Believable characters are the backbone of every story. They’re the primary focus, they drive the plot forward, and they keep the reader engaged. Without them, what’s the point? Even if you’re writing satire or an extravagant space opera, the characters need to be fully fleshed out and realistic for the world they exist in.
This is especially important when writing adult visual novels. If you want the reader to fall in love with your characters, they need to seem like real people and they need to be memorable. So how do we achieve that?
We do a deep dive into their psychology.
While physical appearance and character traits are important, you’ll never truly understand someone until you know their wants, needs, and desires. These are the things that shape who they are as a person and dictate their actions.
The best way to create believable characters is to focus on their psyche, as opposed to their attributes. I was taught this method by a playwright and I’ve since adapted and tweaked it for my own needs, but it really is the perfect way to flesh out a character. And you can do this at any point of the creation process. You can even apply it to an already established character that you’re trying to understand more deeply.
All you have to do is follow the points below and fill out the details. By the end of it, you’ll have a believable character ready for any plot you throw at them.
Defining the Character
This covers the most basic details that make them who they are. Their physical actions, their emotions, and their secrets are what defines them as a person.
Outer (Physical)
What do they look like? How do they dress? What are their mannerisms? What are their hobbies, job, and responsibilities?
Outline what they do and how they look so you can get an initial sense of who they are.
Inner (Emotional)
What are their aspirations? What is their attitude towards daily life? Have any past events shaped who they are as a person? Do any memories haunt them?
Outline how they think and behave in order to get a deeper understanding of who they are.
Psychological (Secret)
What are their secrets? What would they never tell anyone? How do they feel about themself? What do they think about their world? What are their flaws?
The goal here is to delve into their psyche and understand what makes them human.
Dramatic Conflict
In storytelling, characterisation comes from the way a character is revealed when put under pressure. This helps to establish what journey the person is on and what the outcome will be. This is the dramatic conflict of the character’s story and can be divided into two types: external and internal.
External Conflict
Wants: What is their conscious desire? What do they want to achieve (a promotion, to save the princess, become an adult game developer)? Whatever it is, this has to be potentially achievable.
Obstacle: What is stopping them from getting what they want? The obstacle should be stronger than the desire so they struggle to overcome it, creating dramatic conflict.
Action: What do they have to do to overcome the obstacle? The struggle to achieve their goals is what creates action in the story.
Internal Conflict
Needs: Look back at their secrets for this section. What do they need to do to address their issues and grow as a person? This becomes their subconscious desire and their need. It’s what they need to do to grow. The character won’t know this about themself this but you should.
Wound: What obstacle stops them getting what they need? For example, they need to become more confident but they are self-conscious and that holds them back. This is their inner conflict and could become another (or the main) obstacle to their external want.
Action: The struggle to overcome the wound creates action in the story. What do they have to do to overcome their wound and get what they need to grow?
True Character
A character’s true self is revealed through how they behave when faced with difficulties. The obstacles they face should change them, creating a character arc.
True Nature
How does the character behave under stress? How do they act during the action? Will they avoid confrontation or seek it out?
There are many paths to achieve a want, but the route the character takes reveals a lot about who they really are. How they act isn’t always beneficial to what they want to achieve. This in itself could become another obstacle to the their want and need.
Their reactions reveal their true nature and should be linked to their internal conflict. The character acts this way because of their internal conflict.
True Character
When their need is met, they should change and so should their true nature. They’ve learned from this experience and grown to their full potential. What type of person does the character become at the end of the story when they’ve overcome their obstacles and met their need?
This new self is their true character and this growth creates a character arc.
Understanding How Character Relates to Plot
The plot of any story should force the character to face increasingly difficult obstacles and dilemmas. This leads to them taking bigger risks and making tougher choices until their true character is revealed. The plot is the device through which the character grows.
Some plots focus more on external conflicts, whilst others focus more on internal conflicts, but using both is the key to creating believable characters that people can grow to love or hate.