Character development is the internal and external transformation characters go through during and after the course of a story. It's what truly makes our characters interesting and memorable to our readers when they read our books, as well as what gives the plot of our stories purpose and meaning. After all, characters are one of the most essential elements of story writing and without them there practically isn't a story to tell. But how do writers write purposeful characters that will intrigue readers? Well, there are five main components that contribute to character development and creating purposeful characters. These include the following: motivation, goals, backstories, character arcs, and time. Let's go over these five components and see how writers can use them below.
5 COMPONENTS OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
1. CHARACTER MOTIVATION
Character motivation is the driving force that gets our characters moving toward their goals, wants, or needs. It's the reason behind why our characters do what they do while in their environments and interacting with other characters. Writers can think of it as the battery of character development. Many beginner writers focus on the physical attributes or appearance of characters, but these things aren't what really brings our characters to life. They are merely additional features to help distinguish one character from another in our stories and novels. But it's their motivation that "gets the ball rolling," otherwise known as the trigger or inciting incident in our plot. However, in order to do this, our characters need to have a purpose for their motivation. This is where goals come into play.
2. CHARACTER GOALS
Character goals are the building blocks that give our characters purpose and helps lead them to their transformations. Without them, there's nothing for our characters to strive and work toward during the course of the story. Goals also increase momentum of the plot, which in turn moves the story forward from scene to scene. Based on character goals, some writers outline their scene structure where every scene equals the action, and every sequel is the reaction of what happened in the prior scene.
3. CHARACTER BACKSTORIES
Character backstories are the past histories of characters prior to the present time story. This is where "emotional wounds" and past tramas lie, as well as other repressed memories or failures from our characters' past. Backstories contribute to how our characters function in the present time story and are optional as not all characters have backstories. Many television shows and movies include flashbacks as backstory to add information about the present-day characters. Some good examples are the CBS police procedural crime drama series Cold Case and the Lifetime network TV drama series, Any Day Now based on the interracial friendship of attorney Rene Jackson and housewife and aspiring writer Mary Elizabeth (called "M.E.") who grew up together in the segregated town of Birmingham, Alabama during the 1960s. Both of these include flashbacks that add details or significance to the characters' present-time situations.
4. CHARACTER ARCS
Character arcs are literary devices used to show the inner journey and transformation of characters during the course of the story. These are also called "archetypes," such as the twelve archetypes by Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung. For example, "the hero," "the mentor," or "the rebel." They're also pretty much like stock characters due to their recognizable traits. To create character arcs, you can use or draw diagrams, such as the one below I made of my five phases of a character arc, which I plan to discuss in my next post. There are three main types of character arcs: flat, positive, and negative, and several different books about the ways to create your characters' arcs or archetypes. Like a chemist in a laboratory, we can experiment with them and have fun being creative when forming our characters' story journeys in our novels and books.
(📌Note: My next blog post will get into detail about the five phases of a transitional arc I created, which can be applied to both positive or negative character arcs.)
5. TIME
Time plays a significant role in character development. Our stories need a passage of time, a starting point and a finishing or ending point, and within that time frame our characters need to begin at certain conditions and develop and end at new conditions. Allow your characters to develop gradually during the time frame of your story. This time frame could be any length from days and weeks to years. There are many ways writers can show the passing of time. Two simple ways to do this is by a change of the seasons or a story's settings, or by having our characters grow older and age from one chapter to another.
For example, maybe a character is ten in the first chapter and by chapter three they're in their early twenties. Writers can also label their chapters with dates or times in italics at their chapter openings to inform readers when particular chapters or scenes are taking place, such as the example I've listed below from Come Sunday, oh come Sunday, my Kindle Vella Christian drama and comedy series about my character Isaiah Johnson and his childhood adventures growing up in the 1950s and 1960s with his mama, his aunts, his grandma, and his best friend Ben Savage.
Example:
[ From EPISODE 2: "Who's Your Daddy?" - Part 2]
Summer of 1958
Isaiah hated going to church.
Every Sunday it was always the same thing. Hands clapping, feet stomping, tambourines jingling, and people crying or chanting “amens” and “hallelujahs.” The only thing he liked was the benediction and when it was mealtime. He loved him some fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits, and especially his grandma’s. His mama was great with baked goods, but not so much with cooking a wholesome meal—and certainly not a homemade Sunday dinner. Once she tried to make Thanksgiving for everyone, and the main course was so black and charcoaled first seeing it on the table he wasn’t too sure of what it was until his Aunt Betty Jean told him it was the turkey.
HOW TO CREATE PURPOSEFUL CHARACTERS
So, how do writers create purposeful characters? Writers should include all or almost all of the five components I just mentioned. 1) Give your characters goals or something they have to work toward, 2) give them motivation to drive them toward their story goals, 3) create backstories or past histories for your characters, 4) create character arcs that outline the inner journeys of your characters, and 5) allow your story to have a passage of time to show the gradual process of your characters' development.
CLOSING REMARKS:
To create purposeful characters, writers must write them from the inside out. It's not enough to describe their physical attributes. Writers need to flesh out their characters' hearts, minds, and souls and give them a purpose for being in the story. Consider how your characters feel, their thoughts, aspirations, hopes, dreams, and individual worldviews and outlooks on life. What are their emotional wounds and how do they affect their present lives? How will your characters develop over time? What are their fears or insecurities? Will they overcome them? And if so, how will they do this? All of these things and other internal details are what give our characters significance and makes them memorable and come alive. Well, this wraps up this post. (If by chance you found it helpful, please give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)
Happy Writing! 😊✍🏽💻
🤔Hey, writers, have you ever outlined character arcs for the characters in your novels/stories?
👍Yes
👎No
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