Character Creation

I keep seeing these little charts and graphs and such popping up every once in a while that claim to help one create a believe able character. Most of these are laughable at best. They ask the user to check off or mark traits that their character has like are the good or evil and then they list possible flaws and virtues and once you calculate all the checks and marks up its supposed to tell you if you have a well made character or not. Most of these claim to help people get out of that Mary Sue rut which in most cases they are keeping people in it by confining them to these parameters.  And this is surely not the way to create a character that is supposed to be so alive that it becomes real to the audience that you are presenting them too.

So what is a good way to create a believable character? Well at it's core character creation is an observation. A character is more than just that they are a person therefore they should act and react like a person. You don't want to muddle them down with too many traits. Think about yourself and your friends. NOT how you WISH you were or how your friends were but how they TRULY are. How you exist in this space and time. Even if you are creating someone who existed in the past or even in the future core human attributes do not alter that much through the centuries. Ideals may change but everyone has needs thoughts and desires that drive them through life. People make mistakes, they are flawed this is what I feel I have to emphasis most because that is one of the main problems when people try to create characters they put them on a pedestal and forget their flaws. Flaws are gorgeous and amazing things that mold and create people.

Using people you know as reference is a good place to start understanding what it takes to create someone believable but the real magic doesn't start until you completely detach yourself from your characters. If your goal truly is to create a living breathing person with thoughts and belief of their own the best place you can start is with the study  of behaviors and people. Go to your local community college and sign up for some Psychology and Sociology classes. Most college offer the basics in these fields. Now before you get ahead of me you don't need to have a degree in either of these fields to be able to have an amazing character, but even these base class provide decent insight into what you are trying to accomplish. Another thing you can do is simply pick up books from your local story that relate to these fields of study. I have done both. Psychology was my first college major before I switched to animation and I also took psychology and sociology classes that were offered at my high school. I do however have always preferred the just reading a book method this is what I've done for many of life's questions. One book I will recommend that you can find at your local book store without having to go to the text book section is called "The Writers Guide to Character Traits" by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D. that you should find in the reference section. This particular series of books is amazing for someone wetting their feet into character creation. Each book is written by a professional in their field, there is also "Breathing Life into Your Characters" by Rachel Ballon Ph.D and "The Criminal Mind, A writers Guide to Forensic Psychology" by Katherine Ramsland Ph.D These are all easy to follow and understand books that might be better suited for those who can't wrap their head around a standard psychology text book riddled with technically jargon.

Above all one should remember that your character IS NOT YOU!!! And never should be!!! A good character is detachable from ones self though they may share some traits from you, you are able to accept that bad things will happen to your character and they may not always win. Research is your best friend!!! If you don't take the time to understand something you will never be able to recreate it accurately.  Most of all you will know when your characters have created a life or their own when they start doing things of their own will. As bizarre as this sounds it happens, a lot of creators will tell you their characters end up doing things they never expected them to do. Once you find this happening to yourself it's generally a good sign that you are on the right track.

Try a few of these things and see were it gets you!!