Flushing out your characters

A bit of everything. Just brainstorming on them for a start. The character dossier things can be useful in a couple of ways - one, as a place to store actual "facts" about the character, so their eye colour or number of siblings doesn't change halfway through the book. That can be partly completed beforehand and partly while writing. But they're also useful for making you think of something you might not have considered about your character before. I prefer ones that ask big picture questions, not details, like I don't care what they wear to bed, but I do want to think about how they vote and if they are religious, etc.

I also sometimes do the various personality, values and beliefs, and psychological tests you can find online as the character (just make sure it's nothing that's going to be included in someone's research!) Not so much for the results, but again because it makes me think about aspects of the character I haven't considered yet.

In the end though, as fun as all that is, they only really come to life when they start walking and talking in the draft.

Typo or not, this is a good discussion.

For me, things like character sheets are rather odd. Characters don't exist outside the story they're in, and the story doesn't exist without them. Even things like what they want are enmeshed with the story. So trying to work on character without simultaneously working on the story is . . . not useful for me.

To answer the question, I write. I let my mind run riot with thoughts on where the story could go next and how my character might react. When I sit down to put words on the page (or screen, actually), I fill in whatever gaps there might be. Sometimes my ideas come from my own life, or real-life incidents. Sometimes they're just made up. The key is to give them depth: no one really feels just one thing at a time.

Depends. Major characters tend to come to me, whether with an idea, an image, a snatch of narrative. Minor characters I create as I go along. Eg, okay, the MC is going to be working with another police officer, so I need a character for that role. Who're they going to be? Often minor characters don't tell me their story until it's needed for the book. Even major characters suddenly drop surprises on me.

I've tried character sheets but never found them helpful. Then again, if your character is a Roman soldier in an alt-hist, you're not going to be able to name their favourite movie.

I usually start with a character and a story idea and write. Sometimes I discover things I need to know about the character as I go. I make decisions. I decide if they work in draft two.

After that, I'll think more about history. I'll look to include those details that show a past. It could be a single turn of phrase that grandma says. I want each character, no matter how minor, to have a story although I may never write it, and it won't be in that book. They are all real people as far as the reader is concerned. The key is making the reader believe the character has life outside the events in the story.

I may journal from a character's POV to get that info or it may just come to me with the character. I never do those sheets, but I usually know the answer to the questions in them anyway - at least if those answers matter to the story.

I've tried character sheets but never found them helpful. Then again, if your character is a Roman soldier in an alt-hist, you're not going to be able to name their favourite movie.

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True. Since I tend to write fantasy set in non industrialized worlds, most of the character sheet questions are irrelevant anyway.

Besides, why would I want to rope myself into something that may not work once the story starts to unfold?

Brightdreamer said:

Yeesh - I don't even think I could list 100 things I want, let alone a character!

Interesting idea, though, if the number seems a trifle high...

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Yeah, it did seem kind of daunting, but I managed it for two main characters. The list goes from important motivational stuff to "She wants that pretty dress." Granted, I haven't written the story yet, so we'll see if the list actually comes into play or not. I can't do character sheets or charts. I have a notebook where I write down random ideas for the next story in it though; I have lists and bits of scenes and things about my characters in there.

Roxxsmom said:

True. Since I tend to write fantasy set in non industrialized worlds, most of the character sheet questions are irrelevant anyway.

Besides, why would I want to rope myself into something that may not work once the story starts to unfold?

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Even writing contemporary fiction, I often find that a lot of questions are useless. I invent the details as and when they're needed by the story.

Fantasy_fan said:

How do you get to know your characters? Interview, character sheet or do you write a bio for them? And is your method for all your characters or just the main one?

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There are some things I have to keep track of: general body type, preferred weapons, favorite swear words, their relationships to each other and/or the MC(s), and maybe the names of their horses. Those things go in a very small part of my writing app. Otherwise I spend no time on them except as they appear in the story.

Fantasy_fan said:

How do you get to know your characters? Interview, character sheet or do you write a bio for them? And is your method for all your characters or just the main one?

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I grew up on fantasy role-playing games, namely good ol' Dungeons and Dragons. So when I first start working on a project, I do tend to see things first and foremost in terms of a 'character sheet'. Many of the stories I write are based on campaigns I played over the last 20+ years of gaming. (Suddenly feels VERY old...)

That being said, a sheet (or sheets!) often already exists for these characters. The trick is then to flesh out these stats and basic descriptions with detailed biographies, which to me are small stories in and of themselves.

As for how much work each character warrants... I try to keep in mind that every character in the story is another story. No matter how much or how little each character ties in to the story I'm writing now, odds are there's another story hiding behind the supporting cast. If the character's appearance is brief and of little consequence, then I'll know less, sure. But if more occurs to me, I don't discard it.

Let's say I want to show the my MC is a nice guy and social with the locals. I could just say "Micah was the sort of person that said hello to everyone in the street, exchanged kind words with the vendors, and was treated kindly in return."

Or in a show vs. tell situation:

Micah waved hello to the midwife on her morning stroll and then turned to shake hands with Heilon, whose morning loaves of bread were as warm as the smile that passed between the two men.

"Good day, Micah!"

"Morning, Heilon! How's Suzen? She's got to be as ripe as a Yule pie by now! Don't look so worried. She'll recover well enough in time and the two of you will have your first child to chase away the hardships of this winter."
*****
Did I need to know all that about the baker? No, but the fact that my MC would know that information is important. It tells me who he is. He wouldn't brush over that information as he talked to people, so I should take care to show that as well.