worldbuilding-workbook-character-creation

Worldbuilding Workbook: Character Creation

2/1/2021

Characters are the basis for every story. The motivation behind every plot. The force behind every system of magic. They are the viewpoint by which we experience the stories that we love. In many ways, they are the reason we love those stories in the first place.

For this reason, characters are arguably the single most important element of your story. A good character can make up for a half-formed world or a cliche magic system and questionable plot. But no amount of amazing world-building or fancy, flashy magic and twisting, exciting plot lines will make up for a bad or unlikeable character.

This blog is a summary of my Character Creation World-building Workbook. The full workbook is available in my shop or on my Etsy (where you can also get a sneak peak of the full content).

Even though this is only a summary (and doesn't cover everything that is in the workbook) this post will cover everything from a basic overview of their personality, emotions, family, backstory, skills, goals, fears, theme, and plot. By the end, our goal is to have a unique, engaging, and relatable character who will stand strong and drive your story through its plot.

step one: character overview

Is your character a morally grey anti-hero who just wants to be left alone? Or perhaps they’re a young, innocent healer-in-training with a fierce devotion to life and a foul mouth? Or a barista with the ability to transform into a cat who desperately wants to be a scuba diver despite their fear of the ocean? Or a hero with a dark secret and a deadly enemy?

Basically this boils down to: who are they? You don’t need the details yet. You don’t need their background, or personality, or greatest fears. You just need to get a glimpse of who they are, a glimmer of who they’ll become, so that you have something to grasp. This will help you create them in the following steps.

Free-write: If you don’t have any idea (or even if you do) I’d recommend taking twenty minutes to do a free-write on your character (and your story as a whole).

If you aren’t familiar with the process: a free-write is just putting your pen on paper (or fingers on the keyboard) and writing for a set amount of time. Whatever comes into your head, write it down. No censorship. No stopping. No editing. It’s a great way to generate ideas and get a bunch of thoughts onto paper.

step two: character profile

Often the hardest part of building a character is being asked a string of questions and not knowing the answers. After all, how are you supposed to know who your character is if you haven’t created them yet? That’s why I encourage you to skip over the traditional character profile for now (unless you know some of the answers for sure) and instead fill it out as you go along discovering your character in the following steps.

And it doesn't matter what character profile you use -- there's one in my full workbook on Etsy, or you can use any free character profile you find online.

step three: physical attributes

The first step to building a character is being able to picture them, to feel and see who they are, outside and in. But, as the author, you must go beyond the basic details (hair color, height, build, clothes, etc), because while they are important, they aren’t the most important. First and foremost we want to figure out who our characters are as a person. Every detail we discover can help us (and our future readers) connect to the character we are building.

Height, body type, coloring, physical features: This is where you paint the broad strokes of what they look like, how they carry themselves, and who they are physically.
- Questions to consider --
  - Do they like their own size/weight/clothing/hair color/etc?
  - What do they highlight about themselves, and what do they try to hide?
  - Do they actively try to take up space (confident and sure) or do they try to keep themselves small and invisible (shy and awkward)?
  - Do they like being short/tall, or is it a point of contention?
  - If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

Clothing style: Body type, height, and other physical features may be out of the character’s control, but how they dress, act, and present themselves show their underlying personality.
- Questions to consider —
  - What clothes do they wear all the time? Why are they their favorite?
  - Why do they have messy hair all the time? (or vice versa)
  - Why do they like wearing really baggy clothes? (or vice versa)
  - Are they comfortable dressing fancy, or would they prefer sweatpants all day?
  - Do they like makeup or other enhancements?

Race/culture: This is where you figure out your character’s ethnic/cultural/religious background.
- Questions to consider —
  - How deeply are they connected to their cultural identity and history?
  - Do they embrace that history or do they do everything they can to distance themselves from it? Why or why not?
  - Is their religion or culture reflected in their choice of clothing?
  - What about in how they present themselves?
  - In what ways do they bring it into their style?

Body modifications: Sometimes characters make changes to their physical bodies to feel more like themselves. This can be everything from dying their hair, to getting a tattoo, to transitioning genders. Think about how your character has changed themselves.
- Questions to consider —
  - What have they changed physically about themselves? And why? Are they happy with it, or do they regret it?
  - Where did they get that scar/tattoo/physical marking?
  - Do they identify as the gender they were born as? Why or why not?
  - What do they wish they could change about themselves? Why haven’t they? What’s holding them back?

step four: character personality

The next step we’re going to cover is your character’s personality. How do they talk? What do they believe in and why? Do they like making jokes, or are they studiously serious? What ticks and character quirks do they have? What behaviors add up to make them unique?

Most Common Reactions — What are some of their set reactions to every-day events? Most people tend to fall into patterns of life, that build up to become part of their personality.
Habits — What micro-actions do they tend to repeat? Do they have any quirks or ticks or things that they have to do, even if it isn’t a conscious choice?
Mannerisms — This are similar to habits, but are a bit different. I think of them like this: habits are unconscious, repeated actions while mannerisms are things you do because you like them, they’re cool, or they fit with the emotion you want to convey. Basically, how do they characteristically express themselves without words?
Speech — This is also similar to mannerisms, but is specific to how they speak and communicate. What tics do they show in conversations?
Beliefs — What do they believe, and why? This doesn’t necessarily have to be deep, meaning-of-life beliefs, or even religious beliefs (though that can be a part of it). Rather, what do they take as truth in their everyday life?
Fears — What makes them nervous, or anxious, or keeps them up at night? Whether it’s the presentation for school they’ve been dreading for weeks, or the seasonal raids of their roman overlords that decimate their seaside village — they’re afraid of something. (Note that we go into more detail about their reaction to fear in the next section, but I also wanted to include it here, because how they interact with fear (and even what they fear) is a large part of a character’s personality.)
Dreams — We will cover this more extensively when we go over your character’s story goal and motivation, but to get you started on thinking about those larger goals: what dreams does your character have in their life right now?

step five: expression of emotion

This step is starting to get even deeper, beyond personality and looks and quirks. We all feel emotion, but every one of us expresses it differently. Your character will have a unique way of dealing with what they are feeling. If they are scared, do they admit that? Do they hide it? Does it manifest as anger and gruffness? If they are anxious, do they start laughing giddily? Do they accept their emotions and work through them, or do their best to shove them away? Here are some possible reactions to each emotion:

Love — They have no trouble expressing their feelings, and always tell those closest to them that they love them. They never tell anyone, and even try to keep it hidden from themselves. They express love with words, or they don’t use words, and instead use actions (but it is no less real). They love everyone (family, friends, significant others), or they reserve their love for only a few, rationing it so they don’t get hurt.
Happiness/Joy — They express happiness and joy constantly with a smile, a laugh, a joke. They struggle to express it, keep it hidden, keep a straight face and try to seem unaffected. Maybe they feel it, deeply and completely, but don’t express it often. Maybe they express it through a contented sigh, or by simply existing quietly without worry.
Surprise — Surprises make them happy and excited. They love trying to guess, and love not knowing. Or surprises make them angry/afraid/anxious and they lash out if something happens that they aren’t expecting. Being surprised makes them shut down and freeze up (they don’t know how to react). Or maybe they are never surprised, or so good at hiding it that they seem to be unaffected.
Anxiety/Worry — They get quiet, and silently try to work through their emotions. They don’t ask for help, and try to hide their worry (possibly ashamed or guilty). They ask for help, and try to find solutions to their feelings. They ignore it, and hope it goes away. They try to think positive, or they spiral into the worst-case. Their anxiety manifests as worry, or maybe hyper or over-the-top giddiness.
Guilt — They turn guilt inward, and silently go over all of the things they could have/should have/would have done. They don’t forgive themselves. Or they lash out against others, and try to turn guilt into anger or fear. They don’t admit to it, and do nothing to try and fix what they’ve done. Or maybe they face it, accept it, and work to do better next time.
Sadness — They shut down and find themselves unable to care about anything. They force it away and try not to feel it. They lash out in anger, because anger is easier to manage. They turn it inward, and keep it inside, and try to deal with it themselves. They find it easy to ignore, or maybe they are completely incapacitated. They ask for help.
Anger — They hold it inside, and don’t let it show. They take a moment, find space, and work through it so they don’t do something they regret. They turn it outward, lash out, and hurt those closest to them (whether it’s with words or actions). They turn it inward, and berate themselves and question why they have to feel this way.
Fear — They freeze up and can’t do anything. They get angry, and lash out even if they don’t mean it. They let themselves feel the fear, push it aside, and do what needs to be done. They have a panic attack, and have to work through everything before they can be calm enough to act. They laugh it off, and ignore it, until it boils over out of their control.

step six: everyday life

Before the events of your story throw them off track and into a world of high stakes and world-ending shenanigans, what does your character’s everyday life look like?

Do they have a 9-5 job with mini vacations on the weekends and baking cookies at midnight?
Or do they live on the streets of a port city, scrounging for scraps and struggling to stay away from the emperor’s guards who are relentless in their persecution of magic?

Their normal can be mundane, or fantastical, wonderful, or terrifying, but whatever it is, it is normal life to them, and will tell you a lot about who they are and how they will react to the events of your story.

step seven: skills/powers/fighting

This is one of my favorite aspects of character building. How do they fight? What skills, powers, or abilities do they have? What can they do that no one else can? Because this is speculative fiction, your character has the possibility of being extremely unique, with skills and powers far outside the realm of the normal world.

Of course, building a magic system is a whole workbook in an of itself (and you can find that workbook on my Etsy or an abbreviated blog post here).

Here's a few questions to get you started:

Is your character entirely human? If not, what makes them different or unique?
Do they have any magic or powers outside the realm of ‘normal?’
What is something they can do that no one else can? (Talents, quirks, abilities…anything that is unusual or specific to them, and sets them apart from everyone else).
How would they protect themselves in a fight? Would they? Or would they try to run away or talk themselves out of it first?
If you rated all of your characters on a scale of 1-10 of the least to most powerful, where would this character fall?
If they are adept at fighting, where did they learn their skills? Who taught them? What in their background and current life makes these skills necessary?

step eight: family

A character doesn’t stand alone. Even those who have no blood-family have people surrounding them. Family. Friends. Significant partners. Mildly annoying acquaintances. Enemies. Who do they share their life with? Who do they turn to for help? Who do they spend most of their time with? Who do they wish they could spend more time with? Where is home?

List each of the important people in their lives, along with a line or two about their relationship and the significance of that person.

Parents, siblings, grandparents. Aunts and uncles and cousins twice removed. Roommates from college who became lifelong friends. Sworn battle-sisters defending each other to the end.
Who are they friends with? Who supports them and helps them, and is there for them, even if they don’t consider them family?
Often characters will have romantic or sexual partners (though not always). If applicable to your story, who fills that role for your character?
Sometimes people and relationships don’t fall into neat pre-prescribed categories. Is there anyone else in you character’s life who doesn’t fit in family, friend, or relationship?
Who stands against your character? Who do they always find themselves in conflict with? Whether it’s their school bully, annoying cousin, arch-nemesis trying to take over the world, or angry bounty hunter after their head — who are their enemies?

step nine: relationship history

From the lists you made in the last step, find those who rank higher than everyone else in terms of importance to your character’s life, story, motivation, and future character arc.

If you’re struggling to choose the most important, ask yourself these questions:

Who has had the most impact on who they are as a person today?
Who will have the most impact and sway in the story to come?
Who are they most afraid to loose?
Who would they do anything for? Die for? Kill for?
Who do they spend most of their time with? Who would they choose to hang out with?
If they were in trouble, had a secret, or needed help, who would they call? .

Once you've found the most important relationships, write down everything you can think of about their history and background. Where did they meet? How long have they been together? Why is this person important? What will the future of their relationship look like?

step ten: background

Briefly note down the basics of your character’s background. Where did they come from? What have they gone through to get where they are? What are the important milestone/life events that have happened to them? (Bare bones list of events in their life leading up to the start of your story.)

Now we’ll get into the deeper elements. With each question try to get to the emotional level of the events in their past, and what impact they still have on the character today.

Happiest life experience: What is the happiest they have been? If they think about being happy in their life, truly happy, where are they? Who are they with?
Worst life experience: If they’re lying in bed, and their mind goes to the past, what events or times do they shy away from? What still causes them pain? What do they try to avoid thinking about?
Most defining moment: What is the source of their current outlook on life? On their motivation? Their dreams and goals? This can be an event, a person, a place. Something that got inside and is now at the very core of their character.
Root of fears: We’ve gone over fears briefly, but now we want to look at the root of those fears. If your character is terrified of the dark, where did that fear come from? If they are terrified of losing those they love, where did that originate?
Secrets (what do they keep hidden?): What do they hide from others and why? What do they hide even from themselves, and why? What would they do if these secrets were out? How bad would it be? Life-changing? Or just extremely awkward?
Root of goal/motivation/dreams: Your character has a goal. A motivation. Something that will drive the story forward. They have everyday dreams and hopes and plans. Where did these come from, and why do they want these specific things? What is it about their life or experience that has cause these goals and this motivation?

step eleven: story goal & motivation

In the end, character should drive plot. Because of this, your character’s motivation is one of their most important aspects, at least in relation to story. So, most of our steps previously have been leading up to finding these driving aspects of your character.

Goal — a goal is what a character wants to achieve, change, or acquire. They want to escape prison, find love, gain vengeance for past wrongs, find redemption for failing the one they love, save the world, or become king. What do they want?
Motivation — a motivation is why they want that thing. They want to be king because they grew up believing a king could change the world and do good. They want redemption because of their mistakes of the past and the guilt it causes them. They want to escape prison because if they don’t they will never see their dying mother again. They want vengeance because they lost someone dear and hold others responsible. Why do they want to achieve their goal?

Here's a few other questions to ask yourself:

What is stopping them from reaching their goal?
What would be the consequences if they do reach their goal?
What would be the consequences if they don't reach their goal?
How does their motivation or goal interact with the larger story plot?
If they weren’t in the story, would the events of your plot change?

step twelve: projected character arc

At the beginning of the story, your character starts out with a want, a goal, a purpose. Something that they see and think, “If only I had this thing, everything would be perfect and I could be happy and complete and whole. But not until then. Until I get it, my whole life is about chasing that thing, and I don’t have time for anything else like actually living.”

Now this is a little dramatic, and your character may not be this intense about it, but you get the idea. Now, throughout the events of the story, your character will change. And what they want will change. Even after they get that thing, if they get that thing, whatever it is, they will have changed so much that they may realize that it is not what they really wanted. That, in fact, there is something else they needed, and they were just too blind to see it at first.

You know what they want, but what do they need? Here's a couple of examples to help you:

Vengeance vs forgiveness: A character could want vengeance, but need to learn to forgive and let go.
- So their flaw would be their desire for vengeance, and inability to let go. This is what they have to realize and overcome in order to truly change and be happy.
Fame/recognition vs self-acceptance: They could want fame, but need to learn to accept and love themselves.
- Their flaw would be their blind pursuit of fame and their reliance on the opinions of others, and the truth they need to realize is they must learn to accept themselves rather than look to others for approval.

step thirteen: relationship to theme

Your story’s theme is the thing your book is really about. The underlying truth or aspect of life that runs beneath your plot, characters, and world. It seems complicated, but it usually matches up with your character arc and the journey from their wants to needs, so you should already have the basics of it.

For instance, if a character wants vengeance, but needs to learn to forgive, then the overall theme of your story could be the power of letting go. And everything in your story will be geared towards aspects of this theme. Which means you’ll have characters who never hold a grudge or desire vengeance, and those who believe (wholly and completely) that vengeance is the only thing that will give them peace. Your main character will be stuck between the two opposing ideas, struggling to find their truth.

Feel free to do another free-write here (or anywhere in this process, really) to help you get to the heart of your theme.

Take a look at your character arc in the previous step. What larger, overarching themes does this arc lend itself to? How can it fit within the story as a whole?
What other characters can become a foil or mirror to your character’s arc? How?
If you had to boil your story down into one or two words, what would it be about?
What words would you use to describe how your character has changed from the beginning to the end?

and that's pretty much your character!

Repeat the steps for each character you want to create, and remember that character is tightly wound into story, so it's alright if you end up changing aspects of both as you are writing. I hope this brief post has helped you if you've been struggling with your character creation. I'd love to hear any feedback, questions, or ideas you may have for additions in the comments.

If you found this helpful, you can also find the full, printable, workbook available on Etsy here (with space for notes, brainstorms, and many examples from mainstream fantasy books to get your ideas going)!

Happy worldbuilding!

-Megann

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