Secrets of Writing: Character Construction

Now that we’ve discussed some of the fundamentals of characterization let’s explore the construction of a character. First off, we need to decide what role the character takes in the story. Are they Hero, Villain, Protagonist, Antagonist, or Chorus? Determine how much we need to know about them for the purposes of the story, then answer the following questions. These are questions you must know the answers to. Utterly. If you’re building a supporting character who just has a minor role, it’s still not a bad idea to know as much as possible about them. You may want to expand their role later. Or it may give you insights that could be useful when writing their dialog.

Name
Gender
Age
Height, Weight
Color of Hair, Eyes, Skin
Appearance: Attractive, average, ugly, clean, dirty, athletic, flabby, etc.
Archetypal models
Alignment: Saintly, good, troubled, bad, evil
Race
Class: Aboriginal, Homeless, Lower, Middle, Upper
Occupation, income
Work hours, work ethic
Education
Home life: Married, single, children, lives with parents
Religion
Nationality or Culture
Place in Community: Clubs, sports, lodges, etc.
Amusements: Hobbies, Interests, Pastimes
Politics: Conservative, Liberal, Middle of the Road, Communist, Anarchist
Favorite foods
Sexual Orientation: Hetro, BI, Gay, Transsexual, Pedophile, etc.
Sex Life: Promiscuous, Virgin, Celibate, gets it when he can
Fetishes: Sexual, compulsive, objects that are always kept on him
Morality, Standards
Ambitions, Goals, Dreams
Attitude: Militant, relaxed, resigned, defeatist
Complexes: Obsessions, Inhibitions, superstitions, phobias, hang ups
Illusions (what false beliefs to they hold onto)
Abilities: Languages, Talents
Qualities: Imagination, intellect, judgment, taste, poise
I.Q.
Superpowers, if applicable

Once you’ve answered the main questions, as needed, we then proceed to the second series of important character building questions. Answer all that are pertinent with the story you’re writing. Or if important to the backstory.

Relationships
1. Parents: Alive or dead?
2. Relationship with parents: Good, bad, indifferent, communicative, loving
3. Step parents, relations with
4. Siblings, Relations with siblings
5. Lovers, relations with
6. Ex-Lovers, relations with
7. Other Relations
8. Enemies
9. Employers
10. Who do they trust?
11. Who do they hate?
12. Who do they love?
13. Who do they desire?
14. Who do they fear?
15. Who do they loathe?
16. Who do they need?

For the Hero and Villain, you should know most or all by heart depending on the relevance to your story. The relational questions will help you choose the right characters to present when using relational characterization.

Character Backstory

We can safely assume your characters weren’t born yesterday. They had a life leading up to the first moment they appear in your story. The events that shaped their lives and their psyches is called backstory. It’s the accumulation of their experiences from birth until the time of your tale.

You should know the backstory of all...and I do mean all...of your characters. You may not need to know every little detail, but you should have a clear idea. The above lists of questions are a good way to work it out. Get a notebook and answer every question. When you’re done you’ll feel you know the character a lot better. And when you write them they’ll be more real in your mind. They may even “write themselves”.

Backstory is also important when it involves the story you’re doing. Something in this character’s past may have an impact on the events in your plot. You should think through what those events are and also the time and place they occurred. Something that happened in the 1970s should be looked at from the perspective of that time. Not this time. Each decade has it’s own feel and attitude and looking back on those times should feel appropriate to the audience.

People are also a product of the time and place they were raised in. Study people from the generation your character comes from for clues, if you aren’t of that generation.

Those who were raised prior to the 1960s tend to have a whole different world view than those born later. Baby boomers tend to have a different outlooks, attitudes and expectations than “Generation Xers” do. It’s important to take these things into account.

Although it’s become a trite device in contemporary fiction, the hidden trauma in a character’s past can also contribute to the persona of a character. But it should never be used as an excuse for why someone acts the way they do. A human persona can’t be attributed to one event in the character’s life. People are far more complex than that.

This hasn’t stopped a lot of writers from falling into the trap of using pop psychology to explain away a character’s entire personality based on something like Child Abuse or some other taboo of the week.

But there’s no reason for you to follow in their footsteps, unless you like being lame.

REMEMBER: Backstory is relevant, but it shouldn’t be used to rob a character of their mystery.

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