Essentials: Character

What is a character? How to create a believable character? A character in a story doesn't have to be likeable but he or she should be recognisable. The audience will engage and take interest in a character they recognise and understand regardless whether the character is 'likeable' or not. Stereotypes come out of using the same elements and qualities that everyone will immediately recognise. The nagging wife, the school bully, the old granny who can't hear well. Stereotypes are recognisable but they are also superficial and a result of lazy writing. Using stereotypes is not encouraged but stereotypes should be analysed because they can be used as a stepping stone for building a more original and believable character.


Characters have a personal history, temperament, beliefs, and ideas about their future. Human beings are complex but a writer should be able to express a character in a clear and economic way. The writer has to know more about the character than is written on the page.
Try comparing two people you know: compare their background, opinions and aspirations. What are their flaws? What are they good at? What would be the first thing, a tell-tale sign of their personality when you meet them for the first time in your life?
One of the easiest ways of first approaching a character is to think of them as 'the most...' type of person in the story. The most nervous, the most energetic, the most talkative, the most silent, the most ambitious etc.

You can then build your character around that: how did they grow up? How did they end up with the personality they've got? How do they behave around people they know and strangers? What is important to them? Is it something personal, something regarding a loved one, or the whole community? How do they want other people around them to behave? A criminal would want his mate to be more submissive, a teacher would want his colleagues to be more ambitious, etc. Play with the reader's expectations: a little old granny can swear like a sailor, a fireman can become too nervous to perform his duties, a clumsy superhero, etc. People can also have public personas and behave completely differently in private.

Complex characters are more engaging for the audience. Creating paradoxes is a good way of revealing character and exploring their personality in a dramatic way. When you come up with 'the most' character, try putting them in a situation where that quality stops them from getting what they want. In There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview hates people but in order to get what he wants - oil - he has to work with other people because he can't dig oil by himself. That puts him in a constant state of conflict and tension that can't be resolved unless the character changes.