: Re: I'm looking for advice on character development I'm currently working on a team based story with a lot of characters and am looking for ways to really make their personalities stand out from

@Si5022468

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Paint from life. Don't make lists and spreadsheets.

To build a great character, I really don't like to go from the "top down" with a list of archetypes and trying to give each one some quirky trait and a cool nickname, etc etc ad nauseum. I find that characters which began as "Big tough guy 1" and evolved into "Uses archaic slang. Collects action figures." never seem to really achieve life no matter how many quirks you give them.

I never start with blank spots for roles and try to give them (ultimately annoying) traits to seem memorable. Instead, I start from the bottom up. I try to visualize the character in the setting, moving up from what they look and sound like to the details of what they think about things and why.

I observe people. I categorize personalities, not in a formal "personality type" kind of way, but more aesthetically, as personalities which seem to be similar, related, or have similar motivations. I often start a new character by literally borrowing a real phrase, action, or activity I have seen a real person I know engage in. That gives them life immediately, because I can describe the thing I saw which caught my attention for one reason or another. From there, I work my way up into their head as the story progresses, but only as far as I need to go. I don't need to know the entire backstory for every character, just like I don't need to know the backstory for everyone I meet on a bus. People happen to be here, they cross paths with me, they clearly have reasons for the things they do, and in most cases, I am never privy to those reasons and will never know what they are. I can still observe their behavior though.

Leaving out motivations can add realism, because in real life we don't get windows into everyone's heads, nor are people reducible to a simple formula, a witty catchphrase, or an exaggerated quirk. Just like a painter may capture a stranger's expression as they pass on the street and never know what that person was thinking in that moment, a novelist can capture very realistic behaviors without needing to know everything that motivated the event they are copying.

Once I start a character by borrowing something I saw a real person do once, I then usually have a very easy time knowing what they would do or say in any given situation. All I need to do is visualize the person I borrowed the memorable dialogue or action from and ask myself: "What would so in so do?" Dialogue flows nicely, actions come organically from a character's personality, and over the course of the story, the character will tend to evolve a bit away from whoever had been the inspiration, until they become their own person. At some point, I find myself asking what the character would do by name, rather than the name of the person I initially based them on. At that point, I know the character is very strong.

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