of a parent’s perfume or cologne? What feelings or memories does it trigger in them?
Your character wakes up to the sound of someone else in the room. What is their first reaction and what does this say about the character’s paranoia or trust issues?
The character bites their tongue and tastes blood in their mouth. Where in their past does this take them emotionally?
The character smells something burning. What is their response, and what does it trigger in them?
What does your character’s handwriting look like?
How does your character respond to hearing their voice?
Your character receives an electrical shock. What is the first word or sound they make?

I hope these help your characters take you somewhere unexpected, and you can learn about them along the way. What motivates them? What do they fear? What are their deepest desires? By exploring different aspects of your character’s personality, history and motivations, you can create well-rounded, believable, and compelling characters that your readers will love (or love to hate).

Still need even more inspiration? AI writing assistants have the ability to brainstorm with you, potentially providing endless prompts! Check out our Directory of AI Writing Tools and find one that fits your needs and budget… some even have free plans!

Contributing Writer

Molly Rittenhouse

Molly has a passion for writing and helping others improve their writing skills. She is a strong advocate for clear and concise writing, and she enjoys helping others find their voice and improve their writing. When she’s not busy writing, Molly enjoys spending time with her family and friends, exploring new places, and reading good books.

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BEST CHARACTER WRITING PROMPTS

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All fun and games, write about a character who treats everything like a game and struggles to be serious when they most need to, or vice versa., write a story about someone who takes a joke way too far., write about a character who suddenly cannot run anymore., write a story about someone who wishes they could turn back time., your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity..

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Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Write a story about someone who has been tasked to keep a flame burning, surrounded by total darkness., write about someone trying something completely new., write about a character who has reinvented themselves, but realizes it's not always easy to outrun your past., write a story in which a character achieves a new level of clarity about how they’re really feeling., subscribe to our prompts newsletter.

Never miss a prompt! Get curated writing inspiration delivered to your inbox each week.

Write a story in which a certain food makes your character travel back in time.

Write a story about someone trying to paint (or otherwise create) a self-portrait., write a story about two people living together who have opposing sleep cycles, and only cross paths at dawn and dusk., set your story during exam season, when tensions run high and a minor incident sends your protagonist into a panic spiral., write about two rival academics pursuing the same grant., write about a mentor whose methods are controversial., write about a character who has a love/hate relationship with their mentor., write about someone who is shackled by fears of failure, until they break free., ‘hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once.’ use the senses to transport a character back to the past., include a scene in your story in which a character's body language conveys their hidden emotions., win $250 in our short story competition 🏆.

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The best character writing prompts

Characters are the heart and soul of every story, no matter how short. They're who your readers will fall in love with — and they're the ones who will move the plot of the book itself forward depending on their goals, desires, flaws, and fears.

When you’re struggling to find out the truth about one of your characters, try out some character writing prompts for size. These creative writing prompts focus on character writing — forcing you to think closely about your character in different situations that will hopefully help you with the character development for your novel. Whether you’re working on perfecting a character’s voice, backstory, or personality, these prompts will swoop in to save the day.

If you're looking to cut to the chase, here’s a list of top ten favorite character writing prompts:

In the form of diary/ journal entries, write a story that glimpses into a person's life at different ages.
Write a story about a character who always repeats themselves.
Write a story about a character who starts out as a pessimist and ends as an optimist. (Or vice versa.)
Write a story about someone who’s famous for something they never actually did.
Write a story about two friends who have a knack for understanding each other better than anyone else.
Write a story from the point of view of three different characters.
Write about a character doing something they’ve done hundreds of times — only this time, it’s taken on a new meaning.
Write about a character learning to trust their intuition.
Write about a character who goes by many different names throughout their life.
Write about a character with a ‘hot and cold’ personality — or is affected by someone like this.

If you'd like to learn more about how to improve your character development, check out our free resources on the topic:

Character Development 101 (blog post ) — Your characters are the emotional heartbeat of your story, especially if you're writing fiction. They'll make or break your success, which is why getting your character development right is important. Learn everything that you need to know about the process in this blog post, which will show you how to take your protagonist from zero to hero.
Character Profile Template (free resource ) — As an author, you are also the psychologist of your characters. This free character profile template will help you diagnose everything about your cast of characters, from their backstory to their motivations and the goals that drive them.

Ready to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest for the chance of winning $250! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.

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The Storymind Writer's Library

Creative writing, story development, story structure, narrative science.

Character Development Tricks!

Here are a few of my best tricks for creating characters from scratch and for developing characters you’ve already created.

Though coming up with characters can be as simple as looking to our subject matter and asking ourselves who might be expected to be involved, that only creates the expected characters – predictable and uninteresting.

Building characters that are intriguing, unusual, and memorable is a different task altogether. Here’s a method you can use to start with those standard characters and sculpt them into far more interesting ones, step by step.

To begin, let us look to our subject matter and see what characters suggest themselves. (If you like, try this with you own story as we go.)

Suppose all we know about our story is that we want to write an adventure about some jungle ruins and a curse. What characters immediately suggest themselves?

Jungle Guide, Head Porter, Archaeologist, Bush Pilot, Treasure Hunter

What other characters might seem consistent with the subject?

Missionary, Native Shaman, Local Military Governor, Rebel Leader, Mercenary

How about other characters that would not seem overly out of place?

Night Club Singer, Tourist, Plantation Owner

And perhaps some less likely characters?

Performers in a Traveling Circus (Trapeze Artist, Juggler, Acrobat, Clown)

We could, of course, go on and on. The point is, we can come up with a whole population of characters just by picking the vocations of those we might expect or at least accept as not inconsistent with the subject matter. Now these characters might seem quite ordinary at first glance, but that is only because we know nothing about them. I promised you a trick to use that would make ordinary characters intriguing, and now is the time to try it.

Of course, we probably don’t need that many characters in our story, so for this example let’s pick only one character from each of the four groups above: Bush Pilot, Mercenary, Night Club Singer, Clown.

First we’ll assign a gender to each. Let’s have two male and two female characters. Well pick the Bush Pilot and the Mercenary as male and the Night Club Singer and the Clown as female.

Now, picture these characters in your mind: a male Bush Pilot, a male Mercenary, a female Night Club Singer, and a female Clown. Since we all have our own life experiences and expectations, you should be able to visualize each character in your mind in at least some initial ways.

The Bush Pilot might be scruffy, the Mercenary bare-armed and muscular. The Night Club Singer well worn but done up glamorously, and the Clown a mousy thing.

Now that we have these typical images of these typical characters in our minds, let’s shake things up a bit to make them less ordinary. We’ll make the Bush Pilot and the Mercenary female and the Night Club Singer and Clown male.

What does this do to our mental images? How does it change how we feel about these characters? The Bush Pilot could still be scruffy, but a scruffy woman looks a lot different than a scruffy man. Or is she scruffy? Perhaps she is quite prim in contrast to the land in which she practices her profession. Since female bush pilots are more rare, we might begin to ask ourselves how she came to have this job. And, of course, this would start to develop her back-story.

How about the female Mercenary? Still muscular, or more the brainy type? What’s her back story? The Night Club Singer might be something of a lounge lizard type in a polyester leisure suit. And the male Clown could be sad like Emit Kelly, sleazy like Crusty the Clown, or evil like Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King’s “It.”

The key to this trick is that our own preconceptions add far more material to our mental images than the actual information we are given – so far only vocation and gender.

Due to this subconscious initiative, our characters are starting to get a little more intriguing, just by adding and mixing genders. What happens if we throw another variable into the mix, say, age? Let’s pick four ages arbitrarily: 35, 53, 82, and 7. Now let’s assign them to the characters.

We have a female Bush Pilot (35), a female Mercenary (53), a male Night Club Singer (82), and a male Clown (7). How does the addition of age change your mental images?

What if we mix it up again? Let’s make the Bush Pilot 7 years old, the Mercenary 82, the Night Club Singer 53, and the Clown 35. What do you picture now?

It would be hard for a writer not to find something interesting to say about a seven-year-old female Bush Pilot or an eighty-two year old female Mercenary.

What we’ve just discovered is that the best way to break out of your own mind and its cliché creations is to simply mix and match a few attributes. Suddenly your characters take on a life of their own and suggest all kinds of interesting back-stories, attitudes, and mannerisms.

Now consider that we have only been playing with three attributes. In fact, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of attributes from which we might select. These might include educational level, race, disabilities, exceptional abilities, special skills, hobbies, religious affiliation, family ties, prejudices, unusual eating habits, sexual preference, and on and on. And each of these can be initially assigned in typical fashion, then mixed and matched. Using this simple technique, anyone can create truly intriguing and memorable characters.

So, imagine…. What would this story be like if we chose the seven-year-old female Bush Pilot as the Hero. How about the eighty-two year old female Mercenary? Can you picture the 53-year-old male Night Club Singer as Hero, or the thirty-five year old male Clown?

Perhaps the most interesting thing in all of this is that we have become so wrapped up in these fascinating people that we have completely forgotten about structure! In fact, we don’t even know who is the Hero, Protagonist, or Main Character!

Many authors come to a story with a main character in mind and can use this technique to break out of developing a stereotypical one. Other authors are more interested in the events or setting of their stories and discover their characters (including the main character) in the process of working out the plot. In that case, using this technique provides them with a whole cast of intriguing characters from which to choose the Hero.

The bottom line is that whether you have some or all of your characters in mind from the get-go or start with a story concept and create your characters along the way, these character development tricks will help you come up with the people you need to populate your story and ensure they are both fresh and real.

Melanie Anne Phillips

This article was drawn from StoryWeaver

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IMAGES

Creative Writing Character Development
Creative Writing Character Development Writing
Character Development Worksheets for Any Text
How to create an epic character character development
Character Development In Stories And Novels
Free Character Development Workbook

VIDEO

Creative Writing
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Tales Of Gold
Analyzing Disney Shows as a Writer
Reflections on Character Development
Character Writing Is King

COMMENTS

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Character Development Tricks!
Now, picture these characters in your mind: a male Bush Pilot, a male Mercenary, a female Night Club Singer, and a female Clown. Since we all have our own life experiences and expectations, you should be able to visualize each character in your mind in at least some initial ways. The Bush Pilot might be scruffy, the Mercenary bare-armed and ...