13 Things Every Writer Should Know About Their Characters
Whether they're your main character or your side character, you need to know this!
There are some things you just can’t go without… good books, good coffee, and these 13 items.
Especially if you’re writing a book.
If you already know everything you think is possible to know about your characters, then you should still use this list to make sure you’ve gotten everything!
1 & 2. Age & name
These go without saying, of course; they are crucially important, and I can trust that you know this.
3. Occupation
What do they do for their job? How do they earn money? How do they earn merit? Are they bound or enslaved to anyone? Do they like it or dislike it? Do they wish they were in a different career, or is it their dream job?
4. Background
Outline the history of their life. Where were they born? Who are their parents and siblings? What ghosts do they have? What have they gone through in the past?
5. What They Want the Most
If your character has desires, then you have a plot; it’s that simple. The minute you discover your characters’ desires, then you can begin discerning what your book is really about.
6. What Virtue They Bring to the Story
Along with their desires they’ll also bring with them a virtue. Do they most cling to encouragement? Are they a good listener? Is the virtue that they bring similar in any way to the thematic truth of the story?
7. What Powers They Possess
Even if they aren’t magic, you need to know if your character is different in any way. Can they read people like a book, or even read minds for real? When you discover their quirks, you discover more grounds for your plot.
8. What Makes them Suffer (Besides You)
As authors, we love to torture love on our characters. However, there’s also bits of the plot that make our characters suffer, whether it’s the past, the present, or the future.
9. What (or Who) Would They Kill For?
This is one of my favorites. I love to think about what could get my characters angry, upset, or protective (especially this one) enough to kill someone. Or at least even something, if not a person. (Who knows, maybe they’re going to kill someone’s dreams.)
10. What is in Their Way?
Ah, conflict. The biggest plot driver out there. If you don’t know what’s standing in the way of your character’s desires, then you need to find out posthaste.
11. What Do They Love the Most?
This could be different from their desires, or not. I like to think of this question more as an icebreaker— like how would they spend a perfect day? Or something like that. However, it can be very helpful to know this, because this is often a great place to find their beginning/resolution.
12. What Secret Do They Have?
This is a great question. I love to pretend that I’m interrogating my characters with a lie detector in order to get these out— sometimes they’re very unexpected, but they almost always drive the plot substantially.
13. What (or Who) Are They Willing to Die For?
This one is also great. You know what (or who) they would kill for, and that’s often very fierce. But what (or who) would they die for? I see this as something that is so much more gentle, so much more personal. It’s a life sacrifice. Often this will be the most crucial plot point of a book. When you find this out, you might find out the biggest moment of your story.
Let’s Write
Which question was the most interesting to you? Make sure to drop your answer in the comments!
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So interesting! I have some new things to think about now for some of my characters... thank you!
I think the part about a character bringing a virtue to the story is very interesting. A lot of people talk about character flaws, but I can see how the reverse might be just as useful in driving the plot, especially for creating moral dilemmas.
I think this approach in general is interesting; I don't usually do much to develop characters, they just kind of happen, but this'll be useful when I'm trying to flesh out a few of my short stories.