Creating and Developing an Original Character
The five steps below are pretty simple to follow and they will help you to establish a foundation for your character. And once you do, you can develop them into an awesome character that isn’t a Mary-Sue or a Gary-Sue.
1. Your character depends on the type of story you are writing. Such as if you’re writing a horror, fantasy or a historical fiction. It is with this that will determine the kind of character that you want. So you must keep in mind that your character should be able to fit into that type of genre.
2. When you know the type of story you are going for, you can then decide the basics of your character.
Name: Don't just use any names or the ones you like. If you need help in thinking of a name then do some research. Look up baby naming sites or look up history sites. Sometimes you can find names that you may want to use. Also, make sure the name you choose matches the personality, the national background (if they have one) of the characters and the story well.
Gender: Male or female, it's a very simple decision.
Eye color: When it comes to eye color, most people like to use unusual colors. It would be understandable if you want your character to be a demon but having purple-blue with red in it, isn't really realistic. A color like that doesn't exist unless you're trying to say the eye color is black. But if you plan to use unusual colors, ask yourself if the character your creating really needs it. There's nothing wrong with picking a normal, plain color like brown or black. There are too many stories where majority of the characters have blue, red or some other color eyes. However, if you want to make your character seem unhuman (even if the fandom you're using contains nothing supernatural) you can always have them wear color contacts (if contacts exist in that fandom).
Hair color: With hair color you have to also decide the length and style it's in. Depending on your character you want, you should choose a color that's going to go with your story and fandom. I only suggest that if the fandom contains a lot of blonde people, don't make your character blonde as well. Just like in Naruto where a couple of them are blonde like Ino, Temari, Naruto, Yondaime, etc. Try for a normal color that isn't seen a lot, like light or dark brown. Or if you want some uniqueness maybe a purple color? Then you can decide the length and style you want it. But for the length think wisely, because you don't want a character to have long hair when they aren't old enough to have grown it to that length. Another thing, the climate. If they are in the desert or in really hot areas why would they have really long hair (unless it's a part of their national background/culture, like in ancient Egypt)? And lastly, the style your character's hair is in. You decide if their hair is wavy, straight, in a pony tail, pig tails, braided, in a bun, curly, spiked up or not. Just be sure to make a good choice. If your character has a long, braided, pony tail, your readers will be wondering why a bad guy hasn't used it to their advantage (of course depending on the fandom).
Skin color: Does your character come from an area that is hot and the sun is close? If they do then their skin color is on tan or on the dark side. If your character hardly is out in the sun, then they have a much lighter skin tone. If they are always inside a house, then they are most likely to be pale. And the pale skin tones are the ones that get sunburn easily if they are out for too long, so keep that in mind. And, as well as your characters nationality, of course that’s if you want them to have one or if your story calls for one. Example; if they are Egyptian then they would have a tan or darker skin tone.
Age: In this part you decide whether your character is young or old. So, they could be a demon that’s old, or some other long living supernatural being. Or they could be a human. But in doing so you, should keep this part in mind when you’re thinking of a personality for your character. Their age reflects on their personality, like how mature they are or not. For example, in Yu Yu Hakusho, Shuichi and Kurama are the same person but unlike Yusuke (being half demon and young), Kurama’s calm patience and intelligence are from the long years he’s experience and you can see that when he fights or in other situations. While Yusuke on the other hand, is young compare to Kurama so you can easily notice that his maturity grows as time goes by.
Type of education they have: Depending on their age, you can decide the type of education they had or have.
Their family life: For this part you’ll have to figure out if they have a family or not, if they have a big family or a small one. Either they have a guardian or they live alone. Maybe they have someone they look to as a family member, a friend or a pet? You’ll also have to keep this part in mind with the character’s personality too. For example; if the character was abused or they were taken away, then this would have an effect on them.
Height: This is simple! Are they tall, short, or average height for their age? If you don’t know much about heights, you can ask family members or friends to get an idea of the height you want your character to be. And/or you could always look it up online.
Weight: Another simple one. I’m sure people wouldn’t tell you how much they weight so it’s best to look it up. Try Health sites because they contain information about the average heights and ages of people and they can give you the weights for them.
Distinguishing features they have: This could be many things but when talking about distinguishing features think of one. Having too many would be going over broad. And whatever you have it should represent your character. It could be that they wear glasses and it’s rare in whatever fandom you’re writing for. Or that whenever they take off their glasses, their eyes stand out a lot. Maybe they have a scar or a tattoo? How about a round shaped head or almond shaped eyes? Or they have a mustache? A 5-o’clock shadow? Or their fangs are noticeable whenever they smile, grin or talk?
This basic outline of your character is what you need to think of first when you're creating them. By now, when creating your character you should already be able to picture what they look like in your head.
3. In this step you can start to develop your character's personality. The best way to do this is to search for a personality that you can understand. Think of your friends or people you know, personalities. You need to understand the different personalities of people before you can truly establish one for your character. After all, you don't want to create a personality for your character that is too complicated that you’ll get lost in how to write about them in certain situations. A good way to help you in this progress is to go online and do some research, such as web sites that offer personality quizzes. This could help you think about the different personalities and also you may learn a few aspects of some of them that you may have never thought about. Of course you should also keep in mind about step two when you created the basics of your character.
4. Once you have some sort of personality for your character, it's time for you to ask yourself questions about situations. Questions such as, "What would happen if my character witness a murder? What would they do if they like someone? What would they do if they were in trouble?" These kinds of questions can help you write about them and give you a better understanding of what they are like.
5. When you have that, then you can start thinking about their hopes and dreams, their fear, their memories, their likes and dislikes, their hobbies, their habits (But don't go overboard like listing too many likes, habits, hobbies and so on. Only list the most important ones that really speak to your readers about your character).
It's important to have their personality before reaching step six because then you can go deeper into who they are. You can shape their background information to match their personalities. That's why if you ask yourself questions about them it can help you think about your character. For example; lets us say that your character is very close off from people. It could be that they didn't have parents and no one showed them loved. Maybe someone betrayed them? Or they were abused? Maybe they simply can't trust people easily because they are afraid? This way you'll be really thinking about their background life. As well as, give you a chance to see how they can fit into your story and if you need to go back and edited a few things about your character.
Tips:
+ Don't give everything about your character away. Make them a little mysterious (but not too mysterious) because it's more enjoyable for the readers to try and figure them out. It's not fun when a writer puts out all this information about the character. By doing that, you’ll be taking away from the story.
+ Sometimes it helps using real people around you in your stories. It's fine to have someone to base your character on and you can get a character that's realistic and not a Mary-Sue or Gary-Sue at all. Though, don't base your character too much or exactly on someone because you could get in trouble. You’ll have to ask them first, if you wish to have a character just like them in your story.
+ For supporting characters sometimes it's easier to use stereo type and build them up. For example; A shy, quite girl type. Take that stereo type and give her another side. Let's say she'll seem like that but once a character gets to know her, she's loud and silly.
+ Writing dialogue for your original character isn't easy either. Most people don't speak in perfect grammar, some use contractions or even talk in slang. Your dialogue should be like that, realistic. When writing your character's dialogue, it should reflect who they are. For example, if your character is from London, then their dialogue would show that. Dialogue reflects a character's background, personality, age, fandom and so on.
Useful Lists:
Here are a few lists that I made in order to help you with your character's development. Remember to pick only the ones that matches’ your character's history and the character themselves. Be simple and choose only the ones that work because you don't want to over kill your original character with too many hobbies, habits or fears.
List of Bad Habits (Flaws):
A know-it-all
A troublemaker
Addiction (to caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, drugs...etc.)
An exhibitionist
Allergic (pollen, animal, fur, alcohol, chocolate...etc.)
Always late
Aggressive
Arrogant
Bad Eye Sight
Bard's Tongue (what you say tends to come true; you can't control this prophetic ability, and the compulsion to speak an uncomfortable truth is often very hard to resist)
Belching
Biting
Blunt
Borrowing and not returning items
Bragging
Breaking rules
Bullying
Burning things
Cheating
Chewing gum
Chewing tobacco
Chewing with mouth open
Color Blindness
Complaining
Compulsion (for cleanliness, perfection, stealing, gambling, etc.)
Coughing
Cowardice
Cracking knuckles
Cursing
Cutting
Deaf
Defensive
Drinks alcohol
Drinks coffee
Drinks soft drinks
Eats candy
Eats chocolate
Eats junk foods
Eats loudly
Eats too much meat
Eats too fast
Eats too much
Eavesdropping
Exaggerating
Excessive cleaning
Farting
Feeble
Fidgeting
Fighting
Forgetting
Freeloading
Gambling
Gossiping
Greedy
Grinding teeth
Gullible
Hair pulling
Hating
Hitting
Hypocritical
Idealist
Inattentive
Inconsiderate
Indecisive
Illiterate
Insomnia
Interrupts a lot
Irresponsible
Lazy
Laughs loudly
Lewd
Leaving the toilet seat up
Licking your fingers
Lip biting
Littering
Low Self-Image
Lying
Jealous
Making fun of people
Making rude noises
Masochism
Masturbating
Meager Fortitude
Megalomaniac
Mute
Nail Biting
Nose picking
Nosey
Overambitious
Over eating
Overemotional
Over spending
Pacifist
Panicking
Paranoid
Pencil chewing
Pessimist
Picking scabs
Picking your ears
Picking your teeth
Picking zits
Playing loud music
Points a lot
Points out mistakes
Poking
Popping gum
Procrastinating
Racist
Reading over someone's shoulder
Sadism
Sadomasochist
Selfish
Self-Martyr
Screaming
Shallow
Shy
Shoplifting
Slamming doors
Smoking
Snoring
Speeds
Spitts
Spoiled
Staring
Stereotypical
Strict
Stubborn
Sugar cravings
Superstitious
Tactless
Talks during a movie
Talks on a cell phone at an inappropriate time
Talks on a cell phone while driving
Talks to themselves
Taps feet
Taps fingers
Taps pencil
Tells bad jokes
Theatrical
Thrill seeking
Thumb sucking
Unfaithful
Using air quotes
Vandalizing
Vanity
Violent
Vomiting
Wasting time
Watching too much TV
Wearing too much cologne
Wearing too much perfume
Working too hard
Worries a lot
List of Good Habits (Merits):
Acknowledge friends' accomplishments with public praise
Acute Senses
Active
Adapts to situations quickly
Analyze situations
Appreciative
Approaching a life and death problem the right way
Assertiveness
At all times be aware of attack and retreat routes
Before getting into the car make sure it is clear at the front and the back
Before giving personal data check for credentials of the recipient
Broad-minded
Careful
Cleaning
Code of Honor
Computer Aptitude (Natural affinity with computers)
Cooking healthy meals instead of eating store bought food/junk
Cooperative
Courageous
Creative
Creates alternative solutions to a problem
Decisive
Dependable
Donate money for health organization, relief funds, and homeless beggars
Eidetic Memory (Photographic memory)
Empathy/Compassion
Endurance
Fair
Faithful
Fast Learner
Flexibility
Forgiving
Friendly
Graceful (is agile and delicate in movements)
Green Thumb
Greet people in a way they expect and feel comfortable with
Generous
Gentle
Good Dexterity
Helpful
Honest
Hope
Hospitality
Humility
Keep a list of interesting words and use them
Keep things simple
Iron Will
Limit eating to three times day and make sure the food doesn't have much sugar in it
Loyalty
Merciful
Never litters
Natural Linguist (good with languages and language structures)
Nightvision (Has good eye vision in the dark but is sensitive to bright light)
Obedient
Optimistic
Patience
Peaceful
Persistent
Persuasive
Practice
Play some sports
Punctuality
Reading books when waiting
Respectful
Resourcefulness
Responsible
Self-Confident
Self-Discipline
Sincere
Smiles kindly
Tactfulness
Technical Aptitude (naturally adept with mechanical devices, not electronic device like computers)
Trustworthy
Tolerant
Unselfish
Uses common sense
Volunteer
Wash before eating and keep hands clean when eating
Wise
When encountering an unknown word write it down and then look is up
When riding public transportation work on a productive task
When taking out the garbage pick up the local litter
Work out
List of Hobbies (Merits):
Archery
Astronomy
Baking
Beading
Beatboxing
Bicycling
Bird watching
Blacksmithing
Body Building
Bowling
Boxing
Building Dollhouses
Building rockets
Car racing
Calligraphy
Camping
Canoeing
Cloud watching
Cooking
Cosplaying
Collecting antiques
Collecting artwork
Collecting autographs
Collecting books
Collecting butterflies
Collecting bottles
Collecting clocks
Collecting coins
Collecting stamps
Collecting comic books
Collecting music
Collecting patches
Collecting photographs
Collecting postcards
Collecting buttons
Collecting pins
Collecting posters
Collecting toys
Collecting stuff animals
Collecting bottle caps
Collecting feathers
Collecting guns
Collecting hats
Collecting knives
Collecting miniature figures
Collecting pens
Collecting souvenirs
Collecting snow globes
Collecting swords
Collecting stickers
Collecting keychains
Dancing
Drawing
Embroidery
Engraving
Exercising
Fencing
Fishing
Ghost Hunting
Gambling
Gardening
Hiking
Horse riding
Hunting
Ice skating
Jewelry making
Karaoke
Kite flying
Knitting
Learning a foreign language
Listening to music
Martial arts
Making candles
Making model cars
Mountain biking
Mountain climbing
Origami
Painting
Playing badminton
Playing basketball
Playing Blackjack
Playing checkers
Playing Chinese checkers
Playing chess
Playing computer games
Playing football
Playing Gin rummy
Playing Go
Playing guitar
Playing paintball
Playing poker
Playing role-playing games
Playing Scrabble
Playing Shogi
Playing soccer
Playing softball
Playing Sudoku
Playing tennis
Playing the piano
Playing video games
Playing volleyball
Pottery
Puppetry
Quilting
Reading books
Renting movies
Robotics
Rock collecting
Running
Scrap-booking
Scuba driving
Sculpture
Shopping
Singing
Skateboarding
Sky diving
Stone skipping
Swimming
Training
Traveling
Treasure hunting
Walking
Watching TV
Weaving
Wine making
Working on cars
Working on crossword puzzles
Woodcarving
Wrestling
Writing songs
Writing stories
Yoga
List of Fears (Flaws):
Aliens
Apocalypse
Atomic explosions (Atomosophobia)
Becoming blind
Becoming deaf
Becoming fat
Becoming injury
Being a bad parent
Being a burden
Being alone, solitude (Autophobia)
Being buried alive
Being cold (Cheimaphobia)
Being confined or small spaces (Claustrophobia)
Being dirty (Automysophobia)
Being embarrassed
Being forgotten
Being hated
Being helpless
Being insane
Being judged
Being left behind
Being lost
Being made fun of
Being ugly
Betrayal
Black cats
Cancer
Car travel
Cats (Ailurophobia)
Change
Children
Clowns (Coulrophobia)
Color Blue
Color Brown
Color Pink
Color Red
Color Yellow
Commitment
Computers
Creepy, crawly things (Herpetophobia)
Crossing bridges
Darkness/dark
Dead bodies
Death
Demon (Daemonophobia)
Disappointing others
Doctors
Dogs
Eating meat
Failure (Atychiphobia)
Fear of Friday the 13th (Paraskevidekatriaphobia)
Fighting
Fire or flames (Arsonphobia)
Flying (Aviophobia)
Germs (Verminophobia)
Ghosts/Spirits
Globe warming
Growing old
Guns
Heights or high levels (Acrophobia)
Hell (Hadephobia)
Holocaust
Horror movies or Horror books
Hurricane
Hurting
Identity theft
Insects/bugs
Killing
Knives
Losing their job
Love
Love ones dying
Love ones getting hurt
Men (Androphobia)
Mirrors (Catoptrophobia)
Mushrooms (Mycophobia)
Mutilation
Needles, pins or pointed objects (Aichmophobia)
Night (Noctiphobia)
Nightmares
Nudity (Gymnophobia)
Pain (Agliophobia)
People touching them
Prison
Prostitutes, STDs (Cyprianophobia)
Public speaking
Puppets (Pupaphobia)
Rats
Rejection
Repeating past mistakes
Responsibility
Revealing a weakness
Seeing blood
Sexual abuse
Shadows
Singing
Sins
Snakes
Spiders (Arachnephobia)
Stage fright
Suicide
Swimming
Taking tests
The number four
Thunder and lightning (Astraphobia)
Tornado
Twister
Undressing in front of someone
Vomiting (Emetophobia)
Water
Walking under ladders
What others think about them
Women (Gynephobia)
Worms
Writer's block
Yawning
If you have anything you wish to add onto this, either the lists or something else, please leave a review letting me know. I’ll gladly add it on. Oh, and if there’s anything that you don’t exactly understand let me know and I will explain it for you. I hope this guide help!
