20. The Secret to Writing Strong Characters

My very first draft of Aether Guardian literally had zero character development. I completely forgot to add it to the story! I was so focused on the flashy battles and the training scenes that I forgot that people want to read about the characters themselves. Their wins and losses, their emotional struggles, inner tension with the plot and other characters, as well as how they grow throughout the story.

Oops!

Upon realizing I needed to fix this massive shortcoming, I spent about a week refining each character, giving them depth, and making sure that each one was uniquely distinct from the rest of the main cast. Here's how I did it.

There are six key questions I needed to ask myself when writing out each character arc.

1. What does the character want? Basically, what are their base desires throughout the story. Whether good or bad, what does this character want to obtain? Power? Wealth? Love? Acceptance? Inner peace? The goal that each character is striving for.

2. What does the character need? Like medicine or exercise or going to the dentist, what does the character actually need in order to be a fulfilled and complete person.

3. How will the character change in order to get what they want? Will they work out so they can get stronger in order protect the village? Will they learn how to work with others so that they can fully be part of a team? Will they rise up and over throw the empire and see themselves as the new ruler in order to achieve peace? How will their character change in order to grow?

4. What lie does the character believe? What does the character believe that is hindering their growth? Do they believe they are worthless? Do they believe that they truly don't need others in order to succeed?

5. What truth must this character accept? What reality must they be willing to submit to in order to grow so that they can achieve their goal? Will they reject this truth and therefore fail to grow as a character and choose a path of darkness or serve as the antithesis of the protagonist?

6. What is their ghost or motivation? What drives them? Is it fear of the past? Is it a promise they made to their dying mother? Was it some mistake they made that provokes them to lash out when encountering a similar situation?

All of these questions are extremely important because it tracks how your character will change, grow, and develop throughout the story. Start with these questions and build your character dynamics around these questions. Sometimes characters stand in opposition to one another because their answers to these questions are contrary to one another. Thus the antagonist is born!

There are a few other points to think about when developing your characters as well.

First, what are your characters flaws? Are they anxious during crucial moments? Does their ghost/motivation overwhelm them to the point of freezing up? Are they a hot-head? Do they struggle with self worth? Is there a physical limitation they have? Something about their character or person - not just something about the magic system or universe they live in necessarily.

Second, what character dimensions within the character are in tension with one another? For example: Are they strong willed, but they see themselves as weak because they don't stand up to other people's standards? Are they extremely intelligent, but struggle to connect with other people? Do they crave relationship, but always push people away?

All these things can help develop a characters identity and make them more dynamic while also keeping your character consistent throughout your writing process.

Next week, I'd like to share with you some never before seen character arc material for each of the cast of Aether Guardian.

Stay tuned!