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Sorry to inform you but if you came to this chapter in search of how to make a flawless kickass OC, you've come to the wrong place.
No person is perfect and your character shouldn't be either. They should be complex and have weaknesses, strengths, and dreams. Writing & creating strong, compelling, sympathetic, interesting and memorable characters will not only make your story stand out, but it will also help you understand your story better.
If your goal is to create a well-rounded character you must think of your character like an actual person. Sure, when you create a character you usually think of their looks, personality, and how you are planning for them to interact with your other characters in certain situations.
You must think of your character more deeply. Their biggest fears, hopes, dreams, pet peeves, favorite food, sports, etc. Specific and small things to give them personality because everyone has these things. In your story, they are a real person so create them to belong in a world.
You should know everything about your character forwards and backwards as if they've been a life long best friend. I find that it helps to fill out or create a character template so I can be encouraged to think about what I usually wouldn't. It is evident to the reader that the character is complex and feel more connected to them.
So here we present a character template to follow if you feel stuck and like your character could use more.
I. MAKE A CHARACTER TEMPLATE here we leave a few examples for you to use while creating your character!
full name: reason for name: nickname: reason for nickname: birth date: physical appearance: age: how old do they appear: weight: height: body type / build: shape of face: eye colour: skin tone: nationality: ethnicity:
distinguishing marks / special features: flaws: things about your character that do not match society's conventional beauty standards
layer 1 personality: how others may describe them layer 2 personality: what other's can't see strengths: weaknesses:
behavior infront of others: behavior with their loved ones: behavior when they're alone:
what they think about the most: flaws: example, fatal / inconsequential / annoying motive: why are they here? what do they want?
why your character is important to the storyline: how do they affect said storyline:
II. ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TO BRAINSTORM it is perfectly fine to have your character grow / regress as you go along.
i. goal, motivation, and conflict: both inner and outer life
ii. strengths: both inherent and learned / gained
iii. important relationships: both dynamic and stationary
iv. appearance: change / evolution over time
v. education
vi. psychological: irrepairably damaged / damaged but able to heal / intact but shifted / sustained no impact
vii. home / living circumstances
viii. how does your character talk?: example, particular things they say that they end up adopting / dropping because of the influence of others / their individual experiences.
ix. backstory as it relates to story problem / conflict
x. what's usually in the character's pockets / purse / bag / car?how does the story affect this?
xi. habits, mannerisms, kicks what changes as the story goes on?
xii. other elements that you consider interesting / notablewrite them all down!
xiii. do your characters love themselves? will they ever learn to? if so, make notes on the progress! plan out the gradual arc on a general timeline and the reasons why.
