Write a novel

How to develop characters

Every novel has and needs them: characters.

Learn how to invent them, develop them, and "make them real" with the help of this article.

CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRES

There are quite a few on the Internet. You can use some combined, fill in only one or two character sheets, or design your own character sheets.

Below are four of the best I could find & use:

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/the-character-questionnaire-you-need-to-complete/...

https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/character-questionnaire

https://azure.wgp-cdn.co.uk/app-writers-online/posts/CharacterProfileTemplate.pd...

http://www.kkitts.net/downloads/files/CharacterWorksheetKK.pdf

The last two are rather shorter. I suggest combining them.

THESE ARE THE TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO

When creating characters, you definitely need to pay attention to two things.

BELIEVABILITY

Every character needs a handful of weaknesses, a past, desires and goals. In short: he must be like a human being.

How does your character become believable? I'll tell you: through depth. Through details.

He must be different from others and still seem human.

A character MUST:
be afraid of something
have more than one bad habit (e.g. procrastination, apologizing too much, etc.)
have a past -> include some flashbacks!
have an inner conflict
have a goal, a wish and a dream
etc.

One more thing: please don't describe a character's appearance with just "he had brown eyes and street-kid blond hair". Also mention in the character sheet and (best casually) in the story, the shape of the nose and eyes, the shape of the face, the color of the skin, the build and so on.

That's why I can only urge everyone to develop the characters extensively. The (sample) readers will thank you for it.

PURPOSE

Don't randomly invent minor characters whose names no one can remember!
If possible, try to "merge" or "cut out" minor characters.
In any case, don't let them die so you don't have to take them out!