alice quinn // writing help

character development

If your book has ended and your character is the same as they were in the beginning, you are doing things wrong. For an interesting, attention-grabbing story, you need to let your character grow and learn and change. The events in your plot should've changed the character at least a little.

Were you the same person you were a year ago? Surely not, and neither was I.

Reveal new things about your character over time instead of explaining everything in the first chapter. Any development that you have should be slow and not abrupt.

If someone just all of a sudden told me I was too rude or abrasive (I have been called abrasive a few times), I'm not just going to change just because they said something. That's who I am. But I have become more weary of the things I say to others. That is development. Not the greatest example but an example nonetheless.

EXAMPLES

- Dorian Gray
- Ebenezer Scrooge
- Tony Stark
- Bruce Wayne (Gotham)
- Barbara Kean (Gotham)
- Lee Thompkins (Gotham)
- Cher Horowitz
- Quentin Coldwater
- Eliot Waugh
- Daenerys Targaryen
- Sansa Stark
- Brooke Davis
- Rachel Green
- Blair Waldorf
- Chuck Bass

When creating your characters, ask yourself these questions:

- Where do they live?
- What do they do for a living?
- What classes do they take at school?
- What is their greatest achievement?
- What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to them?
- When was the first time they fell in love?
- What is their biggest secret?
- Who do they share their biggest secret with?
- What is their greatest regret?
- Do they have any bad habits?
- Did they attend college? For what?
- What's the worst thing that's ever happened to them?
- What's the best thing that's ever happened to them?
- What's their favorite movie? TV show? Book? Music?
- What do they like to do for fun?
- What are their hobbies?
- What's their favorite color?
- What is their most treasured possession?
- What are their biggest pet peeves?
- Are they an introvert or an extrovert?
- What is their biggest fear?
- What would they give their life for?
- What are their major flaws?