Creating Characters

If we have trouble creating characters, there are many different ways to do it: (The Character’s name is… let’s say, Bob Blank)



     1. Use lists. Fill in the blanks for these:

• age
• position/ job
• wants
• fears
• in wallet/purse….
• brief physical description

2. Get a name and jump in. Start to write about the character and discover her or him as you write.

Bob Blank opened the front door and ____________

3. Use poetry and music to come up with a character. Find all the words that you can associate with a character. Listen to your favorite song and think of the character that comes to mind.

What kind of Tree is Bob Blank?

• Cloth
• House
• Car
• Weather
• Smoke
• City

4. Use real life. Sketch a person and give her a different name than her real name. Or use a combination of people.

Bob Blank is just like a relative of mine, my________________

5. Use description. Create a picture in your mind.

Here’s what Bob Blank looks like _________________

6. Use a combination of methods and decide that one key thing that says the character.

This is the defining characteristic of Bob Blank. If I could only say one thing about Bob Blank, this is what I would say and you would know Bob Blank fully. ___________________________

7. If you’re an artistic person, draw a picture of your character. If you’re not an artistic person, do it anyway.

8. Pull out a character from your own past, perhaps a family member.

Bob Blank reminds me of a family member, or Bob Blank reminds me of a characteristic of myself.

9. Create characters from dramatic needs in your story, such as an evil antagonist.

In my story of Bob Blank, there needs to be a

• Hero
• Mentor
• Trickster
• Shadow
• Herald
• Threshold Guardian

This character is needed for dramatic reasons, to deepen the story, to make it interesting. Like the old saying “When the story gets boring, bring in a man with a gun.”

10. Create characters from psychological needs in your story, e.g., a jokester to lighten the mood.

Considering my audience’s reaction to the story of Bob Blank, their psychological needs, I should develop a

• Hero
• Mentor
• Trickster
• Shadow
• Herald
• Threshold Guardian

   In case that’s not enough ways to reveal Bob Blank, here are a few more:

• 1. conflict with environment
• 2. by action
• 3. by self discovery
• 4. by tags
• 5. by motivated action (he did that to annoy her)
• 6. emphasize dominant characteristic
• 7. use opposites, contrast
• 8. Names – what name says the character
• 9. conflict in story
• 10. moment of truth
• 11. confession
• 12. give person chance to make a choice 13. reveal by exposition
• 14. description
• 15. narration
• 16. by action
• 17. by character’s feeling about himself
• 18. attitude of others toward character
• 19. thru environment of story–"He enthroned himself in a chair."

Courtesy of Mr. Ed Griffin, Writers Write Daily blog 

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