Nyx's Complete Guide to Character Development

Your characters are one of the most important parts of your story. They're more important than the setting or plot. There are two types of characters: "Round" characters and "flat" characters. A flat character is an insignificant, undeveloped character. A round character is a significant character that has enough depth to be relatable and realistic. Developing well-rounded characters is not easy, so here are some ways to add depth to your main characters. 

First, there's what I call the Harry Potter Method. If you're a Potterhead, this is a GREAT way to round out your characters. To have a well-rounded character, you must know three things about them:

1. Their Erised

2. Their Boggart

3. Their Patronus

        Figure out what they want most of all, what they fear most of all, and some kind of symbol that represents them. If you've figured out these three things, your character will automatically have a lot of depth. Your character's desires and fears should ideally be relative to your plot, and they should dig down deep into your character's psyche. That's why I use the term "Erised" and "Boggart". Your character's "deepest, and most desperate desire" should be something that your character secretly wants more than anything else. You don't have to figure out these things right away. They don't have to be stated openly at any point in the book, but should become evident as the book goes on, to you as well as to your reader (characters DO take on a life of their own). Same goes for fears. Your character's greatest fear should be something like the fear of death, the fear of inadequacy, the fear of being universally rejected. Not something like the fear of the dark or the fear of heights, although if these are relevant to your plot, you should make them important (like Ron's arachnophobia).

         You can practice working with these elements by identifying the desires, fears, and symbolic representations of characters in some of the books you read. Unlike in Harry Potter, these elements are usually portrayed more subtly. What does the character want and fear most of all? How can you tell? How does this relate to the plot? 

        Figuring out a character's Patronus isn't strictly necessary, but it does help to establish a character's attributes and personality traits. 

    

        Speaking of personality traits, rounded characters have dynamic personalities. List the personality traits of your character. If a character has all positive or all negative personality traits, they are not well-rounded. This is fine for minor characters or characters used as plot devices, but your main characters have to have both positive and negative personality traits to be realistic. This was easy for me to do with my Shadow characters, but not so easy for some of my other characters. In one of my books, I noticed that one of my main characters was almost entirely virtuous. He was valiant and kind and loyal. Isn't that all that matters? No. Many of the secondary characters in the book were more developed than he was. In the rewritten version, I also made him sarcastic, easily irritated and cynical. This makes him seem more realistic. Descriptions of characters emotions and responses to situations will also make them seem more realistic, and allow the readers to relate to them even though they could not possibly have been in the same fantastical situation. 

        

        Not all characters have to be this developed, but you should work to determine which ones to develop and which ones not to. Character development takes time, effort, and a lot of thought, but your main character should not be the only round character in your entire story. In my books, my main female character almost always has a circle of friends that offer opinions and support, but are otherwise flat characters. Depending on plot relevance, these characters sometimes develop, but usually do not. IBe mindful about which characters you want to add depth to and how. Also, be mindful about how long you want to drag out character development. 

        So there you have it; a complete guide to basic character development. Like I said, characters have a mind of their own, and once you kick-start them, they develop steadily as the book goes along.