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I'm a plotter, meaning that I develop and plan my novels before I ever start writing them. In my case, this is almost something of an extreme, as I develop every part of the novel carefully and then create a very detailed outline scene by scene before writing a word.
I generally have very little trouble with characters. I develop them like everything else, creating them with all the aspects they need. As I develop them, I get a general sense of who they are, and when I sit down to write, I can visualize them acting out what I have them do. This is all I really need to 'get in my character's head.' It works fine.
With my most recent work, I have a bit of a problem. I had originally created the premise for this work several years back. A year or two after that, I partially developed it, including the character, and wrote something of a first draft. I then moved to something else, and didn't come back to it until now, several years later. During re-development, a lot of things changed, including several key aspects of the character and who he was.
The problem is that when I now sit down to write, the character is coming across as an emotionless cardboard stick figure. It is my theory that this is because I have two versions of him in my head, which are essentially complete opposites in some areas (and thus cancel each other out). I think I know the previous version better and might still see him that way as I write, while trying to write him as the new version.
I think I can fix this problem by getting to know my character better. What can I do to get to know my character better?
Important Note: Do not misunderstand this question as 'how can I discover my character?' I already know who my character is and how he acts. What I need is the ability to write him that way.
After-answer-notes: I've marked Lauren's reply as the answer, but if it doesn't work for future viewers, the answer from Mike C. Ford is the way to go. Especially that bit about renaming the character. That is pure genius.
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I massively struggle with the technique of putting my characters into random hypothetical scenarios to see how they act. I know a lot of writers do this, and it's probably very successful, but I am simply unable do it. So I came up with my own technique.
In thinking about how to get to know characters, I thought about how I would get to know a real person. For me, that would be by asking them questions. It generally turns into an interview type scenario as I think about the questions in my own head, which isn't necessarily how I interact with real people, but considering how many real life interviews I listen to on the radio on my way to and from work I'm comfortable enough with the format to be able to do make the process more efficient than if I were to imagine a conversation at a dinner party, for example.
This way I can ask pretty benign questions, which illicit an honest answer (or a lie if the character is so inclined), but then when I've thought of how they would answer I will ask another question based on what they've just said in order to probe deeper into their personality. This helps me to get through the superficial 'this is who they are' to get to the real 'this is why they are'. Over time I'll think of new questions I want the answer to, so I'll ask them, and usually I end up answering questions I didn't even know I had when I began the process.
The reason you're more familiar with your old character than your new one will likely be the same reason you would be more familiar with a real person in that situation: you've spent more time with them. Of course you'll know the old character better, they have existed longer. You haven't known the newer character very long, so even if you know who s/he is, like with a real person it will be impossible to understand them as well so early on.
You do always have the option of changing the character. I was struggling with something similar to this, but after a name change and gender swap it was much easier to restructure the character and think about them in an entirely different way. Changing something else significant (but ultimately unimportant to the story) might make it easier to anchor that this person is different into your mind.
No matter what you choose to do, it will take some time to overwrite the old character with the new, and whilst the process can be sped up I don't believe there is an overnight fix. Simply spending time with the new character in mind may be all you need.
Write a bunch of short pieces with no particular plot to get used to writing him. Drabbles (100 words), double-drabbles (200), flash (1,000 to 2,000).
Your stories should just be little windows into him to practice writing what he'll do. Like:
He's out of milk. He goes to the store to get milk, and the store is
closed. (What are his reactions? What does he do next?)
There's a leak in the bathroom faucet. (That can be an entire set
piece depending on his reaction.)
He decides to get a pet. (What animal? What gender? What breed?
fixed? name? Does it need a cage, a tank, a litter box, a leash?)
He has to sell his vehicle. (What kind of vehicle? Why? is he happy
about it? Sentimental? Annoyed? Desperate for money? Does he enjoy
negotiating to get the best of the buyer? Does the buyer get the best
of him?)
The point of these pieces is to become accustomed to figuring out what Dude 2.0 does rather than your original Dude 1.0 did, so that when you go back to your novel, the 2.0 version is already in your fingertips and you don't have to work so hard to access him.
Writing a bunch of little bits will help you to slough off 1.0's bad habits. Making them unconnected, meaningless bits which are not part of your novel will help you get past the concern of screwing up your current work. You don't have to worry about leaving your outline because these are essentially pantsed (discovery) pieces, purely for exercise.
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