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Great Tips for Fictional Character Building
A major overlooked element to character building is environment. A character’s environment tells the reader everything about that character to keep them hooked. If your character is the protagonist, then living in a bad part of town or the city invokes the reader’s curiosity about how daily life is tackled. It sets the stage for another key element: The moral compass.
A moral compass will aid in the reader supporting the strife of the protagonist. Are there bad deeds afoot that must be avoided to evade something worse, and will that something worse be forced into action later by someone or something else? The environment and ill deeds of others will generate an emotional spark for the character. This leads into the next item needed for character building.
With a little support behind the character, one needs to keep it going with the next thing a character needs: Limits. Establish limits after showing a moral compass. Limits established will place tension on the moral compass of your character. It’s one thing to see a super violent thief take something and avoid dealing with it, but it’s another when that same thief takes something from someone that’s highly needed. It’s a hard world, and while your character didn’t mind a canned drink being pilfered from a small store, it’s completely different when that thief steals medicine from a little…
