𝖶𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖳𝗂𝗉𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖫𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

Generally when I'm designing a human being, I deconstruct them into 7 major categories:

1. Primary Drive
2. Fear: Major and Secondary
3. Physical Desires
4. Style of self expression
5. How they express affection
6. What controls them (what they are weak for)
7. What part of them will change.

1. 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞: This is generally related to the plot. What are their plot related goals? How are they pulling the plot forward? how do they make decisions? What do they think they're doing and how do they justify doing it.

2. 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫: First, what is their deep fear? Abandonment? being consumed by power? etc. Second: tiny fears. Spiders. someone licking their neck. Small things that bother them. At least 4.

3. 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬. How they feel about touch. What is their perceived sexual/romantic orientation. Do their physical desires match up with their psychological desires.

4. 𝐒𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: How they talk. Are they shy? Do they like to joke around and if so, how? Are they anxious or confident internally and how do they express that externally. What do words mean to them? More or less than actions? Does their socioeconomic background affect the way they present themselves socially?

5. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Do they express affection through actions or words. Is expressing affection easy for them or not. How quickly do they open up to someone they like. Does their affection match up with their physical desires. how does the way they show their friends that they love them differ from how they show a potential love interest that they love them. is affection something they struggle with?

6. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 (what they are weak for): what are they almost entirely helpless against. What is something that influences them regardless of their own moral code. What– if driven to the end of the wire— would they reject sacrificing. What/who would they cut off their own finger for. What would they kill for, if pushed. What makes them want to curl up and never go outside again from pain. What makes them sink to their knees from weakness or relief. What would make them weep tears of joy regardless where they were and who they were in front of.

7. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: people develop over time. At least two of the above six categories will be altered by the storyline–either to an extreme or whittled down to nothing. When a person experiences trauma, their primary fear may change, or how they express affection may change, etc. By the time your book is over, they should have developed. And its important to decide which parts of them will be the ones that slowly get altered so you can work on monitoring it as you write. making it congruent with the plot instead of just a reaction to the plot.

That's it.

But most of all, you have to treat this like you're developing a human being. Not a "character" a living breathing person. When you talk, you use their voice. If you want them to say something and it doesn't seem like (based on the seven characteristics above) that they would say it, what would they say instead?

If they must do something that's forced by the plot, that they wouldn't do based on their seven options, they can still do the thing, but how would they feel internally about doing it?

How do their seven characteristics meet/ meld with someone else's seven and how will they change each other?

Once you can come up with all the answers to all of these questions, you begin to know your character like you'd know one of your friends. When you can place them in any AU and know how they would react.

They start to breathe.