CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

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If you completed Part 1 (which I strongly advise), you might be wondering what more to character development there might be than filling out a character sheet and roleplaying. Well, to put it simply: a lot. ​The best character are those you "feel" when you're writing as them. Characters, I argue, are not what you write, but what you become for a short period of time. Long time roleplayers have told me that they don't really control their character -- their characters react, and they write what the character did. I can say from personal experience that a character you care about and a character that you truly put time into developing is a character that will develop a mind of its own. You may find, as others have, that you have lost control over your character, and are rather a conduit by which your creation expresses itself. It's an oddly satisfying experience.

 

So, in this section, I'm not going to teach you what to write in your character sheet or certain elements that your character should have (tragic backstory, dead lovers, etc. etc.). I am, instead, going to provide you with tools by which you can get to know your characters, learn to think like them, and develop an understanding of who they are. It's easiest with one character, but these methods will work if you're developing more than one.

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Keep your work and use it to refer to if need be. If you're switching between characters or it has been a while since you used one of them, it's always best to briefly read back over what you've written.

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• The 100 Question Mega List -- Call it what you want, but this list (stolen, I admit, from a Sith named Darth Kronos) can seriously help you develop a character. Click on the link to access it. It was far too big to post here. Basically, it's a list of questions that you will answer as if you character were answering them. This helps you hammer out the personal details of your character, which is very helpful when you're roleplaying a new character. This is long, but highly recommended. 

• Find pictures -- This sounds simple, but it can really help. If you don't draw, try to find pictures of your character. It's perfectly fine to find several pictures to depict different aspects. For instance, show the clothing in one picture, perhaps the hair in another, and maybe the face in the third. Unless you're commissioning an artist (which almost nobody does), it's not going to be perfect. Find clothing, weapons, ships, etc. to help you develop the details.

• Write scenarios for your character -- Examples might be "Your character's best friend just died in battle. How would he react?" By getting emotional and deep, you can really explore the various aspects of your character. Even mundane events can shed light on character aspects previously unexplored.

• Have a conversation -- Pretend you've met your character in a cantina. Strike up a conversation and write how your character would respond.

• Develop a backstory -- Writing a more detailed biography for your character also helps. Not only does it help you fill in your C.S., but it also helps you think from your character's perspective (e.g. Why isn't John more social? Ohhhh...it's because his wife died and she was the social butterfly so he never learned to make friends for himself.) 

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Again, these are suggestions, but highly recommended ones. The more you develop your character, the easier it is to write from their perspective.

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Next, I'm going to discuss one of the most important aspects of character development -- infallibility.

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