What Makes a Character Stand Out?

One of the first things you learn to write when creating a story is how to design a character. But how do you make them stand out? This was one of the things that I worked hard on with Dream Sparks. I was looking back at the characters in it today, and I counted around twenty seven that were named and had their own personalities. That’s a lot of characters to keep track of, let alone make them different. Here’s some of the things that I did to make them stand out from one another.

Creating Characters for the Story Only When They are Needed

When Dream Sparks first started, there were about three to four characters in the story. I made a rule for myself to only put characters in the story when it was needed, in an effort to keep the from having anything unnecessary going on. When you have a story that is more dialogue heavy (like mine) that becomes really important. According to Microsoft Office, Dream Sparks has around twenty five hundred lines of dialogue! Keeping it all to only what was needed was a challenge at times. I often would get an idea for a character, but have nowhere to put them. As I learned more about how I write I figured out a strategy that works for me. It helped a lot to have what I call putting them on the bench. Kind of like how it is in sports, I have characters that are ready to go if I end up with an area in my story that needs an extra hand.

Characters don’t even have to be people. A storm in the night, or a river, or the sky are all good examples of things that can also be characters in a story!

Giving Them a Specific Purpose or Role, Along With Motives to Support That

This one ties into the previous one. All of my characters have a specific role in the story for however long they are in it. I make sure that their motives align with that role. When circumstances arise that challenge a character’s motives I consider if anything would cause them to falter on them. Would this character’s loyalty to another cause them to act out in an unusual way? Has an event or influence caused their motives to shift? If they’re focused on what’s in their best interest, how does that affect their choices? These questions help me determine what a character would most likely do when they are called to action.

Have a Strong Vision on What Their Personality Looks Like

I can say that I learned this from Lucy Maud Montgomery. There was a time when I was studying Anne of Green Gables, because one thing that really stood out to me was how Montgomery had a whole town of characters, and yet all of them seemed to come to life. Even ones that were only mentioned a handful of times were memorable to me, and I knew exactly who they were when they were mentioned. I noticed that the two things that made these characters stand out to me was their personality, and certain activities that they were doing. Many of them lead different lives than Anne. All of her friends have their own lives, and make their own choices. When you add a character into the story where one is naturally needed, they usually have a purpose, and motives that come with that.

I like to capture a character’s personality by having a picture of them on my computer with a song or two that fits their overall mood. Whenever I go to write that character I can pull up those things for a bit if I want to make sure that I’m capturing their personality correctly. The picture that I have of Fauve has her smiling, while the picture that I have of Roxanne depicts someone who’s ready for the fight, and is more serious. It’s good to have some kind of reminder or anchor that keeps the base of your character’s personality in check.

Give Your Character Social Circles

This is another thing that Lucy Maud Montgomery did that I really admired. A lot of her characters were either friendly or unfriendly with one another depending on circumstances and things that happened in the past, (along with clashes in personality.) It is really something that adds a lot to characters, and it often shifts over time. This can also add extra antagonists to your story, and make things interesting. It also can affect events or even the plot of your story!

Make Their Dialogue Unique

Maybe one character uses slang, and another one doesn’t. You can have a character who is moody in what they say or how they present themselves. Having them express what is important to them, show that they are hiding something, or say things that line up with their motives helps. Basing your character’s dialogue off of everything else that you’ve built so far (personality, their goals, etc.) makes them a lot stronger. When I’m writing dialogue, I try to put myself in each character’s shoes when it’s their turn to speak or act.

Some Characters Will Stand Out More Than Others, and That is Okay

If a character stands out to you, they will be much stronger than one that you can’t envision well. Some of my characters are stronger than others, and that’s because I am able to picture how some of them are supposed to act easier. Other characters take longer to get a firm idea of how they are supposed to be, but that’s okay. Sometimes it’s better to let the story shape a character in that case, and watch how things develop over time.

These are just the things that I do to create the characters of my stories. I’m sure that there are many different ways to go about this!