How to develop a character. How to draw? Your character: instructions for creating a unique hero

How to create a Persian.
Do you want to create your own character but don't know how?
Prepare a sheet and write it down.
It doesn't matter if you can draw or not. This will be your personal hero. But if you have the ability, then the flag is in your hands. Come up with heroes. Their history. And it is quite possible that you will become famous for this.
Here I will help you refine it in detail. Including even his blood type. All this I will supplement with my own examples.
1. This is the gender of your character.
2. Name.
3.Age.
This I consider the most basic in creation.
1.Pos. Can be either female or male. Unless of course you have a mutant.
2. Name. It already depends on your imagination. It can be short, long, English, Japanese or Russian.
3. Actually, too, as a hand grabs. From 0 to infinity.

My examples.
1.Male.
2. Stas Evans.
3.15 years old.
A more detailed description follows.

Appearance.
1.Hair color.
2. Eye color.
3. Approximate height, weight.
4.Physique.
Fine. If you already roughly imagine the image of the character, or you are guided by the picture. You will feel better.
1. Hair color is more often used standard: blonde, brunette, redhead. But do not forget about colors such as light brown or black. You can also use non-standard colors of the rainbow. It will look interesting.
2. But it’s better not to rush with eye color. It is important that it is combined with hair, but also if your hero has bright green hair. Then you should not make the same eyes. Better to leave them natural.
3.For Height and Weight if your Persian ideal figure, just take the height. Medium-170cm. and subtract 110. It turns out the weight. That is. Height - 110 = weight.
170 - 110 = 60 kg.
4. If you act according to this formula. Then you can safely write the average. (There is also a full, thin, non-standard.)

My examples.
1. Brunet.
2. Blue eyes.
3. Height - 175, Weight - 65kg.
4. Average.
Character.
1. I think first you should choose the temperament of the hero.
Choleric
It is characterized by increased excitability, actions are intermittent. He is characterized by sharpness and swiftness of movements, strength, impulsiveness, vivid expression of emotional experiences. Due to imbalance, carried away by business, he is inclined to act with all his might, to be exhausted more than he should. Having public interests, temperament manifests in initiative, energy, adherence to principles. In the absence of spiritual life, the choleric temperament often manifests itself in irritability, affectivity, intemperance, irascibility, inability to self-control under emotional circumstances.
sanguine
Quickly adapts to new conditions, quickly converges with people, sociable. Feelings easily arise and change, emotional experiences are usually shallow. Facial expressions are rich, mobile, expressive. He is somewhat restless, needs new impressions, does not regulate his impulses enough, does not know how to strictly adhere to the developed routine of life, the system at work. In this regard, he cannot successfully carry out a task that requires an equal expenditure of effort, a long and methodical effort, perseverance, stability of attention, and patience. In the absence of serious goals, deep thoughts, creative activity superficiality and inconstancy are produced.
Phlegmatic person
It is characterized by a relatively low level of activity of behavior, new forms of which are developed slowly, but are persistent. It has slowness and calmness in actions, facial expressions and speech, evenness, constancy, depth of feelings and moods. Persistent and stubborn, he rarely loses his temper, is not prone to affects, having calculated his strength, brings the matter to the end, is even in relationships, moderately sociable, does not like to chat in vain. Saves energy, does not waste it. Depending on the conditions, in some cases, a phlegmatic person can be characterized by "positive" features - endurance, depth of thought, constancy, thoroughness, in others - lethargy, indifference to the environment, laziness and lack of will, poverty and weakness of emotions, a tendency to perform only habitual actions.
melancholic
His reaction often does not correspond to the strength of the stimulus, there is a depth and stability of feelings with their weak expression. It is difficult for him to concentrate on anything for a long time. Strong influences often cause a prolonged inhibitory reaction in melancholics (“hands down”). He is characterized by restraint and muffled speech and movements, shyness, timidity, indecision. Under normal conditions, a melancholic is a deep, meaningful person, can be a good worker, successfully cope with life's tasks. Under adverse conditions, it can turn into a closed, timid, anxious, vulnerable person, prone to difficult internal experiences of such life circumstances that do not deserve it.

2.His good traits character.
3. And bad.

Example.
1. Choleric.
2. Kind and caring.
3. Too active in some situations when it is not needed at all.

The rest of the details.
1. Blood group.
2. Habits.
3.Style in clothes.
4. Favorite things (food, drinks, color, etc.)
5. Close relatives.
6. Hobbies.
7.Date of birth.

1. In Japan, it is believed that character is determined by blood type.
The first is activity, leadership, courage. Strong personalities, tenacious and authoritative.
The second is patience, perseverance, practicality. They carefully consider their actions.
The third is curiosity, creativity, unpredictability and independence.
Fourth - emotionality, sensitivity, imagination.
2. You also have habits. For example: biting your nails, straightening clothes, biting your lip. Pin up hair.
3. Clothing styles: sports, street, formal, romantic. In addition, you can find a bunch of pictures with clothes. Or come up with and draw your own.
4.Here as you wish.
5. Parents, brothers, sisters. Uncles, aunts. Etc.
6. Fishing, drawing, football or maybe no hobbies at all.
7. Well ... everything is clear here.

My example.
1.Third.
2. When nervous, bites his nails. In class, she often pins up her bangs so that they do not get into her eyes.
3. Style in clothes prefers street. Plain T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a shirt over.
4. Favorite color is blue.
Food is hot dogs.
Drinks - cocoa.
5. Parents. Sisters, no brothers.
6. Drawing.
7.16. 03. 97.
I hope that at least something helped, I look forward to your feedback. Might be worth adding something.

Categories:

Heroes and characters play a key role in the story - we look at the world through their eyes, we live with their feelings, we empathize with them throughout the story. However, in order for the image to turn out whole and “alive”, you will have to work hard on it, inventing and prescribing all its elements.

So, what is the image of any character? Two main parts - appearance And inner world. And each of these parts, in turn, consists of several interconnected elements.

Creating the appearance of the hero

1. Visual appearance.

Common elements of the visual image are the color of the eyes, hair and skin, height-weight, complexion, facial features, the presence or absence of any limbs, gait - stooped or with a straight back. Additional elements – unusual shape ears or lips, hairstyle, scars, lameness, glasses, moles, mustaches, beards, freckles, etc.
Appearance is a sign. And our consciousness is filled with stereotypes that respond to signs. As with the symbolic word "apple" we imagine the image of the fruit and its taste, so when describing the hero we associate his appearance with his character.

For example, many will immediately consider a plump and undersized person to be a good-natured person, a red-haired and green-eyed woman - a passionate and freedom-loving nature, a limping black-eyed man with a scar - definitely a bandit, a blue-eyed blonde - a close-minded angel. And so on.

Choosing the color of eyes and hair for a character, we not only focus on our own ideal, but also subconsciously attribute to him the features of a stereotype. And you can play on this, making the plump "good man" the main villain, and the blond angel - a demon, surprising readers with the unexpectedness of perception.

2. Clothing and footwear.

We ourselves dress based on character traits (in everyday life), out of necessity (season or work), out of fashion, out of national characteristics or features of the subculture (emo or goths). We dress and shoe the characters according to the same principles. And we also choose the color and cut of clothes and shoes, accessories like neckerchiefs or hats.

For knowledgeable people, clothing and its color will tell a lot about us - about character, preferences and fears. When working on the image of the hero, knowledge of psychological characteristics - at least colors- can be very useful. It is also useful to study local subcultures - they are symbolic, and you can create something of your own based on them.

3. Auditory and kinesthetic (tactile) perception.

TO auditory perception primarily refers to the timbre of the voice. And you can play on the correspondence-inconsistency of voice and appearance, diversifying the image and surprising the reader.

The auditory perception of the image also includes all the sounds made by a person: coughing, grunting, sniffling, exclamation, chuckles. And a tirelessly sniffing or blowing your nose evokes a certain emotional reaction that will complement the image. As well as the vocal characteristics of the national characteristics of speech - the well-known dialect "okanye" or "yakany", "swallowing" the last syllable, etc.

The whole gamut of human emotions is reflected in the voice - in a surprised exclamation, in an increase in tone with anger, in a stutter with embarrassment, in a scream with discontent, etc. The Russian language is rich in descriptions of emotions, you just need to choose the right ones for your character.

kinesthetic perception are feelings from a person. Smells, intuitive perception, aura sensation. There are well-known common expressions - "an aura of danger emanated from him", "he has heavy energy, and he suppressed himself." And it’s not worth talking much about smells, and so it’s clear. And you should not neglect these feelings, they are an integral part of the character and

Literary course "Creating a hero"

Suitable for those who start writing a book, and for those who want to refine and "revive" an already finished character.

Within 14 days you will receive all necessary theory and step-by-step practical tasks. At the end of the course, you will have full story hero. You will learn his motives and come up with bright plot twists that will show the development of the character of the hero in the best possible way.

4. Emotional and behavioral reactions.

Facial expressions, gestures, changes in movements or complexion - all this complements the appearance of the character. Without them, it seems cardboard, painted, fake, inanimate.

Emotional reactions - this is, in fact, an emotional response to one's own or other people's words, to behavior, to an unexpected meeting, to the feelings that one character has for another, to the attitude to what is happening.

So, the characters turn pale with anger, blush with rage, turn pink with embarrassment, turn green with longing. They smile gleefully or wickedly, wince in displeasure, squint in suspicion, and make faces in teasing.

Behavioral responses- this is visible behavior: in gestures or in movements, habitual or changing in different situations.

habitual reactions- these are mechanical movements, those that the person himself no longer notices, but does constantly.

Someone likes to wind a strand of hair around their finger, someone likes to pinch their earlobe, someone likes to scratch their nose or heel, someone during a conversation reinforces words with gestures and waves his hands. This also includes gait and landing - on the couch or at the table (often found: "habitually lounging on the couch" or "habitually climbing into a chair with your feet").

Changing reactions- these are changes in habitual actions or in actions that depend on situations.

So, a person stoops in a cold wind, shudders and looks around at a sharp shout, shakes his finger or shows his fist, stretches or rubs his tailbone after a long sitting, quickens his step, being late, etc.

Of course, in the initial description of the character, all these elements are not taken into account, but they can be gradually developed, weaving them into the plot on occasion. But first they need to be invented and assembled into a single image. This can help - for yourself, for others, for random passers-by.

Any person is already, consider, a ready-made character of the work, from which you can write off the appearance. Just like borrowing the inner world that will be discussed.

We invite you!

Daria Gushchina
writer, fantasy writer
(page VKontakte

WikiHow is a wiki, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. When creating this article, 36 people worked on editing and improving it, including anonymously.

Whether you're writing for fun or about to publish your book, characters are an essential part of any story and any short story. To write interesting story or a novel, you need to think through the personalities of the characters, and more importantly, you need to really get to know the personalities of those characters.

Steps

Consider what genre you are going to write in. It is fantastic? Historical novel? The genre of the work largely determines the personality of the characters. Even if your character travels through time, crossing the universe you invented, most likely he will have certain habits, and he will be unusual due to the difference in cultures and times.

Determine the main qualities of your character. What's his name? What does he look like? How old is he? What is his education? What is his family like? How much does he weigh? What are its distinctive features? You need to clearly imagine the image of this character.

• Of course, when coming up with the main characteristics of a character, you need to decide whether this character will be a person with a disability or belong to a certain social group. However, when touching on these topics, you need to be very careful and careful, especially if you yourself have not had such experience. Before you create and describe a character with a disability (or a character who belongs to a particular social group), you need to find enough information so that you do not write anything that may seem offensive or ignorant.
• Make sure that your character's appearance is appropriate for his world and his hobbies. For example, a professional fighter is unlikely to have loose long hair, because then it can be easily grabbed by this hair, dooming to failure. IN real life a character cannot have red or purple eyes without certain genetic mutations (such as albinism) or contact lenses. It's genetically impossible. And if your story takes place in real world Don't attribute your character's purple eyes to genetics.

1. Determine the main personality traits of your character. Is he a positive and cheerful character or is he eternally gloomy and gloomy? Is he closed? Enthusiastic? Diligent? Or soulless? Think about the main personality traits of your character so that you have a clear idea of ​​how this character will develop in your story.

   • You can also come up with the main interests and hobbies for your character. He is a programmer? Violinist? Dancer? Writer? Chemist or mathematician?

2. Try to better describe the character's personality. Ask yourself a few situational questions that will help you decide on the character of the hero. For example: “What would this character do if his mother died? What would he do if he accidentally met a long-lost relative? What would he do if he ran into a bank robber? What would he do if someone put a gun to his head?” These are examples of questions you can ask yourself. Write down the answers to these questions. After that, you should have some idea of ​​your character's personality.

   Add personality to your character negative sides. If you make it too perfect, people will get bored reading your story. Therefore, you should not create a tall, slender, handsome, strong, honest and intelligent character if you want your story to be interesting and at least a little real. Add weaknesses to it, for example, drug addiction or excessive pride. Complicate his character!

   • But be careful not to invent negative aspects for your character that will not affect the main conflict of your story. For example, if your character is shy and clumsy, these flaws will not stand in his way if his goal is to get into the arms of a loved one. A true and interesting flaw would be something like this: “Clara is so shy that she can't bring herself to say what she really thinks. Because of this, she gets into trouble, because when her friends do something bad, she can’t even say anything.” Or like this: “Fernando is so clumsy that he constantly gets himself into trouble. When he was resting, he accidentally set fire to a curtain in the hotel where he worked with a candle, which caused a fire and caused serious harm to the health of those around him.
   • Don't attribute too many flaws to your character! If you describe your character as follows: “His parents died when he was just a child, and this caused irreparable trauma to his psyche. His adoptive parents locked him in a closet for the slightest offense, he is completely ugly and not socially adapted, he hates everyone and everyone and is terrible in everything he does, ”readers will not be able to accept your character and will simply find him annoying, whiny and uninteresting.
   • Also be careful if you are going to reward your character with disadvantages such as drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, or disability. Quite often there are problems with describing a character with such features, for example, mentally ill people are often perceived as cruel and uncontrollable, people with disabilities - as completely independent, relying on other people for everything, although in most cases this is not true (for example, if we talking about a person wheelchair who has no problems with communication, who easily communicates with other people). These things require careful study, otherwise you may offend readers.
     • Ask a query on the Internet to find more information on how to describe a person with mental illness, autism and so on.

3. Think about how you would talk to this character if you were next to him. Think about what he hopes for, what he dreams about, what he fears, about his memories. You can even try to imagine yourself in his place to understand how does it feel- to be in his shoes. This The best way see the world through your character's eyes!

4. Describe the scene with your character. If you're struggling with an idea of ​​what to write about, find an idea generator and choose the one that sounds best. Don't forget to show how your character reacts to different situations rather than just describing them. This will help you think better about the personality of the character, and if necessary, edit the description of this personality a little. If your characters react in a certain way to the situations that have developed in the course of the story, you are doing everything right.

   • The difference between “show” and “tell” is that by telling the reader about the character, you do not reinforce his personal qualities in any way (for example, “Dasha cares about people”). “Showing” a character to the reader means putting this character in a certain situation in which he will manifest himself in one way or another (for example, “Dasha reached out to hug a shaking crying child, took him in her arms and gently muttered:“ Everything is in order. Everything will be fine " "). To make the story really interesting and impressive, you need to try to “show” more than “tell”.
   • Enjoy! It's useless to develop a character if it's a tedious job for you, because if you don't like this character, will readers like it? It is unlikely that in this case you will get a good story.
   • Don't try to make your character perfect in everything. For example, you should not make him the best swordsman who knows how to shoot a bow, as well as an excellent rock climber, singer, universal idol, makeup artist, and so on. Don't attribute thousands of talents to him at the same time. There are no heroes who are good at "everything". Choose a few talents for your hero, think about which ones he will develop the most, and just keep quiet about the rest. Sure, you want to make your character awesome and interesting, but that doesn't mean they have to be the best at everything, because there really isn't a person who is the best everywhere.
   • On the Internet you can find characteristics that will help create interesting character. You can ask the following query in the search engine: "list of qualities of an interesting character" or "description of an interesting character" (without quotes). These lists will help you create a hero that you might not have thought of before.
   • If you're having trouble picking a look for your character, but have already thought about their personality (or vice versa), you can always think of a character's appearance based on his personality (and vice versa). For example, if your hero plays basketball, you can make him tall, if you have a twisted plot, you can make the hero short and not suitable for the basketball team.
   • When you write your story or story, b O Most of the story should be shown by your characters, not by you. If you are leading a plot twist and you can imagine how the characters will react, each of which has certain habits and personality traits that you have created for them, you will have a great story.

hero artwork can be anyone - from a cockroach to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But we fully get used only to the image that resembles ourselves - that is, it has such human features as character, habits, virtues, shortcomings, memories, dreams, plans for the future, etc.

If your heroine differs only in velvety skin and elasticity of forms, then only prisoners who have already forgotten what a real woman looks like will be interested in reading about her.

Number of characters in a work of art

How many characters should be in a novel? As much as you can hold. In "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, there are more than two hundred characters named by name. In the tale of the heron and the crane, there are only two.

It is believed that three is the optimal number of main characters in a game. genre novel. One character - the lack of conflict situations: it will be difficult for the reader to empathize with him. Two is already better, but someone else is needed to bring chaos to the relationship between the two main characters. Three is just right.

But even the intellectual novel and the mainstream should not be overpopulated. If the reader begins to get confused in the characters and forget who is who, this is a bad sign.

Emotions of the reader

When the reader wholeheartedly accepts the hero, he experiences:

Sympathy - approval and sympathy;

Empathy - the reader easily imagines himself in the place of a literary character.

For this to happen, the character must be charming. Prince Bolkonsky, Carlson, Cat Behemoth - all these and other memorable heroes are united by the following:

Reliability - they are described in such a way that the reader seems to see them with his own eyes;

The ability to imitate - the habits, words and behavior of the characters want to be copied.

Heroes to admire

IN a good novel the characters deal with their problems in a way that is admirable. Living in a successful literary image, the reader feels smarter, stronger, more charismatic - his life is filled with new colors. And this illusion of another "I" no longer wants to let go.

Ordinary person character

Many people think that perfect hero is a simple person. Therefore, in the manuscripts that come to publishing houses, there are so many faceless girls, looking for love, and boring men with a midlife crisis. And even more - characters suffering from hard drinking and psychosis. The fact is that the authors of such works are not engaged in literature, but in self-treatment - they describe themselves and their problems.

Who do you want to spend time with?

One of America's leading literary agents, Donald Maass, invites authors to imagine that they are on a train. With whom do they want to be in a compartment for the next ten hours - with a bright witty person or with a dull neurotic?

That's it.

If we want people to spend ten hours with our characters (which is the average time a book is read), the characters need to be interesting.

It's not about characters like Superman or Batman. It's about charm. And the hero can be at least a fool like Forrest Gump, even a misanthrope like Dr. House.

How to show a hero who has qualities that are difficult to convey in words (beauty, authority, fame, etc.)?

If we describe a beautiful girl in the standard way - what color her lips and hair are - it all looks like a template. But if we show her through the eyes of another character, describe what he experiences when looking at the heroine, then the scene will play in a completely different way. The main thing is to focus on subjective perception.

The same technique can be used in scenes with kings and others. significant persons: demonstrate not the imperious sparkle of the eyes, not the noble landing of the head, but the feelings of another hero who comes to awe at the sight of the ruler.

Every book, play, film, novel, and game has one common feature is the presence of at least one character. Some have two or more, while others have thousands of actors! Sometimes the "character" is you.

No matter what the characters are like, books and movies would be lifeless and boring without them. This tutorial will give you the basics and help you learn how to create your own characters!

Steps

Creating your own character

Determine the setting or opening scene. Whether you "raise the curtain" on paper or on a computer screen, your character must exist somewhere, even if it is a virtual non-existence. Maybe it will be an apartment in Paris or a parking lot in New York. Not only will this set the stage for your character, but it will help define his or her personality.

Following the rule of journalists, start with the following data:

Where, who, what, when and how...

Education, school, profession, place of work, purpose

Conflict, dilemma, opportunity, choice/action (benefits and consequences),

Health, sexuality, mindset, life stages, danger, triumph/failure, ups/downs, death,... If you're going to create a character, chances are you already have an idea for a plot/story in your head.

• If you're working on a grand, sprawling Lord of the Rings-type saga, you'll need a whole world of characters - good, evil, men and women... even those who aren't the servants of good or minions of evil.
• If you are writing an introspective story, you may need no more than one character.

1. Get creative. Although this is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word "character" - not every one of them has to be a person. For example, in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Mount Caradras appears as a character full of cold menace, while in Hemingway's parable story The Old Man and the Sea, marlin becomes one of the main characters.

   Start with an archetype/pattern. It just depends on your story who you want, but starting with broad criteria, you can make decisions that gradually define your character through elimination. So you will be like a sculptor who cuts off parts of excess marble and reveals the statue hidden in it. The character outline includes culture and personality traits ( a common person or a hero, tyrant, superman or orc).

   • Most likely, to indicate conflict, your plot should have a protagonist (hero) and an antagonist (villain) at the core. It may be appropriate to introduce a minor character, such as a henchman, best friend, romantic attachment, boyfriend or loved one. Note that sometimes the one you think of as the protagonist - the good guy - is portrayed as the antagonist. For example, Kong King Kong.
   • Maybe you need antiheroes like Clint Eastwood in Pale rider; good villains like Lenny Small in About mice and people; dark horses like Jack Sparrow in Pirates caribbean ; a femme fatale (unstoppable and leading her man to greatness, hardship, danger, and disaster), like Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit; treacherous friends like Iago in Othello or Peter Bailish in game of thrones; or perhaps a clever guide, like Sméagol in Lord of the Rings. Each of these heroes began as an archetype and then took on new shapes as the story unfolded.

2. Add special features. Once you've determined your character's archetype, you can add traits and qualities, strip out what's out of character for your character, and begin to reveal the sculpture honed in marble. Ask yourself how you want the audience to feel towards your character: love, pity, disgust, sympathy, or nothing at all. Start drawing the character based on the desired outcome.

   • Decide on the gender of the character. This will start common point the hero's vision, suggest traits dependent on the archetype, and may even become Starting point conflict situation your character and story as seen through the lens of social prejudice, fair or not. For example, an arrogant man is perceived differently than an arrogant woman. (Which in both cases further defines your character!)
   • Age is also considered an important factor. Older people are perceived as wiser, but this plays a role in other cases as well. The young villain is often depicted as being of bad blood or simply insane. The old scoundrel can also be considered as such, but also be excused at the expense of life's hardships, which gives him much more depth. A young idealistic hero evokes different feelings than a warrior who has lost his taste for life and simply does the right thing. And when their life in history comes to an end, the reaction to this is also completely different.
   • Sometimes characters can be contradictory. Don Quixote was a wayward old man who spent his entire life locked up reading chivalric romances and was depressingly naive. But it was precisely this naivete that prompted him to seek adventure and love, to create fantastic ideas about the world around him when reality did not live up to his expectations.

3. Define your character's goal or goal. IN scary story the protagonist will probably strive to survive in every possible way - for example, Ripley in alien; V romantic story the antagonist will try to prevent the hero from finding his " true love'like Prince Humperdinck's To the princess bride.

   • The way your characters confront the inevitable obstacles that stand between them and their goals characterizes them most clearly. IN complex stories it can constantly overlap, where the goals and achievements of some actors interfere with others, which creates further action and weaves of events and gradually raises the stakes.

4. Let them open up. To really bring a character to life, give it a personality that goes beyond the story. Some of your character's personality traits will never show up directly in your story, but will help reinforce the decisions the character will have to make.

   • Make a list of your character's likes and dislikes and make sure it's balanced. In other words, one hobby should not have 10 annoying factors and vice versa. Even the most capricious actors love something, even if it's just their reflection in the mirror.
   • Your character's attitude is made up of complementary qualities, which can lead to unexpected actions and can change how viewers feel about him. For example, a character who loves freedom is more likely to disobey authority; if they can't live without fruitcakes and flashy cars, they're unlikely to respect economy and limits. If your character is ruthless but unexpectedly saves a helpless child from a burning building, the audience will completely rethink the idea of ​​him.

5. Spice up your character. Good habits, bad habits, or just something the character can't stop doing without some serious discipline or guidance. It can be something as small as biting your nails (which will show his anxiety), or compulsively combing your hair (vanity or insecurity); or something serious like drug addiction(someone who fears responsibility and seeks an escape) or a death wish (hopelessness and despair).

   • The more of these qualities and little things you give your character, the faster they will "come to life" in the imagination of the audience.

6. Give your character a house-with a mirror. Work through external characteristics e.g. place of residence, appearance, presence of pets, etc.

   • Does your character live in a well-groomed house in an elite area (monetary aristocracy) or in a shabby shack (hard life)? Most of the details you choose will suggest something about the character or their history.

7. Work through their fears, weaknesses, incentives, and most important secrets. This helps to create a more realistic character and allows the archetype to develop. A popular strength and weakness of a hero is loyalty or infidelity.

8. You can borrow the mannerisms and traits of the people around you. People-watch in a store or on the subway. Everywhere you can find prerequisites for your character.

   • Pay attention to the appearance - the shape of the nose, jaws, ears, body, how clothes sit on them or how they present themselves.
   • If you like their appearance, describe to yourself those moments that seem attractive to you and transfer them to your characters. If you spot someone who looks intimidating, be honest with yourself why that person is intimidating, even if that reason is completely unfounded or politically incorrect. Use this information to define your characters.
   • Create characters that unite in themselves these traits - you should not completely copy the hero from one or two people, because if they find out about it, you will be in trouble.

9. Create associations with symbolic archetypes. When you match character traits with our idea of ​​things, it will help you identify your character and anticipate their moods and actions. For example,

   • Roses don't last long, but people love them.
   • Snakes are unpredictable and may bite without warning.
   • Stone buildings are stable and difficult to change.
   • Storms bring destruction, but portend an upsurge.
   • A sharp sword also poses a threat to the one who carries it.

10. Take on the appearance of your character. First, draw an mind map of everything you talked about and everything you want to decide for your character. Get a tape recorder ready - you can also record yourself on most phones or computers - and interview yourself or, even better, ask a friend to interview you while you're in character. Then write it down, fill in your mind map to reveal what you didn't know about your character, and work on his personality. If you make a mistake while recording, you can always use it to branch out the image, deepen the idea even further.

    • Feel your character and put yourself in his/her place. Sometimes best characters are derived from your own ideals, character, strengths and weaknesses, as well as such qualities of your family members, friends and enemies.
    • Remember: Don't give away your character All and immediately! Unless your characters are positioning themselves as very open people make them a little more mysterious. Let readers read between the lines. But do not overdo it and do not turn them into too obscure and mysterious.
    • If it's hard for you to think minor characters, take a few stereotypes and develop them.
      • For example: An old librarian offended by her husband. She constantly lives in fear that one day he will find her.
    • One way to decide where to take the plot is to experiment, write alternative ideas, and see where that takes the character. So you can choose the plot development option that you like.
    • If you are creating an animal character, say a cat, do the same as you would for a human character. Describe the appearance, likes and dislikes of the cat. Here is one example: "A little black cat, Shadow, travels merrily with a girl named Christina. Shadow the cat has bright yellow-green eyes and a long silky black coat with white socks and a light tail tassel."
    • The type of character you choose will determine how the story unfolds. If the main characters harmoniously fit into the environment and setting, the development of the plot line will be smooth, and the characters will merge with others, not stand out from their background. If they are diametrically opposed, a sharp conflict will be indicated from the very beginning and you will begin to work it out from the first lines too.
    • Or take stereotypes and play this card differently.
      • For example: The old librarian is behaving strangely because she thinks it is necessary. In fact, she's the kind of person who likes puppies and ice cream and is called "grandma" even if she's not related to them.
    • You can try to start with simple character and delve into more complex details. You don't have to create a terribly complex character right from the start. Actually, gradually revealing information about the hero, you will only warm up the interest of readers.
    • While it's not necessary to work through the items in a strict order, it can be much easier for you to think of a character's personality before you decide on their appearance.
    • Look around, maybe Uncle Vanya or Aunt Masha might be in your next story. Or mix their traits in one character.
    • Remember: This process will help you create more or less real character. If necessary, consider what steps you need to add or remove to create actor of such a type.
    • When they tell you interesting stories, listen! Fiction or non-fiction. Who knows? You can make an excellent daughter character ex girlfriend your father who killed her abusive husband!
    • For a believable character, physical attractiveness is not that important (just pay attention to the main details that indicate his personality).