#3d characters

testing GRIME model again... [old character]

Yuliya Halauko

3D Chatacter Artist / Available for a work

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Happy spoopy day! 👹

1. Give them goals and motivations

What are the character’s goals and motivations and how does this link to their role in the story? Why do they have these goals? For example, a hero may want to stop the villain simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do, or it may be that the villain’s actions would hurt someone close to the hero, e.g. a friend or family member, and the hero wants to stop this from happening. A villain, on the other hand, may do what they’re doing for fame or power, or to seek revenge. These are common motivations for a villain, but to make your story more interesting, you could make your villain believe what they’re doing is the right thing, or you may have a hero who wants to save the world simply because it will make them famous and well respected. Remember that a character may do bad things for a good reason, or vice versa. 

2. Give them strengths and weaknesses

What is the character good at? What are their positive qualities? What does the character struggle with? What are their negative qualities? Make sure that your character has both strengths and weaknesses, just like a real person would. Consider their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their personality, age, upbringing etc. For example, a young child arriving in a new country which is rules by a tyrannical President may be innocent and naive and not realise how bad the country truly is. A character who has faced a lot of betrayal in their past may find it hard to trust others and to make friends. 

Sometimes, a generally positive trait can also have a negative downside, or vice versa. E.g. a character who loves their family may be willing to do anything to protect them, even if it means that other people suffer. A hardworking character may overwork themselves and get burnt out. An  honest character could be too honest and end up offending someone. An example of this in popular media would be Percy Jackson, whose fatal flaw is loyalty, something that is generally regarded as a positive character trait. 

3. Let them do things to surprise the reader and let them be “contradictory”

Don’t restrict your characters to acting the same way all the time. Sure, a character may be known for their intelligence, but this doesn’t mean that they’ll know everything or be able to solve every problem they come across. A character may be shy, but may willingly choose to start a conversation with someone they find interesting. Someone who’s generally very loud and outspoken may secretly have a fear of public speaking, or may have social anxiety. These traits may seem contradictory, but real people can sometimes act in contradictory ways or do surprising things. Make your characters do an occasional surprising thing to make them more realistic. Just make sure that it still makes sense or that there’s a good reason for their behaviour. For example, a character who is viewed as intelligent may be very good at maths and science, but may not know as much about history, since this isn’t the subject they study. 

4. Think about what gives your character meaning in their lives

Your character may have something that’s very important to them, something that gives them meaning in their lives. For example, a character may feel that the meaning of life is simply to be happy, and they may find this meaning through engaging with their hobbies and interests, and by spending time with their friends. Another character may believe that the meaning of life is to help others, so may go out of their way to be friendly and polite, or work on a project that would help benefit their society. 

Maybe your character hasn’t find their life’s meaning yet. Do they believe that life has no meaning? Are they still searching for the meaning of their life? Are they starting to think this search is futile, or do they still have hope that they can find a meaning? All this can say a lot about your character: what’s important to them, what things they value, whether they’re more of an optimist or a pessimist, etc. 

5. Let their feeling affect their behaviour and appearance

Maybe the character is feeling confident about themselves, so they put on their favourite dress and some makeup. Maybe they’re feeling anxious about something, and they’re isolating themselves or getting more emotional than usual. Show the character’s feelings through their interactions with others, their body language, their appearance, their actions etc. This is a good way to show rather than tell as you are hinting at what the character is feeling rather than explicitly stating it. 

6. Let your characters feel conflicted about things

As humans, we often have to make difficult decisions, and your characters will have to make these decisions too. It may be something less dramatic, like choosing between going out with friends or studying for a test, or something more dramatic like choosing between saving your loved one or saving the world. Either way, some of the decisions your character will face will not be easy. Some may even cause your character to question their most important values and beliefs. Show the characters feeling conflicted, and it will make them more realistic. 

7. Take inspiration from people around you and from yourself

This doesn’t mean that you should make an exact copy of someone you know and write them into your story. It just means that you can take inspiration from real people to develop things such as your character’s mannerisms, body language, the ways in which they react to particular things etc. For example, if you know someone who bites at their nails when anxious, you may make your character do the same. Or maybe your character is experiencing something similar to what you’ve experienced in the past, and you can use this experience to see what the character feels like and how they might react. 

8. Show things about your characters through dialogue

The way a character speaks can say a lot about them. For example, an accent may indicate that they’re a foreigner or an immigrant. Proper grammar may indicate a good education, or that the character is trying to present themselves as intelligent so that others respect them more. Dialogue can also be combined with descriptions of body language, which can show even more about the character. 

Remember, that your characters may not always say exactly what they mean. For example, your character may tell their concerned friend that they’re fine, but their shaky voice and closed-off body language may suggest otherwise. Your character may also be lying about something - if so, do they have a tell that shows they’re being dishonest? Do the other characters know what their tell is?

9. Make them struggle

This doesn’t mean that you need to make your characters suffer all the time (though you can if you want to). You can still make your book have an overall positive tone while still making your characters struggle. By struggle, I simply mean that not everything should be easy for your character. Maybe it will take a long time for your character to reach a goal. Maybe they will face some obstacles along the way (which they may or may not overcome - it’s up to you). Maybe they’ll need to ask other characters for help. Even if the character does reach their goal in the end, it would be unrealistic if your character achieved what they wanted right away, without any difficulty. 

10. Develop them through their interactions with others

Most people in real life have other people they regularly talk to or interact with, whether it’s classmates, colleagues, family members, friends, romantic partners, etc. Your character will likely have to interact with other characters too. Through showing their interactions with other characters, you can further develop your character, and maybe even reveal a lesser-known trait of theirs. For example, a villain who is despised by everyone else may actually be a very caring and protective parent for their children. The hero, who is generally seen as very polite and gets along with almost everyone, may have one or two people that they simply can’t stand and that they act rudely towards. Once again, you can use your own relationships with others as inspiration. 

11. Have them develop throughout the story

Not every character has to go through a massive character arc. Sure, some characters may go through a corruption arc or a redemption arc or something equally dramatic, but for other characters, their development may be much more minor. For example, a character who starts of as fearful and sceptical of everyone else may find a found family and become more trusting of others. Conversely, a character who was once trusting may become more sceptical of others due to betrayal or being mistreated by the people they trusted. Think about how the events of the story would affect your characters. 

12. Fill in character templates

There are lots of character templates and questions available online. These help you to ensure that you have all the key aspects of your character written down and can be used for future reference for when you’re writing your story. I’ve also made a character template of my own: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/livi-the-writer/688946219296473089?source=share. There are many OC asks games on Tumblr which are also a good way to get to know your characters better. 

That’s all for this post, I hope these tips help you to develop your characters and that point 4 wasn’t too philosophical, I just didn’t know how to word it better. 

Resources used for this post:

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-writing-stronger-more-realistic-characters

https://prowritingaid.com/art/308/How-to-Construct-a-3D-Main-Character.aspx

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HeroForge: The “Fun” Gang from Deltarune

Since Deltarune is on everyone’s minds again, I thought I’d revisit my HeroForge designs for some of the characters. They aren’t the best, but they’re the best I can do with the program.