Before creating a historical character,
first you need to understand how to create a normal one. Creating a
good character can take a lot of time at first. But with practice,
you will get better at it, and it will get easier.
Parts of creating a good character
- Basic information
- Personality
- Backstory
Basic Information - Who is your character?
Give your
character basic information like their name, age, gender, and
appearance. This information helps set up who your character is. Some
of these facts are used for reference, while others can even
influence how your readers view them.
A character's
appearance can be things like
- hair color and length
- eye color
- distinguishing features
- personal style
Appearance in
particular can be used to allude to other aspects of a character,
which is useful in avoiding info dumps.
Personality - How does your character act?
Focus on a few key
factors that will determine your character's personality. Factors
that influence personality can be moral values, key characteristics,
and important beliefs. These factors should determine how your
character reacts to as many different situations as possible.
A word of
caution: It's impossible to plan every aspect of your character's
personality, let alone have them show it in your story. Try to focus on just a few key aspects, rather than every possible reaction your character might have. It's easier and much faster for you, the author.
Backstory - Where does your character come from?
Backstory involves
things like your character's history; what their life was like; and
where and when they grew up . Think of these as sort of foundation
for your character's personality: their backstory should help
influence their traits.
This is an extremely helpful post. I love to role-play and I constantly find myself creating new characters. Often times they are under-developed and in turn it results in my interest for that character dying out quickly. I find that my problem is partly with the personality, and partly with the back story. Your comment on not trying to focus on all of a character’s personality traits, but rather just a few is probably a lesson that I need to start practicing. When I create my characters, I focus too much on trying to portray as many traits as I can, but I don’t develop the back story enough to explain said traits. I end up with too many ideas and nothing to back up what I’ve created. I also like your comments on physical description. That’s always my favorite part of creating characters, and if I start to focus on just a few personality traits, I bet that I could tie them into physical traits as support as well as character history.
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