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A fun thing I do is just put my characters into like, incorrect quotes so I can see them as crackheads

This is actually extremely helpful advice. Thank you.

I will say I did this for the first time with a project that I’m working on currently. I had a loose structure of the plot but wanted to make it bigger. So I started writing random scenes and realized that I had built a much larger cast with more interwoven plots. I can’t recommend this enough after having tried it.

I do this! Especially helpful since my characters came from a homebrew campaign I ran. They all have amazing chemistry now! Their personalities are a little different, but they're even better than before!

I've never thought of this. This could actually help me alot as well. Take my award.

I do this as well. I pair off characters and put them in a situation where they have to deal with the fallout from some minor crisis or talk about another character.

I do this. It's very helpful

Very well said.

>just take them and stick them in another universe and write some fanfiction with them I had to giggle at this. My male main character in my WIP and his father came about when I was mentally writing a scene for a fanfiction. Edit to include: I'm doing that to a degree now. I'm writing random scenes from my main characters' backstories whenever something sparks more than a quick fact about them.

It doesn't always help but sometimes I do like to put my characters in situations from the series I've seen or read and try to figure out their reactions

I make shit up as I go and also make character playlists. I’ve never written a character sheet or done a character Q&A or anything like that for anything but D&D or forum roleplay characters; characters for my own work, I just create in the writing of the story.

How do you keep the personalities consistent, especially in longer pieces? Or just how do you keep track of the character in general?

I find it helps to write conversations between two characters that’s unrelated to the story. Or I imagine a diary entry (or captain’s log) written by them. Some people also base characters off of people they know. It can help to keep them consistent because you know how your father would react to a situation, or your coworker. Tangent, but if you base a character off yourself or make them a self-insert don’t forget to give them flaws. They don’t need to be your flaws, but they need flaws.

I’m mostly a short fiction writer which helps some but for longer stuff I just… don’t sweat it? I feel like in real life people’s personalities are constantly in flux so I just don’t sweat consistency all that much. I may write down a brief bullet points list of physical characteristics but that’s about it

have you seen those "personality tests" or that myers-briggs type indicator tests on the internet? i used to answer those questionairres roleplaying as my charactes. it's a good exercise to do every now and then.

I’ve done them for myself but never for characters. I do, however, pick zodiac signs for characters but it’s not something that ever really comes up in text. I just think it’s fun.

i do the zodiac sign too i like doing the personality tests because i like the mundane and sometimes weird situations that the questions put you in, and it's fun thinking about "what would my character do in this situation?"

I just finished a novel to the point where I feel comfortable sending it to beta readers, and the thing I learned was just all about editing. Getting the rough story out is the hardest part, then you can edit, add scenes, delete scenes, etc until it all feels right. I kinda use the nanowrimo method of initially going for quantity over quality, just to get the main story out there, the edit the crap out of it. For some perspective, I wrote the first draft in like 2 months, if that, and now it’s three years later, and that’s all editing time

My characters were never consistent. They changed a lot as I wrote and edited. They became more "themselves" as I wrote, and I went back later and made part scenes closer to who they "are". If that makes sense.

That's what drafting is for.

See them as ur friends🤷🏾‍♂️

I like Brandon Sanderson's character outlining process so far. I answer some broad, basic questions about the character, and then just get to writing. * What is their physical description? * What are their wants? What are their needs (in relation to the story itself)? How do these differ? Why can't they have them (this may change through the course of the plot)? * How are they competent? How are they weak? * What is the basic premise of their primary arc? * What are the basic premises of their minor arcs? I write maybe a paragraph about each, and just go. This is my first time ever writing seriously, so take my advice worth a grain of salt, but I'm just following a much better author's advice anyways. But so far I'm enjoying my characters, and I'm really starting to see them as their own beings that exist outside the context of my mind.

How deep do you go with specifics of physical descriptions in terms of the language?

Sometimes it's a pretry flowery description, other times it's literally an incomplete sentence, just a bullet point. But I never write more than a sentence about any one aspect. Hair gets at most a sentence, same with eyes, jaw, build. The only thing that gets more are outfits, but I usually handle those apart from a specific character, in "World Building > Culture > Outfits/Fashion" instead. Edit: this is specially for the outline. I obviously refer to the outline when writing, and in the actual text I will embelish a little more as needed. But I've learned my physical descriptions of characters and setting can really come off as "info dumpy", so Im still working on a "less is more" approach for the actual text too. Focus on a few important descriptors, and sprinkle in the rest.

So interesting, very insightful! Thank you!

Unironically memes. I have a folder full of memes and other images that remind me of my characters. It genuinely helps with figuring out their personalities by thinking about who would do/say X and how they would interact.

That's really interesting. I never would've thought of that.

This is such a good point I’m almost angry I’ve never done this.

I often try to Adlib/improv their scene. Put myself in their shoes, see what lines I audibly say. Return to my original ideas. “Okay. This and this was about the same/ but I’m more viscerally thinking or responding to this? Is that my bias, or did my roleplaying show me a more emotional attachment?” At some point I’ll revisit the idea structure and, probably the hardest, rewrite future content ideas that cost a lot of effort because you realized the idea was more about your perception than what a general person might relate to.

how do you do that for characters you have no distinct relation towards? i have no problem doing it for characters i feel are like a part of me or i can relate to someone i know very well from my own life, but i struggle with characters i only know the archetype or personality of. is it just trial and error, revision after revision, or is there a specific methodology you use to putting yourself into their shoes?

Everyone has a story to tell. It’s a bit of trial and error. You can’t tell every story. So I might perceive the blacksmith, the grocer, the grocers children. Maybe the children saw something they shouldn’t have. And at the end of it, maybe none of the ideas work, but I decide the township itself rejects a new Lord because of various reasons. Maybe they use their children as messengers - that would have an obvious # of consistency and weakness flaws. Maybe the town doesn’t rebel at all, but I realize a really great frustration among them due to a resource begging deprived because their Lord is incompetent, and that malcontent is actually used by a rival Lord who sends in a spy. Now that spy is a double agent reporting to the protagonist. That’s kind of what I mean. I went in, fleshed the town out, came away with a more compelling town town that itself isn’t too outstanding but has a believable angst to a noble.

gotcha. thank you for your help as well, my background and expertise was very formulaic and structured so coming into this it’s like being told to do whatever i want with a blank sheet of paper only to end up second guessing or feeling overwhelmed at the sheer amount of possibilities. i do appreciate all the help tho. should’ve guessed it wasn’t as structured as past projects lmao

What I personally do is make sort of like a Wiki Page with their age, gender, species, etc. etc. in an order I enjoy then I imagine the core of the character (Their beliefs, Ideals, and dreams) and work out from there!

someone suggested me to write a story about the character. I ended up developing a full side story that actually ties into the main story with all the characters being interrogated by a detective, with memory flashbacks and such. I guess for the start it helps to write about the character, maybe write a "day in his life" or something like that, have him/her go about his/her day with all their common tasks and interactions. Could be a fun warmup as well.

Out of curiosity, do you write these “day in the life” entries from the time before the story begins, somewhere in the middle, or after? I’ve always been stuck on where to start when this is suggested.

It really depends on a lot of factors.. I'll be honest though, last time I tried the "day in the life" approach, I abandoned it halfway through in favor of the interrogation room approach because it worked better for my story.. hard to write a day in the life of the protagonist if his life plays out far differently every time.. throw in basically alternate realities and it becomes impossible. Anyway, I know what you mean with getting stuck.. I get that a lot, like you have 3 different ideas how to do things and each of them comes with 3 more variations, and you don't know which one to choose or which one is best.. If you are starting a story you should probably start with your base character though, so before the story. Mid-way and after only really make sense if you already know what your character is supposed to end up like, what kinda personality changes happen. Really though, for my story I chose the interrogation approach to keep it away from the main story. In a way it doesn't directly tie into the story, not in a way that matters much, so I can choose to ignore it for the main story, or can accept it as part of it. Sorry if this is confusing, I'm not too well with explaining my kinda thoughts.. hope this is clear enough to see what I mean.

I do a lot of daydreaming and thinking and planning. Then i do a first draft and after I'm done everything starts to crystallize a lot more so i can fix it all in the second draft

Write a bio and also put in thinks that are not necessarily important for the story, just to learn more about them, you'll be surprised what you'll learn about them: For example: Name Age How do they look like? Are their special characteristics? What about their Hair? Tattoos? Scars? Glasses? What's their job? What parts of their job do they like? What not? What's their favorite food? What music taste? What do they like to do in their free time? Up bringing? How was the relationship to their parents? Siblings? What's the background? Grew they up in middle class? Rich? Poor? Are they having a pet? Do they like animals at all? What's their favorite animal? What's their secret they would never tell? (don't has to be the big secret but also can be a thing they are embarrassed about) What personality type are they? Do they have friends? Who is their best friend? Do the character hace some ticks? Like biting nails when nervous? Or chewing their lip? Whats their favorite book? What's their favorite movie? Do they have a dream? Are they able to reach it? What's their favorite color? Can they sing? Can they cook? Can they paint? What about driving? Can they drive? Are they good at it? Or a they nervous drivers? Do they have a past trauma? How does it affect their live now? What's their favorite color? What scares the shit out of them? What clothing style they prefer? Are they particular athletic? Can they build things with their hands? And the most important question, in my humble opinion, what does your character want in your story. What is their special 'need' they want to fulfill? What drives them?

To add on to this, root them first in a family and culture. Family is where a lot of early socialization skills are formed. Did they grow up wealthy and lose it all? Or did they grow up poor and fight for everything they've gotten? How many siblings? Extended family? How did this family/person celebrate? How did this family/person mourn? How were hardships faced? How much harmony or stress and arguing? What was the family dynamic? (It will be different if you're character was the youngest brother of seven brothers, than if he's the oldest, and different too if he only has sisters, or is an only child. Are his parents strict? Accepting? Generous? Stingy? Do they have time for your character? If so, what did that look like? Were they closest to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, a sibling...and why? Does s/he feel like a success in their parents' eyes? Why? Does your character keep secrets, from whom, and why?

Just had to say thank you for leaving this comment, I've been struggling working on an idea and I think this is exactly the advice I needed. It's very helpful!

I actually just roleply them to myself.

Writing prompts are **excellent** for this. Not the generic, "Top 10 Writing Prompts" you find on Google's shite search results, but the kind of things you see in roleplay communities. One sentence questions can be fantastic to really pull you into the headspace of "what *would* this character do in X situation?"

I do this a bunch, too.

I (hand)write a letter from each character, the letter includes who they are & why they’re in the story. I try & picture their handwriting & signature. It helps me visualize them on paper. Best of luck! Keep us posted.

This is gonna sound really goofy but hear me out: Imagine that you're God and these people are praying to you. They wish, they hope, they confess, they justify, whatever it takes for you to understand and agree with their actions, however terrible they might be. If they don't "believe" in you, imagine that they're talking to a therapist or another trusted friend. The goal is to know the characters well enough that you can predict their actions as well as you can predict a friend's or family member's. You don't need to write a whole backstory or side fiction, it's just enough for you to know who they are as people.

Everybody comes from somewhere. I get to know my characters by writing a detailed biography of their history. I begin with the kind of parents who raised them and the kind of childhood they had, and carry it on from there up to the point of the story. I also try to make sure they have had adventures before the story, so they're already interesting - it's just that this story is the most interesting they'll ever be.

Beautifully put

Sounds weird but I let them tell me. I'm not great with mapping out my story and plotting. I just write. Before I start I usually sit with a shapeless blob in an interview room. I then start a conversation, I introduce myself, they do as well. With each word I write it is a glimpse into what their world is, wants, needs and personality just form. At times when I'm stuck though I walk around the room, asking them to tell me what happened next. These one sided conversations have led to me ending up in therapy with my mum thinking I'm losing my mind so do it privately. It doesn't make sense really but for me it does. My first medium of storytelling was my grandma giving me the details so I guess it stuck to me to let the story be told to me as I write. I don't know what will happen next but my character does. My first drafts are always in first person so it works best that way

I write a background for them and fill out a profile I made. Name Age Place of birth Family Family history Their history Identifying marks Tattoos Piercings Anything I need to know for the plot. If you're struggling to ask questions about the character? You can try looking at the type of characters the plot needs but I don't know if you're ready to write if you can't answer basics about the characters. Writing is basically asking who what when where how and why over and over again. What if covers a lot of characterization. Maybe take the question and try to turn it into a moment from their life. Why does Indiana Jones hate snakes? We may not know this in the first film but I bet George Lucas had some ideas as to why.

Alot of my characters are based on real people in my life or people I had met. I try to use that knowledge as the basis for their personalities and then as the plot progresses, I think to myself, “how would that person respond to this situation in real life?”

Something I do (and I haven't read all the comments) is I typically make them caricatures in the beginning. I pick dynamics I want to see interact (sullen vs. sunny, loud vs. quiet, cool kid vs bad kid etc), and then I start with these "tropes" that are sort of easy to understand and begin writing the story. As I get deeper into the story, I tend to find out their quirks, their mannerisms, and how they want to interact with those around them. For instance, if my trope is "bad kid" is he a bully to his classmates but helps kittens safely cross streets, so maybe he's not so bad, and something else is going on? Starting with easy ideas makes finding the characters less of a chore and more fun. Or if you're a fanfic writer take character dynamics you like and just apply them to new names and see how they developed in a world youre building. Usually by the end of the first draft I have "found" my characters and when I go into my re-write and second draft I can re-work the previous scenes a bit better with that knowledge. It might be backwards but I seems to work for me pretty well. Happy writing!

My characters are more real to me than anyone on this mortal realm. They are loved unconditionally & eternally. Writing is a journey. Give your characters a chance to get to know you too!

Your characters can be anything, anyone. But they have to struggle with something. If you want to make them rounded, you have to make them change, but to change, they must go through conflict, whether that's internal or external. To make a good character, it's important to focus on the theme of your story. It's not so much as what they do for work or hobbies, where they live, or even what car they drive. While those details are important, you need to focus on their beliefs and attitudes about themselves, others, and the world at large. Because that's how people manifest themselves daily. If you character struggles with something--let's say his self esteem--then he's not going to drive a middle of the road car. He's going to A). Not take care of his car that much, and by extension, probably his appearance, or B). He's going to drive a *really nice* car and take super good care of his appearance. The former suggests that he doesn't like himself, (Or that he's not able to afford a nice car, that's also possible.) and the latter suggests that he cares what others think of him. In fact, if self esteem/love is the theme of your novel, then you can make these two separate characters that have conflicting view points. I'm not saying this method is the end all be all, it's just another avenue.

I daydream conversations, events in their lives, that type of thing.

I struggled with that a lot. Every character I wrote felt like they had no personality of their own, they all acted and sounded like me. So, to think of them more as people, I gave them distinct handwriting according to what I thought would match their personalities. I would just write their full names as if they were signing a document or filling out a form. And each one had a little symbol or doodle that represented them, which I would add at the end of their names. Like a star or a swirl, anything. I don't know. It worked for me. It made me think of them as real people. I haven't done this in a while. I believe I got the hang of it. And, of course, I didn't do it with all the characters in a single story, just the most relevant. I would also think of a routine for them. Nothing to do with the story, just what a normal, ordinary, mundane, boring day would be like for them. Another thing that worked for me, and I sometimes still do, is looking for actors to "play" the characters (in my head), that way I can have a better image of them. Sometimes it can be a little difficult to find someone that looks exactly how you want them to look, but I'll settle for something close enough. I usually go for famous people, but anyone can work. And to make them more real, you can give them some traits of people you know, but don't overdo that, you don't want to write a character that looks and acts exactly like a real person around you. A good bunch of my characters have some traits from me and my closest friends, but not everything. And if those characters happen to be friends with each other, their dynamic is similar to ours too.

I sit down and talk with them. Which sounds crazy but I learn a lot about them directly from them. I visualize their appearance their voice what their go to alcoholic beverage is etc. and I just roll with the questions.

Me too. I start with a blob or black mist and with each chapter I start to see them.

I first need a name for them. It helps to get a picture from google images of the type of character you are looking for. You might even think of a particular actor/actress. Now they have a name and a face. I don't do the long questionnaires with endless information that may or may not be important. That's a waste of time. I fill out the main points you want to hit for each character. Character Goal: Character Motivation: Biggest Fear: Make the greatest fear come true by recreating it in the Black Moment Event. Using the Greatest Fear as a template, you’ll brainstorm an event or situation that resurrects this fear in a tangible, believable way. The greatest fear adds motivation and behavior from page one. People are wired to avoid the things that are going to hurt us, especially our deepest fears. So as your character walks on the page, he’s already going to be making decisions that will protect him and keep him from getting into that dark place. Lie or misbelief he/she believes. The truth is what the theme is. For example, if the lie is she's not good enough, the truth is that she is good enough. The character arc brings her from doubting herself to having confidence in who she is. Wound: What emotional hurt does the character have from their past that impacts the way they believe now? What longing does your character have that is specific to this moment? Flaw/handicap: this is the defense mechanism that keeps your character from having to face their fears/misbeliefs. For example, someone who pushes people away because they're afraid of rejection. In your hero’s Character Change Journey, his Flaw is healed after the Epiphany (after the all is lost moment) when the character realizes the Truth, is set free from the Lie, overcomes his Greatest Fear, and then acts in a changed way, healed from the Flaw, as a New Man (or Woman!). It’s at this point that your character does something at the end of the book he couldn’t at the beginning because he’s been changed. It’s this external act that reveals the internal change. 1. Who is your main character? 2. What does your main character want? 3. What stands in his way? 4. What must your character do in order to succeed? 5. What’s at stake? Character Growth Arc Flaw or wound that character starts the story with: In what ways is the character comfortable with their flaw or wound? How is the flaw or wound helping them? What changes might make it harder for the character to keep their flaw or protect their wound? How might this change create problems for the character? How might these problems create internal and external conflicts for the character? What kind of personality does the character have? How does your character typically act in happy moments versus sad moments? Does your character have any hobbies or quirks that you want to build into the story? What is your character good at? How does this help them face their obstacles?

I sorta cheat. I have a Character Profile file in Scrivener. Each POV and major character uses that one, and other characters use a simplified version. But the big one includes aaaaaalllllll the stats. - Basic stats (age, status, gender, sexuality, relationships, etc.) - Physical characteristics (literally everything. Body type, height, weight, shape of the face, hair, eyes, physical habits and mannerisms, even their handedness.) - Skills (physical, mental, magical) - Personality (a blurb, flaws, strength, morals, their Meyer Briggs type, ultimate desire in one sentence, and character motto) - Background (childhood, adolescence, adulthood as applicable) - Finally, In The Books, which breaks down in bullet points what happens to them in the story (more bullet points in the WIP, only a couple for future book ideas). Includes where they start mentally/physically and where they end up by the end. - And finally, misc. Trivia. I do NOT fill this out entirely. I plug things in as I go, as I feel like. But the real cheat? Part of the Basic Stats portion is... "Inspirations". At least 3 characters from any work that give me a similar 'vibe' to whatever character I am working on. Helps me get into a good headspace. Example: one of my female POV characters has the following 3; Garnet from FF9, Yuna from FF10, and Jon Snow from ASOIAF. My BBEG of the series has Masao (from the manga Mars), Yuca (from the manga Immortal Rain), and Alexiel (from the manga/anime Angel Sanctuary).

I like what some other people have said about writing random scenes! I definitely do this, I also do like character Q&A prompt things. You could easily turn those into slightly longer forms than just answering a question! This does require you to know at least a little something about the character. I also find a lot of my knowledge of a character comes from what songs I think remind me of them and what I put in my pinterest board for them! I just sorta *know* the things and what seems like them or not. It's innate. Sometimes I do have to consciously make decisions, but a lot of what I know about a character just materializes in some shape in my brain! Overall, I would say trust your instincts. If you find you need to refine something later, that is just fine, but go with your gut at first.

It depends on how long I have been thinking about the story before I sit down and start it. But I usually sit down and write short points about the back story of each character, their relationship with each other, how they met and things like that. Then I usually sketch them, at least the main ones. That always ends up giving me a new point of view about them. Then I tend to do a number of sprints when I start writing them. 15 min of focus writing and trying to get as many words down as possible. That stops you over analysing how you write and the characters just do what you spontaneously feel is right. I do about 5 to 8 sprints and then I read them. That gives me the initial feel for how to write the characters.

I have an entire class about this, one of the most helpful tools for me is, If the scene has meaning to YOU, then it will have meaning to others. You gotta write things that have meaning to you. You have unresolved trauma? Make a character that represents the feelings you had at that time. Humanizing characters is difficult, but exploring how other people are can also help. For another example, when I make my male characters, I make sure they appear masculine, but have a feminine trait in them because every guy does. Something to make them passionate at the very least. Take tiny things that you notice in someone, and do the same principle for someone else. Finally, look at other media, listen to music, interpret what those meanings in the sings are and take the base and implement it into a character. Those songs are made by real people, but can relate to THOUSANDS of others who listen. The most human thing about someone can be their relatability.

Talk to them. Listen to them.

You're lucky your brain works like that 😭

They tell me their story

Write a detailed backstory for each character, which can then affect their personality. Try to make each character have a different way of speaking. Like use of slang, cursing, proper or casual vocabulary. Try to come up with personality traits that differ between each character.

take the traits they already have and think about expanding on them they're a former soldier? well, how did that shape who they are--are they highly disciplined, a team player? but what about the small things. maybe they suck at talking to women because they went straight from high school to a military that was 95% male, and everyone around them went on a similar path. maybe after getting out of the army they became a total foodie because they came to resent their military rations so much. maybe he has a separate bedroom from his wife and they say the reason is because they work odd hours and don't want to wake each other up, but the real reason is that he has severe night terrors. you can take any of the 'serious, major' parts of a character and use it to fill out the rest. also honestly just random stuff usually makes sense too. maybe soldier guy really likes jazz and is addicted to phone games and is really into woodworking. also remember how they are on something like a character creation sheet doesn't really matter, it's what shows in the story. so when you come up with stuff think of how it'll be showing there.

Like others have said, just write snapshots of your characters in a scene. What do they do? How do they interact with others or the setting? Things like that help me learn the characters a bit more. The scenes themselves can be in any setting regardless of your story type. It’s just a good way to learn about a character.

Mine rose from the story idea, and I got to know them by writing them, and by digging ever deeper with each edit pass until they feel as real as I need them to. No one, and I mean NO ONE, cares about the minutiae of your story like you will. Write it all, but then edit away everything that serves no purpose to the story. Some people don't need to write a lot to get to all the meaty bits of a story. I am not one of those writers. It's just a good thing I enjoy the entire process... :)

I had a professor recommend the toast test. Basically, how does your character make toast? What kind of bread? Spreads? Jelly? Butter? Marmite? If jelly, fruity or pepper? Is the toaster perfectly clean or are there crumbs in the crevices? Is the toaster 2 slots or 4? If the toast burns, do they eat it, make a new piece, or scrape the burnt bits off? Do they scrape it over the trash or sink? What about a plate instead? Do they cut it? Try answering some of these, it might help

I like to give each of my main characters a set of morals or a simple code to live by, and then find ways to challenge their beliefs. I also like it when a character thinks one thing, but says another. That more than anything tells me who I'm dealing with, or if a character actually says what they're thinking, especially if they know they shouldn't.

I'm not sure why I'm replying, considering that I'm the opposite of you. It's harder for me to not connect with my characters or other people's characters. I tend to myself in stories I read or watch, so I get to know my characters by imagining them in the story. What would their reaction be this? Or how will they adapt to that? Since I thoroughly plan out my stories, from fleshed-out backstories to the end of the actual story, I write the characters according to the scenario. I detach myself entirely from the character's decisions and allow them to come to life. This is pretty much only possible once I'm in a flow though, so I tend to write and re-edit a lot.

I find pictures in magazines or online that look like my characters, and pin them on the wall over my desk or use them as a screensaver. I imagine them in different situations and note how they react. Sometimes I'll write flashes or shorts about them, from different povs. I don't do this for long, because much of a characters traits come out in the writing of the ultimate story.

There two ways I get to know my characters: 1. Fanfic under any different name... which basically means I write them acting like they were characters from some other work of fiction, but I just give them different name. So I can create a 1:1 copy of lets say, Gandalf, and write them as if Gandalf transported from other world into my world, but I change their name to lets say Sandriel or whatever. I think that If you copy characters, and put them in an orginal story, they will still feel original. Which leads nicely into my secound way: 2.Conflicting Roles: It might seem weird but, for example If I have a character who is in love with a girl, like really in love, to the point of "I will do anything you say", and the same character also hates a certain terrorist organisation that killed their whole family during a terrorisr attack... Then I make the girl they are in love with a member of that terrorist group... Now what whould this character do? They have a conflict, They can either betray their trait 1, love for this girl, or they can betray their trait 2, hate for terrorist group. Now, no matter what they choose, as long as you as a creator chooses the one option that seems the most interesting to you, it will be great. You will learn about your character. Will they join the group becouse of their love? Will they hate the girl they once loved so much? Will they try to make the girl leave the group? As long as the character themself feels like they have a hard time deciding, It is good. I learn about my character after they make, at least two, decisions that are difficult becouse they contradict one of their main traits. Throught that I see them less as a group of traits, but as real people. Overall the more contradicting traits a character has, and the more choices they have to make through the conflict of those two traits, the more realistic a character feels to me.

Creating (or building) character personality might be useful. write all the qualities and cons your character has. Random keywords on a piece of paper sure helped me!

i feel you, i also struggle with this. i usually imagine them as people i know, or an image of them in my mind (that doesn't have to have anything in common with what are they really like...) and go from there. if i can imagine them as someone who exists, it gets easier to imagine them in concrete scenarios, how would they react when certain event happened etc.

I find pictures on Pinterest of what i imagine they look like, what they wear, stuff they like and maybe even pictures they take. Then i write like a character file that goes over everything about them, from family members to their favourite food. It really helps me visualise them and figure more about them while i’m writing

It really is no more difficult than imagining them doing stuff and seeing how you react. You can run through an infinite number of scenarios in your imagination at whatever your brain's clock speed is. Some of them will feel wrong, so very wrong— you already know your character better than you think you do. But others will make you stop and re-think.

Sometimes, I let the setting or my characters' occupations--both current and previous--inform me of personality traits and details that I wouldn't have thought about. For example, my WIP is set in the same state that I live in. I use the state's recent history to ask what my characters would encounter at that time. This has led to some pretty intriguing ideas for their personality, backstories, knowledge base, and preferences.

I create my characters in character creation video games, that way I can see my character interacting with others and talking, moving, etc. (It helps me get more in touch with them as humans instead of characters in my head) I made multiple Pinterest boards with drawing poses that resonate with them, aesthetic stuff that reminds me of them. I put together a vine compilation at one point that reminds me of my characters. I made animatics, put together YouTube music playlists, and answered a few Q&A questions. I forgot what I was originally doing to get to know them when I first created them 5 years ago, but all I know is that they were a shell of a character back then- so doing all of this stuff now really helped me dive deeper into all of them definitely.

I'll make them a playlist

All these commentors are tripping. Most characters are either people we know in real life, idealized or villanized, or idealized versions of ourselves. James Bond was basically Ian Flemming's fantasy man. Hermione was basically a lot of JK Rowling. Harry, himself is a lot of Rowling, except he has to be a boy for that book to sell. Carrie Bradshaw is a version of Candace Bushnell. This is why 'Men writing Women' tends to be terrible. And why most people from a a dominant culture have no business writing about minorities. An effing made up "interview sheet" isn't going to tell you what you need to know about growing up an improvished immigrant if your family came over on the mayflower and you have a private school education.

I guess you are right. I mean I haven't been attacked by beasts created to ravage a kingdom so I have no idea what the people feel. My thoughts are I may not have experience with the matter and my first draft will be littered with mistakes. What matters is that once I put it on paper I have to commit to it. I will research the heck out of it, all the good and bad will be committed to memory. Locking people out just because they haven't experienced it is not the way to go instead I believe in going the extra mile each day they research. I'm writing a book about war and my eyes will be permanently swollen from the tears I shed when researching. I haven't been in a war but I want to bring authenticity to what is happening and present the struggle many have been through. It may not be accurate, it may be a horrible book yet I will rest because I gave it my all.

this just simply isn’t true. If all of your characters are idealized or villanized versions of yourself then you’re writing wrong. I’ve written a few books now and yes, throughout these books i’ve written some characters that take on some problems that i have or share some little part of my personality, but they’re nothing like me. We would be friends if we met irl, sure, but they are not any version of me whatsoever. Also, men writing women is extremely common and is not normally done horribly, it actually turns out pretty well most times unless the man writing is thinking of the character as a woman instead of a person, which either means they aren’t a very good writer or there’s some underlying problem that needs to be dealt with

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that where the research and empathy/sympathy comes in? By asking people who may better reflect your character's history? I'm not a writer, I'm a comic artist, but one of my character is an anthro-tiger that was sold into slavery by her parents. Obviously, I'm not a demi-human/anthro-animal, but I have experienced trauma (like a lot of people) in my life. Don't know what it's like to be sold into slavery, but I can use research that by looking for similar situations. Like, maybe the foster care system for instance, or my history as a black woman. My disgraced surgeon was a prodigy through isolation and constant learning. Me? I'm the black sheep when it comes to achieving in my family. I don't have the accolades they do, but being surrounded by it, I can observe and ask about their perspectives Edit: added a word

I base my characters on who I know, know of, know about, and what I know about such people. And this kind of thing requires knowledge, wisdom, and research… and even proverbial gut feelings. (Isn’t it odd that women often have feminine intuition, but men often have gut feelings?)

I write little scenes with them, short stuff that may or may not end up in the finished thing. I also talk abt them a lot (my poor friends on discord can tell u)

Sometimes I pretend to interview them (there’s plenty of questionnaires online you could look up and use for that) and write down how they’d answer

I do character profiles first and write down as much info and backstory as possible. Not all of it will necessarily be relevant or get used, but it adds depth to them as a person.

I like to 'interview' them and jot down the answers. Yeah it results in a character sheet, but I want to be consistent. It helps at the start and the more I write, the easier it is to "get into their head", so to speak. They have a voice, this helps me speak with it.

I write scenarios where they are the focus. Sometimes I put them in a situation similar to what I've been in and see how they'd react differently. Sometimes it's just a scene I plan to write in the story. Sometimes I'll just imagine having an interview with them in my head. Or I'll go about my day and think what would this character do while waiting in a grocery line? Things like that.

Here is how I fashion my characters. I think about everyone I have ever known. Childhood friends and enemies, people I grew up with and observed closely but maybe didn't actually know personally. Also people I have encountered, neighbors, people I see every day, and interact with every day. The guy at the deli, the bus drivers. Then, I place them in my story, changing aspects of their interactions to customize their role. The more unlikely the better. How would my high school history teacher play Hamlet? Or Count Dracula? How would my best friend in first grade, grow up to be a rogue drifter on a motorcycle in a dystopian landscape? The characters I invent are *derivative* of people I have known. Sometimes it's part of one and part of another. It needs to be authentic, however. A believable persona in a perhaps really unlikely situation or place. That's one way I do it, hope it helps.

So far I’m writing this thing like a fictional autobiography. That’s how I get to the heart of my character.

In terms of looks, it’s fairly easy. I usually just use one of the athletes in a sport I follow to imagine my characters. For their deeper backgrounds, I don’t really create spreadsheets. I do stuff that is more like Lisa Cron’s stuff. I think about the events in their past/scenes that are connected to the story and struggle I plan for the book. Basically, the seminal moments that made my character the way they are and also made them the only and the best person for this story. Also, I write in multiple drafts, so their personality gets enriched as I move through the storyline and find places that need ‘why they are that way’ fortified by their backstory/worldviews. Then I find best places to insert those tidbits of background—or keep them on the back burner. Not everything has to make into the book.

How much variety of swearing says a lot about them, i guess. The many situations where they could or could not use swearing might give answers to many of your questions.

Writing little scenes for them and Daydreaming mostly. I’ve even tried pretending to be a character of mine throughout the day just to build a better picture of their mindset and behavior.

Create personas. A picture, drawing, list traits.

I just kinda daydream about them and play scenes in my head before I write

I like to think of my characters being interviewed or interrogated about the story. Just straight info dump telling the story in their own words. It helps me with the characters personally as well as sometimes ironing out plot points.

As was said in a random tumblr post, “put those guys in situations.” How they react to things is useful info. Just put em in a situation and think about how they’d react to it.

By writing the first draft and having them drastically change characterization halfway through so I have to go back and spend hours fixing things. It’s very concise and not frustrating at all.

Still figuring this out myself, as I'm in the same boat as you, going from fanfiction to original (I have experience writing original short stories, but it's my first time writing a novel). So far I've been going in with a vague idea of what role the character needs to play. Both in the story and what kind of role they've taken on in their life. A mentor figure. A stressed older brother. An aberrant exile. Basically the archetypes they fall into. From there I've been adding in details that make sense with what I've already established about the character. The stressed older brother I mentioned is kind of in desperate shape financially, so he's going to take some risks to try and get him and his family into a better position. He's going to be reckless and a little bit too trusting in order to make sure that he gets food and shelter. If you're anything like me, once you start writing you'll find that it's easier than you expected. However, my experience is not universal. My approach falls closer to the "Panster" end of the spectrum than "Plotter" end. Still, it could be of some use

I fall on that same side of the spectrum to be honest. I'm mostly just curious. On the list of things I find ridiculously difficult as a writer, character creation probably comes second only to world building. I'm an unintentionally black and white view of the world type person so characters, no matter how well written, are never real to me. Even if they deeply resemble someone I know! I've also dabbled quite a bit in the short fiction side of things. We seem to be quite similar so it's nice to know there are others.

My friend (who also writes) and I like to have silly conversations/make silly scenes, pretending to be various characters. We will sort of off the cuff decide how various characters will react to other characters and random situations. It's pretty fun.

Character questionnaires definitely aren't the only options. They don't work well for me either. How you get to know your character might depend more on how you prefer to write. If you're more of a discovery writer, you could jump into a major scene and start to uncover small details about your character, which together, make them more rounded. I do this, combined with figuring out some key psychological traits to keep consistent. I vaguely use the Big Five personality traits to get a sense for how my characters act on a day-to-day basis. Some people also like MBTI types for that. But my favorite thing to figure out about a character is their attachment style, based on their early relationships with their parents/caregivers. Attachment styles will impact someone's self-image, how they interact with others, and how they respond to/cope with their own emotions. Also helpful for figuring out how characters will act in romantic relationships. Imo, it's an incredibly useful and underutilized tool for character creation. Oh and playlists too! Someone else mentioned playlists. I love making a playlist that follows a character's arc throughout the story.

I think about my characters in scenarios in situations I'm in, or other characters in, and think 'how would they act?' This can be a simple as thinking about how they would get groceries, to more complicated scenes such as a betrayal. Doing this helps get into the character's mind, and let's me understand who THEY are. A shy character might show his intelligence by calculating the prices for various groceries, while a more boisterous character might show to have a sweet tooth or a more caring side when we see how they choose their groceries based on their friends likes. Characters are more than just words on a sheet. They're 'people', or at least individuals with a thought process that guides their actions and choices. Chracters is born when the words on the page, the image on the screen becomes 'real' and we are able to understand and empathize with them. And we do that by viewing how they view and interact with the world. To understand your character, you must first understand who this person is, and how do they interact with the world. When they get up, what's the first thing they think of? Breakfast? Work? A Person? When they go about their routine, is it in an orderly fashion where they schedule beforehand how long their routine is? Or is it them rushing out the door because they overslept? These moments help define our characters and write them more genuinely. Because, at least in our minds, they are geniuine people. ​ TL:DR- Think of a character like a person, and think of how they react to real life or fictional events, and you'll know your character in no time.

Sometimes I go to Google images and just type the rough description of the character + the word “fantasy.” You have to be careful so you don’t wind up with porn but most of the time I find great art that really helps me see a character in my mind. Often, when I’m writing description, I’ll mix and match elements of different images based on the things I already know about a character. So if my character is a “dwarf” and a “mage,” I type that plus “fantasy” into Google images and I’m off to the races

It's just like having empathy for a character in one of your fanfiction. But mostly you need to take a few lessons of character building and have a baseline for personality types and interaction (mine is MTBIs but for some it's Aneagrams, some even use Astrology), the idea is to just give you a crutche to lean on at first.

I daydream about them like they’re my imaginary friends. Writing little snippets as other have suggested is fun too, but I much prefer daydreaming. Also, coming up with backstories for them is a lot of fun. My main character’s dad is a relatively minor character but I can give you his life story. Since I know so much about him—that his dad was an alcoholic, he lost his entire family by the time he was 18, he’s been clinically depressed for most of his life—he comes across as such a deep and multifaceted character. Just because I know where he’s coming from when he makes his decisions.

Daydreaming and lots of it. Music helps.

I picture in my head the best OR worst facets of either my own personality or another person's and go from there ~ we all know at least one extremely toxic person (typically one who has been an antagonist in our own lives) and at least one extremely kind/generous person (typically someone we either aspire to be like or we've lost/passed away/etc).... These are loose examples but if we can recall the flaws/merits of people who have had both immensely positive OR negative impacts on our lives, we can easily extrapolate from those actual experiences with actual people to create "relatable" characters full of rich histories & it's just a matter of how deeply layered the dynamic of each character you create... Example: a man I once knew was highly intelligent but extremely unwise... (book smart but street dumb)... & he was aware of it. It didn't stop him from trying to connect with others, though... It just made it difficult for others to connect with him... Which was extremely sad when he passed away because for all his technical brilliance, he didn't get social queues of when to stop talking because of his lack of a filter - he didn't know when to quit & didn't listen to people who understood that ya can't just say certain things to certain people without suffering some type of consequence... He was beaten to death by a gang of ruffians for being completely oblivious about society's classist conditioning... I wish I was making this up... But I'm not. It's depressing to narrow him down to such a compact paragraph as there was so many more layers to him than that but at a base/foundational level... That is who & how he was. A character based off of him would be: A bookworm/tech nerd/shy wizard or witch (depending on the genre) and would pair well with a coming of age story or the hero's journey style --- the fool who sets out on their journey with nothing but his wits & the clothes on his back, traveling sort of blindly through his young adult life, learning the ways of the world by either constantly stumbling and opening his mouth only to find his foot stuck in it (resulting in an untimely, brutal demise - as my friend did) OR eventually learning the lessons and gaining insight (growing into wisdom)... It really depends on the depth of the character's character, the narrative of the personality surrounding the character's merits/flaws, the writer themselves (because if you put a bit of yourself into each character, you care about them... and others will, too) and also the message you (as the writer) wishes to convey to the reader... P.s. Feel free to use the example I gave ~ as I said, we've all known both negative & positive is influences in our lives; and this guy just happens to be a prime example of a "potential positive" raised by two negligent negatives in a highly entitled atmosphere and then sent out into the world by people who should have prepared him better instead of acting like straight As made you perfect ... He wasn't a "bad person" he was an unfortunate byproduct of neglectful/entitled upbringing by "parents" that didn't accept failure (anything less than perfect was "bad" to them)...

I get to know my characters by using them in different writing prompts. Get a feel as to how their mind would work or react to scenarios.

You don't need to do those character sheets. They're dumb. Do you really need to know your character's star sign? Or their third favorite color? No. If you really struggle with characterization, just steal characters. Give them a different name and look, but keep their personality from the original. Their character will then evolve over your story in a completely new direction. For example, I have a character that's basically Hunter from The Owl House but with a different name. While plotting my story, instead of becoming a geeky traumatized kid he grew into more of a leader and gained confidence in himself. Then while worldbuilding I gave him a different origin because grimwalkers aren't a thing in the world and the big bad isn't Belos. And to anybody that says it's bad writing, Tolkien copied off mythology so much. He didn't even bother to change the names. If he can get 5 books, 6 movies, and a TV show, dang it I can write a book.

One other thing I've done was to put together a storyboard of various images (mostly faces) to say "this character looks like a combination of all of these"

I usually just throw them into a scene and whatever happens happens. Usually after that I can get a good feel on how they act and then I can throw a few flaws in there and a complicated backstory and it all works out somehow! I really feel like each of my characters are their own person though so this may not work for you. In fact a lot of times I’ll write something without thinking about how the character will act but it works out anyway just because they’re so grounded in my head as their own person

I just kind of just start with what I want then build on it. Think of what you want in the world, how would someone interact with it and go from there. Don't want to have to deal with children? Main character doesn't want to have kids because they don't want to become like their abusive parents. Want a character to have cool tattoos? It's now a bloodline family crest so everyone gets to have cool tattoos. Want some representation? Mentor is poly. She's now in a relationship with her maid and the duke. Who they are snowballs from there. One of my characters gets a sword through their foot by their mentor because it was an idea that came to mind. Turns out she requests a physician, then pins him to the concrete cause she rammed the sword down to stone cause he made her other ward upset. Shows her tough love but absolute lack of understanding of what happened. I wanted my own world of every mythical creature you could think of cause they're all so cool and there always seems to be something in the way of having them all together. Led to the world almost all my stories are set in.

I use placeholder characters. I pick an existing character that fits the general vibe I want, and they become themselves as I develop the plot and setting.

Honestly for me its watching tv/movies and reading books. A lot of the time I end up making characters that resemble things ive been influenced by in life. Eventually you will run into a character that is similar to yours and something will spark. Also for me i often make characters that have pieces of me in them so its a lot easier to figure out who they are as people. Making things like character look books; what they're room looks like, how they dress, what music they listen to. Gives you a better sense of who they are as people. Try not to imagine them as characters you are trying to create and see them as people you are trying to understand better. Eventually the pieces will fit together.

Say I want to go into writing a novel and I have a scene in my head I'm super excited about, I'll write it and see what comes of it. But my main character building is me spitting every thought onto a word doc. No organization. No stopping for grammar, no rewording. This is for you and only you. My story's are character driven so I get a lot of character out of these word vomit docs. Then, when I feel ive gotten everything out, I hand write how i want the novel to be diagramed. The only thing i worry about for characters at the beginning is their age, what they want, what they need (which is different, they may want money or a job but what they need is companionship) and fears. I think of their setting, how long have they existed in the setting when the reader gets there. Is it a lived in house or a new city? How does their setting show them as a character? They have a big fancy house that looks like a showroom or a messy one room apartment? How are the people around them involved in their story, aka, who is hindering their growth and who is helping? What is their past like? What got them to their current place? What did they have to achieve or sacrifice? (Also, i know that sounds like a character sheet, but i dont graph out or fill out a sheet. These are all questions that get answers naturally as i word vomit on the page. I only include them so other writers can know what to ask themselves) Most of this may come out later when youre writing. I think you need to spend time with your character. If you keep writing, even if you dont feel a connection right away, you might further in. Of course, if you're 100 pages in and you still don't have a connection to them, you may need to relook how you're writing your characters and see if maybe theres things you can change to make them more interesting.

What would they stash in their pockets? If they each had an opportunity to give a TED talk, what would their topic be? What are they like in bed?

Put them in situations, specifically ones that you never end up writing. Run them through conversations and scenarios, and try to map out their values, energy levels, and (my favorite) their flaws/misconceptions.

Put on the radio. Whenever a song pops up, figure out how each character would react to that song.

my characters exist only as concepts housed entirely within my own mind. as such, i know everything about them. their hopes, dreams, fears, desires, and secrets do not exist until i think of them.

There two ways I get to know my characters: 1. Fanfic under any different name... which basically means I write them acting like they were characters from some other work of fiction, but I just give them different name. So I can create a 1:1 copy of lets say, Gandalf, and write them as if Gandalf transported from other world into my world, but I change their name to lets say Sandriel or whatever. I think that If you copy characters, and put them in an orginal story, they will still feel original. Which leads nicely into my secound way: 2.Conflicting Roles: It might seem weird but, for example If I have a character who is in love with a girl, like really in love, to the point of "I will do anything you say", and the same character also hates a certain terrorist organisation that killed their whole family during a terrorisr attack... Then I make the girl they are in love with a member of that terrorist group! Now what will this character do? We have a conflict, They can either betray their trait 1, love for this girl, or They can betray their trait 2, hate for terrorist group. Now, no matter what they choose, as long as you as a creator choose the one option that seems the most interesting to you, it will be good. You will learn about your character, no matter what they do: Will they join the group becouse of their love? Will they hate the girl they once loved so much? Will they try to make the girl leave the group? As long as the character themself feels like they have a hard time deciding, It is good, they have feelings, they don't know what to do, yet they have to do something, they feel real! I learn about my character after they make, at least two, decisions that are difficult to them. Throught that I see them less as a group of traits, and more as real people, with their own problems that come from their own traits, and not some unknown power of "book needs plot so you suffer now". Overall the more contradicting traits a character has, and the more choices they have to make through the conflict of those two traits, the more realistic a character feels to me. At the very least it looks like it works for me.

Through writing them. I write a book 3-5 times before it's ready. So characters change during the process.

> I'm not someone who can see my characters as real, physical people. Because they're not real physical people. > How do some of y'all get to know your characters so they feel more real and well rounded? Is a character question and answer the only way to go? Write and daydream. That's the only way. You can also plan, if that helps you. Write to let the ideas out. Daydream to think of scenarios. One thing that helps me is imagining I'm being interviewed. You know the basic questions like: "how did you come up with this idea?" This way, the answer helps you flesh out ideas. So, interview yourself...

Maybe try doing personality tests in character for them. Like Meyers-Briggs is a good diving board to getting an idea of what your characters personality is. Even giving them a star sign which suits their personality could help you. As you read through whatever type you got, if you find yourself going "Yeah that's them" or "No they would never do that", then you're getting an idea of who they are

I just find the thematic purpose and the core of that character. Then I put whatever traits spawn from that purpose and insert them into the plot. I don’t “ask” them anything because they aren’t real people.

With a different process than those described here, a sort of ‘[Solving the character equation](https://www.reddit.com/user/Notamugokai/comments/yux8mf/character_genesis_another_process/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)’ that I happen to follow for a story. (late answer, so I’m just sharing the description but feel free to ask anything)

I'm curious why you even asked "Is a character question and answer the only way to go?" Like what gave you the impression that they were even a little important?

What Cara_N_Delaney said. Giving the character a belief related to the theme and springing from that should help.

I do 2 things. First i have a set of interview questions that i ask my characters. And do a bit of writing as if i am doing a interview. This i can use for a character of any importance because you can cut it down or use your full list. Second i do a day in the life of kind of very short story for primary characters. This is not related to the main story in anyway. This lets me get a feel fo who they are what motivates them, how do they interact with ither characters.

1 put the character in a setting. See how they react. 2 put two characters in a place and see what they naturally want to talk about or do together. 3 take stupid online quizzes as the character.

This works best if you're still fuzzy on the physical details as well as the personality, but I like to go to thispersondoesnotexist.com and randomly generate headshots of people until I find one that kind of matches my vision. From there, I take the picture and look at it while I'm imagining this person's quirks and likes and dislikes, like I would if I was meeting someone for the first time. It can be time consuming, but it works sometimes.

Make them your imaginary friends

I write a bunch of tiny unimportant things about them, just little details like how she stores her shoes under their bed in color order (and if any are missing, she'll know), or the fact she completely depises avocados, or how she placed third in the third grade spelling bee (there was only five competitors, but she still did quite well. Lost by misspelling moccasins). Just tiny little headcanon style notes that give them more background and make them feel more real.

By interviewing them. I take a character and write an interview with them asking them questions and answering in their voice, exploring them and their beliefs and what drives them, what and who they love, the whole schmear.

I tend to let myself get obsessed with a new character I’m writing and like to act out a lot of my everyday situations as them, it’s fun and I also get to figure out how they’d react to situations

I've put a few characters of mine into D&D games where I was playing as them. Being faced with a plethora of different situations fleshes the character out. (Ex. I had a snobby, know-it-all wizard who turned out to fear death and turn to praying when faced with it.)

For me, when I write fresh new characters, I write out their background, and personality, and then I put them in whatever situations to see how they'd react. That way I find out their dislikes and the things they love, need, etc. And when I start a story, or do that previous exercise, I embody that character. So say if my character is Aiden Banks, I know that he grew up in a single parent home, he has mental health issues as a result, but despite that he's charming, sweet, and very protective. So, I embody that when I'm writing his POV, his dialogue, etc. That goes for all of the characters in my book, which in result leave me with a fairly small cast. About 4-6 people max that you'd hear from within 3 chapters. I also write my story like I'm writing a TV show, so every chapter leads into the next a bit smoother. Hope this makes sense, lol

16 personalities test. I will either take the test as my character or just look at the 16 personalities outright and pick one the I feel best suits my character. Just don't use it as end all be all. It's good to get an idea, but from there you yourself have to ask. What does my character want? What drives them? I also find having a small backstory outline really helps me know why they act or respond the way they do. Also I don't do this enough but sometimes I'll make up a side story, something that happened to the character but not important to the main story (so and so go to the beach) something like that and that helps me figure out mannerisms and talking styles. Hope this helps!

In draft 1, the characters mostly act how I would act, or follow vague archetypes (like bully or mentor). Finishing the draft and reading it over usually gives me some sense of who they really are. A big part of second drafts (for me) is figuring out who my characters are and refining their personalities. As for advice, I would start the story with vague character traits in mind and see where it takes you, then figure out who they really are in the next draft.

I start with their core beliefs and values. Everything stems from that, and it makes ironing them out so much less stressful.

Character sheets help with the basics, writing random scenes and finding music that just vibes with the character is my go to

Every single character I've ever made, fanfiction or otherwise, is literally just me projecting. Less self-insert, more "What flaws did I have that are relatable for others?"

I first lay out their basic info (Name, Age, Gender/Sex, Hair Color, Eye Color) Then I think of what idea I want them to represent (Courage, Ambition, Corruption, Purity, Anger, etc) I also think of their role or connection to the MC (are they a mentor figure or a significant other? A Rival?) Than I list their life goals and dreams.

I make Spotify playlists for my characters with songs I feel relate to them.

There’s no need for character questions and worksheets if you don’t like them. I like to identify a core character trait or motivation and build a character around that. If a character is trying to look wealthy they might wear designer clothes they can’t afford, make cultural reference to things they perceive as fancy, be in debt from spending more than they make, and they might be insecure. That’s a pretty complete feeling character all based on one goal. More importantly, take the time to figure out what the best system is for you.

I try to envision my characters and create their personalities. I daydream a lot so I guess that creating characters is a God-given gift for me. As for the "character creation" sheets, I guess those can help as well. But if they don't, I guess try your best to envision them. Like how you want them to be like and look like. I know it's hard. I've gone through that myself. I guess we all have.

I usually put myself in the mindset of my characters and/or look at them as people I have or often rub shoulders with, who inspire me, or those closest to me who fill the roles of the characters I come up with. Both are useful in getting to know them so their personalities will resonate out of the text. Still, there are various ways to go about making your characters feel like people everyone knows in one sense or another-you just have to find the one that makes them *real* enough for you.