How to Develop Characters

First off, I do have a Tapas Creator Tutorial about how to create compelling characters. If you want to check that out, the link is in the description. A lot of my tips are already said in there so I won’t mention everything here. Creating and developing fall pretty hand in hand. Anyway, onto how to develop your characters!

To develop a character, you need to have a story for them.

Who are they? Not just their personality, but how that personality came to be through minor or major events of their past. Give them a backstory that shows why they are who they are in the present.

What are the character’s motivations? What are their fears?
Everyone is motivated to do something, even if it’s as simple as going home everyday to watch YouTube videos lol Of course, with a story, you want something a bit more for your characters. Maybe they’re striving to go to college or they want to help save the world. Now, what are their fears and how can these fears hinder or help them achieve their goal? We think of fears as something stopping us, but sometimes they’re what push us forward. The character that has to save the world may be fearful of failure and that makes them strive even harder to do what is right. Maybe they’re scared of losing their loved ones so they run towards danger even when they have no idea what to do.

How does your plot and characters help each other grow throughout the series?

Sometimes characters feel like the plot is dragging them along rather than the plot helping the characters move along. You don’t want to feel like the character’s simply existing in the story. They need to be active. Why are or aren’t they doing something? What makes them begin their epic journey or working to go to college? What stops them from reaching their goal and how does that affect them? Characters need to be faced with difficult decisions in stories so they can overcome them, so readers root for them.

Have a basic idea of how your character is going to grow by the end of the series.

I say basic idea because characters take on a life of their own when you start writing. You don’t have to hold them to a definite “they’re mean in the beginning then super nice by the end.” You may realize that isn’t the best route for them and change your mind. However, it’s good to have an idea of who you characters is at point A and how their goals, fears, other characters, and the plot will make them reach point B by the end.

Develop secondary characters as well, although they don’t have to be as focused on as the MC.

Strong secondary characters only help to enhance the plot and the MC. Make sure to give them a backstory and a purpose for being in the story. Maybe they don’t have a side plot of their own, but allowing them to also grow as individuals gives room for your MC to react to them, to show how they are changing too. Maybe the MC and a secondary character hate each other in book one, but are best friends by book three. This gives a more realistic feeling to the characters because a relationship was developed and readers can relate to that.

Honestly, most of my other tips are in the Tapas Creator tutorial so I think I’ll stop here for the day. Remember to check out the link if you're still interested! I hope I answered this question okay. I’m not a teacher for a reason lol Anywho, feel free to ask more writing related questions or whatever. I’ll do my best to answer them!

Until next time, toodles~