Tips on Characterisation.

A lot of writers like to flesh out characters by giving them lots and lots of quirks, mannerisms, etc. That isn't necessarily the best way, especially when these attributes are worn like a new haircut rather than affecting the character on a deeper level.

I find that what helps me most in characterization is to give a character a driving GOAL or DESIRE that is realistic, that the reader can relate to, and that is hopefully unique in the context of the story. For example, I bet your reader will find a villian who goes to extremes to achieve the dream of eradicating domestic abuse completely from the face of Earth because he felt the pain of his own situation far more relatable than a villain with good manners who likes to dress in T-shirt and jeans, eat Burger King and potato chips and spend Saturdays window-shopping like an old lady, who does bad things... well, just because Daddy beat him up. It's a cliche example, but my point is that the first villain has a motivation with some kind of resonance or "meaning", while the second villain is just a shopping-list of quirks you apply on him in a paste.

Yeah, what Exir said. Just give your character something to DO and characterisation will take care of itself.

Stimuli -> character response ->
Stimuli -> character response ->
Stimuli -> character response ->
Stimuli -> character response ->
Stimuli -> character response ->

and so on.

Check published books and you'll see this pattern.

And then, the character will define itself, basically.

Well, as you can imagine, this is a rather simplistic description of it, but I think it holds at the core.

Personality theory (Keirsey), personal mythology, and archetypes (of several varieties including comic book characters, not just Jung's limited set) are all things I draw on when creating characters. Not in a formal way, just that studying these shaped my understanding of what types of people exist, and how the motivations, habits, and reactions of one type of person differ from another. Ooo and psychiatry/psychology case studies are cool too, although I'm not really interested in putting actual crazy characters in my stories. But post-traumatic stress disorder, narcissism, stuttering, evolutionary biology theories about why people are possessive, unfaithful, differences between high and low testosterone individuals and high and low seratonin individuals... Hope that didn't sound overwhelming; reading about personality and psychology is a hobby I enjoy, not something I think every writer ought to do.

There's still things I don't understand though. Recently I've been baffled by the question of what motivates forum trolls. I thought that would be good villain source material but I don't have any idea why they find trolling rewarding or entertaining or whatever.

Haha! I think what motivates forum trolls (and trolls in real life) is an insecurity about their beliefs, their opinions and their actions (interaction with posters when it comes to the internet), so instead of posting or doing things that matter to them they act like a total jerk and say things to annoy people (when even they themselves know they're talking bull) because that way they can "raise a fuss" and feel some kind of self-importance without having to really mean what they say or do.

Oh, that and the anonymity.

I tend to put trolls in the same class as cats marking their territory. (Also new CEOs who just have to change things, and kids who spray-paint rude words on buildings.) They have to make their mark, somehow. If they can't make things better, they'll make things worse. But they've had an IMPACT. They've marked some small part of the world as THEIRS.

Characters. Good ideas there. Also, if a situation comes into your mind or your life, you can imagine how your character would respond to it. I don't mean that you are going to confront your character with a crying baby or Christmas shopping for a niece or driving a semi to Houston, but if you imagine how the character would talk and act in those situations, she or he will become more real to you, and I think that seeps out onto the paper.

The thing I always have the most trouble with in my own writing, such as it is, is that I make characters who are too small, too realistic, forgetting that you have to exaggerate them or the reader can't see them at all. Someone said you have to imagine that the reader is looking through foggy glass at your story.

bonitakale said:

I tend to put trolls in the same class as cats marking their territory. (Also new CEOs who just have to change things, and kids who spray-paint rude words on buildings.) They have to make their mark, somehow. If they can't make things better, they'll make things worse. But they've had an IMPACT. They've marked some small part of the world as THEIRS.

Click to expand...

Funny but true! It is amazing what someone will do to be seen or heard.

Giving the character a life outside the central plot of the story can really round him out. Even heroes have problems not related to whatever problem is directly in the way, be it a sick brother with no insurance, an overdue mortgage payment, bunions, a cheating spouse, etc.

Probably the best way I learned on how to develop characters was to do a character information sheet with the usual stuff like description, personality, etc. But then to also do a quick background on them, like come up with a timeline for the important events in their life, and then pick one (or a couple) of those and really flesh them out, figure out what happened and why etc. It'll give you great insight into your character and why they are the way they are now.

Starting point:
Past-Motive-Spine.

The character has to have been doing something before the novel has started. You'll probably want to write a vague backstory but what you need to identify is the life-defining moment. What made that character who he is? Bullying at school might have not had much effect on him but when his father hit him, it changed everything.
That provides a spine and motive. The 'spine' is basically your character's big goal. What would they sacrifice everything for? This not only gives you a possible plot but shows you what sort of character they are. If your character's spine is 'to be famous and beautiful' he might be narcissistic...that's where the motive comes in. Why does the character want above all else to be famous and beautiful? Perhaps they were rejected from a school play for being plain and it's knocked their self-confidence ever since- but you'd have to build on that.

So now the character's got a reason to be doing something.

For rest of novel:
Action-Reaction-Interaction

This is what makes him look like an actual person. Action is Character, as Scott Fitzgerald said. Your character and how he is perceived is determined by what he does in the novel. If he kills somebody, he's a murderer, or is at least capable of violence. If your character cheats on his wife, he's unfaithful. Though you might want to acquit the character of some blame, you have to accept the facts.

Reaction: how does the character react to obstacles and events that he can't control? Character A might get more stressed out about money problems than Character B. A character's reaction suggests their personality, flaws, and the values they hold.

Interaction: how does the character behave with other characters? You have to establish his relationship with other characters effectively.

All good ways. But there's another way. Once the character is given form (name, sex, role, a bit of backstory), let the character develop themelves as you write. It's amazing sometimes how a seemingly minor character can take over a book, becoming a major character along the way. Even if you have to go back and edit out much of the character's backstory, the development still informs the character's motivations and can help lift them off the page.

Yep, minor characters can definitely evolve but they have to have something to evolve from. My character had his disgust at the professor's inability to put his desires into action and so just make pathetic moves from time to time. Therefore he became an antagonist.

D. Gray Man examples:
-The Noah family feels they are superior to humans and that humans are filthy disgusting creatures, thus they want to rid the world of them, and so they ally themselves with the Millenium Earl. Because they are a very small group they are quite insular and have devloped several strange habits. Skin Bolic is obesessed with sweets, to the point that eating something that isn't sweet can cause him to lash out in rage. Road enjoys making people break their promises, and Tyki Mikk likes to have a dual-life, one as a regular human, the other as a Noah.
-Allen Walker wants to save the souls of Akuma(demons) because he turned his foster-father into one by accident and had to kill him. So Allen will save other souls even at great risk to his life, including running headlong into an explosion trying to save a self-annihilating soul, and fruitlessly trying to reason with a giant, floating, limbless, headless angel being with a giant eye for a bottom while it bites its way through his arm.
Those are a bit far out though...

I definitely agree with the idea of giving someone a goal, and in particular with setting up stakes - i.e. something that will go wrong if that goal does not get achieved. Those I think are the minimum for getting someone to care about a character. As far as developing a character further, I like to give them what I'd call "situated motivation." I want them to have a personal history, psychological and cultural background. This doesn't get explained, however. It shows itself in the narrative (at least at first) as the coloring of the character's judgment of ongoing events.

I think with SF/F (but also with other stories) it's very valuable to think of how the character's background, i.e. their world, influences how they judge and react to things. I have a set of eleven questions that are intended to get me thinking about how a character's world forms their background, and I'm including them below. There's a longer discussion of this and of inciting events (the beginnings of plots) on my blog, here, if you're interested.

11 Questions (to be answered in the voice of your character):

1. What is my home like? How do I visualize its boundaries?
2. What weather and physical conditions do I consider normal? What do I fear?
3. What kind of topography did I grow up in, and how did it influence my physical condition and my concepts of comfort?
4. In what kind of place do I feel most at home? What shapes and textures give me comfort, or discomfort?
5. Who is in charge here? Do I respect them, fear them, both?
6. How do I show who I am in the way I dress? What is comfortable? Will I endure discomfort for the sake of looking good or looking powerful?
7. Where do the things I own come from? Do I worry about getting more?
8. What is delicious to me? What do I consider unworthy of consumption?
9. What are my most prized possessions? Do I hoard anything? Do I have so much of anything that I care little if I must give it away?
10. Who do I consider to be unlike me? Are their differences charming or alarming?
11. Am I in control of my own actions and the happenings around me? What or whom do I believe in?

Exir said:

Haha! I think what motivates forum trolls (and trolls in real life) is an insecurity about their beliefs, their opinions and their actions (interaction with posters when it comes to the internet), so instead of posting or doing things that matter to them they act like a total jerk and say things to annoy people (when even they themselves know they're talking bull) because that way they can "raise a fuss" and feel some kind of self-importance without having to really mean what they say or do.

Oh, that and the anonymity.

Click to expand...

I usually watch trolling behavior with fascination due to this very thing.

They act like complete jerks online because they can and not have to face the consequences afterwards. After all, they are online and, for all intents, anonymous, even if they use a 'screen name'. Screen names are disposable and easily replaceable.

I believe they wouldn't say near what they say and do what they do if they were forced into a face-to-face with someone. It would suddenly thrust them into accountability territory and I have faith (?) they would temper what they say and do when faced with that.

/commentary on troll behavior