Understanding What Makes Our Characters Tick

How do you learn what makes your characters tick?

Character surveys/interviews? Personality tests? Character charts? Whatever your method, every writer needs to find ways to understand their characters. Not just their outer layer, but the very core of their being.

Brandilyn Collins in her character book extraordinaire, Getting Into Character, says: "Personalized characters are built from the inside out." She's right. So what if your character cuts her tator tots in precise halves with a fork and knife before she eats them? That's a fascinating mannerism, but you need to know why. Brandilyn goes on to share a three-level characterization process that helps writers dig deeper into understanding the inner values, traits and mannerisms of their characters.

In Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon, the chapter on motivation discusses the why of characterization. Here's what she says: "Motivation is possibly the most important of the three elements of GMC because you can do anything in fiction. There are no limits. Everything truly is possible as long as you help your reader understand why your characters do what they do. Why they land themselves in impossible situations. Why they make the choices they make. Think of motivations as the magic that helps the reader empathize with your character."

In Writing The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, he has this to say about characterization: "...depth is the secret of memorable characters. Depth is the degree of detail you bring to your people. Quick brushstrokes are fine in opening, but in the body of the breakout novel, characters can only grow rich if they are examined from many angles. Read just about any breakout novel and you will find its characters are revealed in a number of ways."

As I finish up edits to my first novel, I'm already in the process of getting to know the characters in my next book--not just what they look like, but who they are and why they are the way they are. I plan to take as much time as I need to discover what makes them tick. I plan to use Brandilyn's three-step process. I plan to delve into my character's motivations and study each character from all different angles.

Here are some other resources I plan to check out (or have already used):

http://mindhealingfiction.blogspot.com/ (Jeannie Campbell offers a wonderful service to writers, where you send psychological questions about your characters, and she helps you understand possible reasons for their behavior.)

http://www.9types.com/rheti/index.php (Personality test)

http://www.epiguide.com/ep101/writing/charchart.html (Character chart)

http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html (A plethora of personality tests!)

http://www.getmotivatedbook.com/Test.aspx (Motivational testing)

http://www.testcafe.com/ (Intelligence and personality tests)

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2785081/Character-Motivation-Worksheet (Motivation worksheet)

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/424917/Fiction-Writers-Character-Chart (Character chart)

http://www.sff.net/people/alicia/artmotive.htm (Motivation worksheet)

http://www.chatterbean.com/personality-quizzes/ (Personality tests)

So what about you? How do you get to know your characters? Do you have resources and tips that you'd like to share with the rest of us? Please leave a comment.

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Creating Characters
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Facial Expression
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