Fleshing Out the Characters of Your Novel or Short Story: Traits and Relationships

Once you have decided on your character’s sex, age, vocation, name, appearance, speech, attitude and mannerism, you can go to the next level of character development: traits and relationships.

Traits

In the book Creating Characters, Dwight Swain says traits are those ways in which characters react to particular situations.  He says, “What counts is that you be aware that people do develop distinctive ways of reacting to life’s demands, and that these reaction patterns tend to become habitual.”  For instance how someone reacts to certain situations can reveal whether he or she is selfish, unselfish, pious or honest only when someone is watching.  Reactions also reveal whether someone is considerate, a bully or a hypocrite.  Swain also recommends putting your character into “situations that will give her the opportunity to show the stuff she’s made of before a crisis arises, so your readers won’t be taken aback when Character behaves the way you need her to.”  Also, remember to keep your character’s reactions consistent with the trait or traits you have given him or her.

Furthermore, make sure again that you are showing and not telling.  If your character is irritating, put him or her in a situation that shows how irritating he or she is. Don’t just tell us your character is a bully, show us by placing him or her in a scene where he or she is actually bullying someone.

Relationships

One thing about your characters that is best established from the get-go is the relationships they will have and how they will react in those relationships.  For example, is the character married or unmarried?  Does the character have children?  If so, how many?  Does the story include any extended family? How does your character react to these relationships? Keep in mind that if your character has a wife and family at the beginning you will have to deal with them throughout the rest of the story. What about friends, enemies, et cetera? Establishing relationships early on may save you some rewrites. 

Showing your character’s reactions toward his or her relationships can add to your character’s depth.  An arrogant professor, for instance, may approach his relationships with his students with condescension in the way he speaks to them.  The predominant trait you choose for your character will greatly influence the way the character reacts and responds to relationships.  

  

Creating characters for your novel or short story is not always an easy task.  Swain says “Your most useful tool in handling the obviously complex issue of relationship in your stories will be habitual people-watching, coupled with reading both fiction and psychology.” People are complex, so your main characters will need to be also.