Prewriting: Planning Your Characters

Greetings, Neophyte! Today, we’re diving into one of the most critical aspects of writing: characters. Specifically, we’ll explore the prewriting phase. As I’ve emphasized before, your story is your characters; without them, you have a pretty world but little else. Well-developed characters with depth are crucial for any story. They are what readers relate to, what tells the story, and what filters the events for the audience. Remember, much of what colors the tint of the fourth wall is a character’s perspective. So, when you sit down to preplan your story, being mindful of the characters should be at the top of your priorities.

What determines the characters you write? It depends on the type of story you’re crafting, its genre, and its tone. All of these factors will shape what you can actually incorporate into your narrative. This is good news—it provides you with a guiding path, elements you can use to construct what you want. This limitation is essential because, by writing within it, you can flex your creative muscles and give your characters their own identities. Why? Because it gives you a premade set to work with, and all you have to do is build up from there. The second part is defining their role in the narrative and how they contribute to its progression.

Not all your characters will have the same depth, and not all will be typical humans. What do I mean by this? Your main characters need the most attention, and from there, the depth becomes shallower until you reach tertiary characters and devices—characters that are mere things of varied importance. The same principle applies to real life; you may encounter a teacher who is simply a teacher, important to you but a teacher nonetheless, or a drunkard doing pitifully funny things on the sidewalk. Just as it is in real life, so it is in writing. It may sound harsh when expressed in such a raw way, but it is true nonetheless.

The next step involves creating basic profiles. I say “basic” because, no matter how in-depth you make them initially, you’ll find yourself revisiting them as the characters reveal more about themselves throughout the story—at least, that’s the case for me. As mentioned before, having a base to work from will save you a lot of pain in the future. That’s the essence of prewriting—jotting down your characters’ appearances, likes, traits, wants, dreams, and all the little details will prevent inconsistencies from surfacing, helping to keep the narrative clean.

Now that you have these basics, dear Neophyte, the next step is relationships—how the characters relate to one another and to the conflict in general. We will explore this in detail eventually, but the relationship between external and internal conflict is everything. If you understand your characters and what makes them tick, you have all the tools you need to write a great story. Why, you ask, Neophyte? Because you will know what propels them forward, and therefore, you can use them to push the story forward in an organic way. One of the greatest sins in writing, in any form, is leaving the reader with the feeling that “that happened because the plot needed to happen.”

With your basic elements in place, now comes experimentation. Add quirks, colorful backstories, diversify the foundation integrated into what you want to write. As long as it doesn’t feel forced into the story, then it’s fair game. Remember always, Neophyte, there are no set rules but proven patterns that work. That means exploration and experimentation are not only recommended but mandatory. Without them, you risk having a collection of clichés doing whatever clichés do. Yes, you may attract an audience, but it will be a noncommittal, aloof, uncaring audience that will soon forget about your characters.

Now, why do you do this? An excellent question, Neophyte. The answer: to ensure, as I mentioned earlier, consistency. With consistency, the reader needs to think less and can enjoy more. With consistency, the reader can be drawn into what you write without extraneous considerations breaking their concentration. Moreover, by being faithful to the expectations of any given genre or story, you can add little twists or details that are unexpected but breathe life and identity into your work—readers love that, I know I do.

On top of this, a consistent base gives you, the author, room and stability to build upon. Unless intentional, if a character finishes the story the same way they began, then you’ve failed. Characters are evolving constantly, changing as the story advances. These changes can be good or bad, stagnant or transformative, but they must feel authentic. These changes endear characters to readers; their human struggle and reactions make us, as readers, emotionally invested in them.

For this, Neophyte, you have several tools: bullet points, mind maps, character sheets, writing a small bio. The important thing to remember here, much like writing itself, is that it’s an iterative process; it’s never done once and done forever. You’ll come back to this several times before you’re done, and that’s perfectly okay. If you don’t relish the maddening sensation of revisiting something you thought was done, then you should reconsider your approach.

So, to recap, Neophyte, establish what you want to write, in what genre, and what tone. With that foundation, you’ll be able to build something with its own identity and life. It may seem like a lot of work, but the effort upfront will spare you even more later on. The most important thing is to ensure smooth sailing once you start to write.

Until next time.