What should I do if I can't properly formulate the personality of one of my characters in my novel?

Perhaps this character "wants" to be someone quite different than you are trying to make her be. It sounds like she's making a mystery of herself. Perhaps this means she isn't who she claims to be. Perhaps she's in disguise, or an amnesiac, or enchanted, or an imposter, or hiding a big secret. Or maybe she just doesn't want to be as tightly controlled as are your other characters. She wants to retain the ability to surprise.

In the larger picture, you should ask yourself why this character is so important to you, and if her importance serves the book. Maybe she belongs in a different book, or in a different role in this book. If not, then maybe the fact you are getting hung up on her means that there's something fundamental about this book that you need to change --or about your approach to writing. Writers are often divided into "planners" and "discovery" writers, but it's perfectly okay --and arguably better --to be a bit of both. In my current book project, most of the characters were carefully planned, but some of my favorites weren't planned at all --I learned their backstories only after I had written their parts. Maybe this character is bringing you a bit of much needed anarchy or chaos.

Finally, it's entirely possible that it might be best for your book to eliminate this character, and I do think you need to embrace that possibility. In art, as we are so often reminded, we need to sometimes make tough choices to serve the larger story, not our personal attachments.

posted over 5 years ago

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Chris Sunami‭

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Write from their POV

This is basically the same solution as everyone else has provided, and can actually be combined with most of them. Pick a scene - be it an out of world interview, or a scene you've already written, or a story from the character's past, and write that story from the point of view of your problem character. First Person POV is ideal, because it gets you into their head that much more intimately.

Don't worry if the voice wanders at first - it's not like you're planning on publishing this anyways. Continue to explore the character until it starts to click.

posted over 5 years ago

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Arcanist Lupus‭

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I've never done character charts. When I want to get to know a character better I put them in a bunch of scenes. They're in a conversation with their boss while they have a stone in their shoe. They're flirting with someone while drunk. They get pulled over for speeding and they're late for their wedding. Whatever. Put them in a scene with another character or with someone who's not even part of your story. Just write and see what they do.

Then, once you have a draft of your story, ask your readers what they think of the character. Their insights will likely reveal things about the character you hadn't noticed.

posted over 5 years ago

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Ken Mohnkern‭

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Since you are writing a group, consider what character traits are missing in the group without the character you're struggling to write. Does your group have a comic-relief? A moral compass? A quiet steady person? Etc.

Remember also that opposing traits make each character stand out: like Spock and McCoy in Star Trek bouncing off each other. So, once you have a "moral compass" character, get a character who is comfortable with a "means justify the end" attitude. Once you have someone light-hearted, get someone serious, uptight, and intent on the goal. Once you have someone quiet and steady, get someone impulsive.

Each of your characters needs to have their unique place in the group, need to be taking actions that cannot be taken by any other character. Otherwise, they're not necessary, they're replaceable by the characters already there. Therefore, look at what's missing in your team, and construct your character off that.

posted over 5 years ago

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Galastel‭

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Perhaps it would help for you to list what your character is not.

Try to think of traits she doesn't have. What professional skills does she lack? Is she not a fighter, not a tech, not a magician?

Is she not a leader? Is she not a peacemaker? Is she not clever? Is she not attractive, or sexy? Is she not a good liar? Is she intelligent enough, but not creative? Or vice versa? Is she not careful? Is she not emotional? Is she not respectful of authority?

There are many more things to NOT be than there things TO be, but every thing she is NOT narrows down what she IS.

In the end, you don't have to have a character profile, you can work with an anti-profile: Here are the things she will not do, and her actions will be consistent with that.

Personally I don't use character profiles. I know many people that I can predict their actions, without putting exactly what I know into words, except for very specific things like Josh hates salads or Kyle likes action movies. Lana will go thirsty for hours before drinking water, she will only drink something flavored.

These are not "traits", exactly, just what they like or enjoy, what they don't like, specific types of things that make them upset, or laugh, or bore them to tears.

Work with that, and don't try to generalize it. You will get a sense of her without labeling what she is.

posted over 5 years ago

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Amadeus‭

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