The Right To Write

Complex Characters: Part 5

This is probably the most varied and arguable part of developing your character. Almost all of my parts on characters lead up to this section. There are a number of things I don't know about creating complex characters, but, I do know a few.

Let's get into it.

Base your protagonist off of someone you know well. This is optional, but most certainly one of the easiest ways around hardcore development. You don't need to build a complex character if one already exists! All you would have to do is put yourself in their brains. If your best friend had to make an important decision, what would he pick? 

Choosing this path, will also open a gate to unique speech, which I will cover later. You most likely know how they will reply to certain comments and how to their dialogue differentiates from everyone else's. 

Think about the factors. Make sure the person you're representing suits his or her role. It's easy to misplace them.  

Now, don't go about inserting people you barely know into your book, thinking this does the job likewise. People may be complex, but it doesn't mean you know them to be that way. You need to know as much as you possibly can about your representative.

Conflicting Traits. I mentioned internal battles, but conflicting traits are more of the character fighting himself as a character. All main characters need to have difficulty accepting themselves, and in the end, transform into who they really wanted to be, even if they changed in a way they didn't mean to change. 

My point is, maybe your character is shy, but at the same time, she has an extroverted sense and wants to befriend everyone she can. But her dominant trait keeps her from doing that. All of us as people go through temptation to be ‘who we aren't.’ The truth is, we're a mystery to ourselves; we always feel the impulse to be who we aren't. Complex characters will feel this too.

Still, not just one conflicting pair of traits will plague them. No, no, no. Almost all their traits should be this way. Their traits should clash together and fight for dominance. This stimulates multiple layers of the character. It all depends on how she acts at the given moments that determines her sense of who she is. Your character needs to be, in the words of Paula Munier, "A walking contradiction." These are one of the factors that add to how difficult the journey really is for your character, and it makes your readers feel empathy for your character.

She's sensitive but she remains strong. She loves people, but she is unable to connect with them. She is generally kind but straightforward.

It's usually a battle of will over natural forces. You versus yourself. This is the reason choices are hard, because our traits and values are constantly opposing each other.

Backstory. Now I've talked about this before. Why am I discussing it again? Because, it's extremely significant and vital. Backstory is practically a vague prequel to your story. Backstory is the key to creating an emotionally complex character. Maybe you've set an original character to your plot. But you have to answer why they're so original. Why are they the way they are?

Be mindful that you don't have to go to the very first thing that may come to your mind. Such as, dead parents. Really? This makes up practically half of every troubling past. Think up an original way to share your character's pain. 

Also, don't force impressions on your reader. If your character has a traumatic past, keep it at that. Only inform the reader that he has a traumatic past. Some writers force the pity onto their readers, by heavily implying that readers should feel sympathy by stating something such as "Everyone felt sorry for her." Well, we can already guess that since her experience was horrible. You don't need to double up on that fact.