Building a fantasy fiction character
Filed under Tips & Tools on June 23, 2009
Tagged: character motivation, character traits, character-building, fantasy fiction, origin story
It’s not unheard of for fantasy fiction writers to spend a lot of time and effort on world-building. Character-building, on the other hand, often takes a back seat, resulting in one-dimensional archetypes instead of a cast with personality and motivations. Imagine the depth and complexity fantasy fiction characters might have if writers spent as much time as RPG powergamers did figuring out the optimal build for their characters.
These character builds are often developed through mathematical exercises or staged tests rather than through trial and error during actual play. A fantasy fiction writer can take a similar approach to building their characters by exploring who they are and what makes them tick before work on the story is begun.
The following exercises can be useful for fleshing out characters: write an origin story, list of traits and quirks, list of questions about character motivations.
The origin story
Not every fantasy fiction story is a coming-of-age tale where the farm boy evolves into the hero of prophecy. Sometimes, the protagonist is a grizzled veteran. This tool can be useful for villains, too. The origin story will allow the writer to get understand how the character’s past has shaped them into the person they are in the story.
Keep the origin story short, between 500-2000 words, and focus on a singular event or person that started the character down the path that led them to where they are at the start of the tale. Identifying the relationships between the people and places can give you fodder for your story as the character returns to them later.
Traits and quirks
A common exercise in developing characters for roleplaying games is to create a short list of four or five traits that define the character. Think of traits as personality strengths the character possesses.
The purpose of character-building exercises is to avoid Mary Sue (and her brother Marty Stu), so round out the list of traits with a quirk, or flaw. Complex characters are often defined by their weakness, and that weakness is also what helps the reader identify with the character. Quirks can be comedic or tragic, it all depends on the flavor of story being written.
20 Questions
If you read or write a blog, you’ve probably been subjected to an online quiz that asks what you would do in situation X, and gives you four answers to choose from. A fantasy fiction writer can use this same tool to help them with character-building. Write up a series of hypothetical situations and four possible solutions. Rather than choosing the first answer that comes to mind, spend some time exploring what answer best fits for the character and why. Or, use the list to generate a character’s personality and motivations by “randomly” selecting answers.
What tools do you use to build a fantasy fiction character? Have you used one of these three methods before? Share your experiences in the comments.
