In a post on Writers in the Storm, Stefan Emunds continues his series on The Yin and Yang Relationship Between Psychology and Storytelling, this time examining characterization. Understanding psychology can help writers create complex and believable characters and place them in plausible, immersive situation.
In addition to creating a simple character profile defining your protagonist’s desire, weaknesses, and traits, Emunds suggests also crafting a psychological profile using the big Five character traits:
- Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
- Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless)
- Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
- Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. critical/rational)
- Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident)
After you’ve completed your first draft, it’s time to go deeper to make your characters more interesting, remove inconsistencies, and show, instead of tell. Emunds suggests identifying some or all of the following elements:
- A dominant trait, such as smart, happy, or emotional
- The character’s worldview
- A nickname
- A contradiction
- A talent
- A flaw
- A goal and its opposite
- Your first impression vs. their true character
- Props, objects, and symbols
Finally, Emunds offers advice on showing your character’s personality in action, rather than telling your reader about it. For example, when writing in the character’s POV, use character-themed words for descriptions and internalizations, as well as dialogue. “Every character has her own way of speaking and uses character-themed words,” Emunds says. Backstory, attire, and their home surroundings also reveal a lot about character.
Friendships tell another side to the story. “Show your readers what friends the character has and how they talk about her,” Emunds suggests. “Then show her enemies and how those talk about her.” Subtext and body language can also convey your character’s personality without beating your reader over the head. Finally, Emunds notes that conflict is the key to revealing character. “Plunge your characters into adversity, let the pressure strip away their superficial attributes, and reveal the truth about their selves by letting them decide on courses of action,” he says. “Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.”
