How do you give your characters personality?

[YmaOHyd]

I think the how for me flows from the why. They have personality -- at least, I hope they do -- because without personality there's nothing to write about.

From a purely process standpoint, I do tons of character prep to get a rough idea of who the important characters are before I start writing. Then I learn more about them as they're being written and synthesize that with the concept to get something on the page, and ideally I'd like every character, even the ones without names, to pop enough that the reader can feel like they've got an internal life.

Speech cadence is something I think about a lot, and the shape of the words on the page. A couple clipped-off Gs or strategic elisions can make a big difference.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I focus on internal monolog. Personality comes from within, so I use my characters thoughts and feelings as a means to describe scenes/characters and convey meaning.

In my opinion, good characters are flawed - sometimes irredeemably so. I had a hard time with this when I first started writing, but lately I've been experimenting with "unlikable" characters, and it opens up more possibilities plot wise. Who knew liars, thieves, and judgemental zealots could be so much to write about?

 

[NaughteeDragon]

I said previously that you need to pick a personality trait or two and let their actions flow from that trait. I’d like to expand on that thought.
We all want our characters to be likable, but they also need to have room to grow. That means you need to give them at least 1 negative trait that they can improve over the course of the story. That negative trait does not have to be over the top or debilitating. The character can be secretive and have to learn to trust. They can be immature and have to ‘grow up’ (mentally and emotionally), think Ahsoka from Clone Wars. They can be self-centered and have to see how that damages an important relationship.
Not only does it become a defining characteristic, but it also gives you character growth, which is what brings readers back.

 

[RetroFan]

It might sound odd, but giving the characters believable names for their personality types seems to work for me.

For example, Madison worked so well for the spoiled rich girl in my story 'Spoiled Princess Hates Camping'. Had I named her Jenny or Rebecca, it wouldn't have worked.

Likewise with 'The PTA Queen Bee & the Teen Rebel' I named a lazy 300-pound school bully who is so stupid that he thinks about himself in the third person Todd, and the name just seemed to work for the character. Had I named him Jeremy or Paul, it just wouldn't have worked.

 

[cw5523729]

For example, Madison worked so well for the spoiled rich girl in my story 'Spoiled Princess Hates Camping'.

Madison is a spoiled rich girl's name if there ever was one.


If there are any users on here named Madison, I'm sorry but the truth hurts sometimes. I don't make the rules.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

In a story I’m working on there is this very stuck up, bitchy girl that a character calls Brittany. Her name is actually Ashleigh.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

In a story I’m working on there is this very stuck up, bitchy girl that a character calls Brittany. Her name is actually Ashleigh.

That's hilarious, because Ashleigh is a pretty solid stuck up girl name. Of course, the one I knew wasn't stuck up at all, and I had a big ol crush on her. I told her that the "eigh" just let her stick get nose up in the air so much higher than the "ey" Ashleys.

 

[CharlotteKurai]

For me, is easy to do with me. Because I write to write fanfiction and I sometimes took the characters designs but I only give better plot of all they qualities.

And too I can make characters personality and design as scratch.

But sadly on these days are characters are so fucking dull and boring. And they make me pissed me off because they add untreated topics without thinking about sensibilities but in the realistic way on erotica.