[REUPLOAD] rakushasu's Cheat Sheet for Realistic Characters

Original Author: http://rakushasu.deviantart.com/art/Creating-realistic-characters-200046074
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Creating realistic characters

Well every good story needs good characters. But how do you come up with good and realistic characters? It's pretty hard, probably the hardest part while writing a story. Even if you have a good storyline and a good setting, without good characters, this is worth nothing. Also there are a lot of clichés for characters, especially in fantasy: The naive lone village boy who becomes the great hero. The old and wise guardian of the lead character (Gandalf in Lord of the Rings). Or the antagonist who just wants to destroy the world or conquer the world without any reason given. Or just your badass lead character who fights of twenty enemies without breaking a sweat.


It is important that you avoid these clichés. We have seen this over and over again in fantasy novels (and other genres too). Its just boring and you pretty much can see what is going to happen next in your story. Your characters need to be realistic. For example think about this, what would a dumb and naive guy do, if he would get something like 'The One Ring' in real life. He wouldn't destroy it, he would probably use it. Also your antagonists need to be realistic. Give them motives for what they are doing, show these motives and state them or at least give hints about them.


Also give your lead characters weaknesses, even if you got this one man who will rescue the world, give him weaknesses. Give him fears, bad memories or just something. A guy who is just a hero is not realistic and gets boring.


Another thing is, let characters die. Sure you shouldn't be overdoing it and kill your lead characters one after another page after page. But if you have your group of characters who struggle for survival and fight battle after battle it is just not realistic for all of them to survive every time. Honestly in wars in the real world even the most charismatic and strategically superior leader might die. Do the same in your stories. Also don't let them die all the time in an heroic way, sacrificing themselves for the others all the time, it gets boring and repetitive after a while. Shock your reader with a totally unheroic death! It makes your story interesting!


But back to our starting question, how do you create these characters? Well if got a good starting point for you! This sheet here lets you specify your character pretty clearly. So take this sheet, think about your characters and fill it out:


Characterization sheet:
- Name:

- Age:

- Size:

- Weight / build:

- Birthplace:

- Hair colour / eye colour:

- Physical features:

- Education:

- Sex life:

- Best friend:

- Enemies:

- Family (mother, father, siblings, etc.):

- Important needs:

- Morbid behavior:

- Intentions and goals in life:

- Gestures while talking:

- Way of walking:

- Strongest characteristic:

- Laughs or makes fun of:

- Ideology:

- Political point of view:

- Hobbies:

- What others notice first about him / her:

- What does the character if he is alone:

- Characterization in one sentence:

- Will the reader like him or not:

- Does the character change in the course of the story? How:

- Most important incident, which formed his / her character:

- Most important incident, which shows the personality of the character:


Fill this out for all the characters that are somehow important to your story. Sure it takes a lot of work, but you will be rewarded in the end if you do it! There might be a lot of stuff in here, that you think might not be important, because it is just something that isn't mentioned in your story about that character. The reason you should do it anyways is to get to know your characters. Sure you might not mention his family; sure you might not mention his sex life, hobbies or what he does if he is alone, but that stuff is important for YOU! If you know every detail about your character it is easier to write about him and you will describe him more realistic.


Another thing you can also do is create a back-story for your character. It is fun, especially if it's a character you are really interested in. Sure the stuff your write might not be important for the story, but it will still form the character in your mind. Also you can mention parts of it in the story, to give a better understanding why your character is doing something.


That is all for now. Have fun creating your characters, even if it's a lot of work! ;)
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Thanks based waybackmachine!!