At this stage, where you have a story idea but not a fully formed plot, you need to consider characters. One challenge with a novel is interweaving plot, characters, subplots and themes. Adjustments to one frequently requires adjustments to the others. One must be fluid and allow changes at every point. You may have to let parts go or change them dramatically. As much as you may like certain ideas, plot points or character traits, if they do not work or do not fit, they must depart or be changed. You must be brutal about this. You must be willing to change these matters at any point.
Hemingway said “The writer’s job is not to judge, but to seek to understand.” That is true regarding characters. Major characters also need to be able to carry out the actions required of them in the story. For that they need attributes that will let them fulfill their role. A character too frightened to take action even if pushed to extremes will almost never be workable.
Major characters must also be interesting. For this they need one or more flaws. Those flaws may even impair the pursuant of their goals; that is not only the case in Greek tragedies. Major characters need a view of the world and a moral code, even though that code may be quite different than those of most people.
Perhaps the most important aspect of a character is his or her worldview, the set of core beliefs about what life is like and how one should participate in it. This includes guiding principles, philosophy and moral code. As Sam Spade said, “When a man’s partner is killed he’s supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t make any difference what you thought of him.” It is a worldview that propels him to act.
Further, I believe a successful major character must be obsessed about something. Captain Ahab is the classic example, but a character can be obsessed about something in any number of ways. The larger point is that you do not want your characters to be normal, you want them to be extreme. If they are extreme in the right ways, they both drive the story and are memorable.
Major characters often have an “arc”, a transformation or the inner journey of the character over the course of the story. This transformation often will be one of the themes. A character may believe that they have to control everything, that only they can do it right – and by the end of the story come to believe that they have to depend on others as well. While the arc is often positive, sometimes a character becomes worse, more extreme in their ways. Or a character, particularly the antagonist or an evil character, may simply be unchanged by the end. On the whole, though, character arcs contribute mightily to the effectiveness of the book.
Some say there must be tension between what the protagonist wants and what the protagonist needs, meaning needs to be happy or accomplish his/her goals. It is an interesting idea: All of us have conflicting parts and sometimes we are self-defeating. In other words, a character may have desires, impulses or more surface goals that interfere with the character reaching deeper happiness or success. Therapy, anyone?
This gets us into personality or traits. You need to choose traits for major characters that push or contribute to the story. Some writers like to use the Meyers-Brigg personality factors when working on their major characters. This is a system of sixteen personality types, based on psychologist Carl Jung’s idea of cognitive functions. Introvert/Extrovert is one of the choices. Unfortunately, subsequent studies have not shown the Meyers-Brigg correlates which personality. Still, if it helps you with your characters, use it. For something with more scientific backing you could also look at the “Big Five” or the more-advanced variation know as HEXACO. Still, the point is to make interesting characters who contribute to the story, not scientifically accurate characters. As Mark Twain said, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Of course, although a character may be extreme, the character must be believable as well.
Every character needs a background, but not all parts of it will make it into the story. Some writers fervently believe that extensive character biographies are crucial to the development of their major characters. If this is helpful, by all means proceed. I myself prefer shorter biographies, focusing on key character traits, flaws, defining past events and worldview or moral code. Often, I find myself adding background incidents/memories for a character to show their thoughts or explain why they are acting as they are while I am writing a chapter.
Another item to consider is relatability, elements a character needs to that the reader can relate or identify with that character. This is true even if that character is “evil” and the reader condemns him/her. A reader may not agree with a character, but we have many parts to ourselves. A reader can certainly relate to a character who has had a tough history, even without agreeing with that character’s actions.
One of the least important parts of a character is appearance and mannerisms. Yes, you need to provide these as ways for readers to identify your characters. Yet when you describe a character, you will only want to focus on certain details, particularly ones that illuminate a character’s traits. Remember Captain Queeg’s steel balls.
With this background, let’s look in particular at the protagonist and antagonist. Not all stories need an antagonist or at least a human antagonist (think of someone coping with a severe storm or a faceless organization). Still, most stories benefit from having an antagonist in human form, as it makes the battle more personal.
Again, foremost, the protagonist must able to carry out the actions needed for the plot. In short, there are times when you need to structure the protagonist’s character to fulfill the story. There are writer’s who prefer to build strong characters and then let the characters dictate where the story goes. If that works for you, great, but otherwise build the character to carry out the story you are working on.
Character arc is often especially important for the protagonist. Frequently the protagonist must change or fail to achieve his/her goal – and there are novels where the protagonist does not change and fails. There can also be novels where the protagonist is severely tempted to change in a bad way but resists the temptation and succeeds, although the resistance may be seen as a type of change, as the character presumably is stronger than before.
Also, the protagonist needs one or more flaws to make the character interesting. We all have flaws and a perfect character is boring. Picking the flaw or flaws will often be tied into the plot in some way. The best protagonists are captivating and intriguing, characters we are so interested in we want to find out what they do or what happens to them next.
As for the antagonist, to be believable, they must have at least one redeeming quality. Without this the antagonist has no depth and resembles a cardboard cutout. Further, virtually all antagonists have to believe that they are, according to their moral code, acting for the best. In real life, virtually no one believes that they are evil. The antagonist believes for one reason or another that they are justified in taking those actions. Sometimes the antagonist is drawn deliberately to contrast with the protagonist or develop the theme. Further, to be an obstacle to the protagonist, the antagonist must be powerful in some manner. It would not be much of a story if the antagonist is easily run over.
Do not forget the relationships among characters, specifically why people are drawn to each other and why they interact the way they do. Sometimes relationships between characters get short shrift. You may, for example, have read stories involving romantic relationships where you can’t figure out what the characters see in each other. It’s fruitful to consider how relationships in a story function.
In summary, items you want for each character (in more detail with the main characters), are: flaws, worldview, obsession(s), arc (which may be flat), personality, background, relatability and appearance and mannerisms. Yes, it’s a lot. Preparing a chart of these items for your characters can help. Also, you do not have develop a character all at once, but can add to, change and refine the character as you work on your plot.