Developing an unforgettable narrative is not an easy task. It entails carefully developing several crucial elements that work together to make your story/essay come alive. And one of the most important of all those aspects is character development. Crafting unique characters is essential whether you are working on a novel or a narrative essay assignment. Your characters act as a bridge between your narrative and the audience. Creating and developing characters that stay with readers long after the story ends is a masterful skill every writer should strive to master.
Learn how to create and develop impactful characters for your narrative write-up with the expert tips in this article. It comes to you straight from the writing experts of AllEssayWriter.com, a leading global academic service provider.
What is Character Development? Why is it so Important?
Character development is essential, especially when you are developing a complex narrative with many elements and numerous kinds of characters. In any fiction sub-genre, be it thriller, horror, or science fiction, writers use characters to convey different aspects of the narrative. A specific social message, building tension, moving the narrative forward, hinting at underlying motivations, and explaining plot points – characters are vehicles for developing and injecting life into a story. And the same goes for narrative essay writing as well.
Careful character development can be particularly crucial to a write-up’s success. The right set of characters and the right kind of character development can help writers to à
- Help readers understand the nuances of a story
- Make sense of a complex plot
- Coax readers show a variety of emotions
- Develop a close connection with the narrative
- Teleport readers to the middle of all the action
Through proper character development, you make your readers relate to your narrative and make them feel like active participants. It is one of the oldest & most effective magic tricks writers use to engross the audience and pull them into their own world. After all, who doesn’t like to lose themselves, albeit temporarily, in a world different than their own?
That’s why character development is such a critical and time-consuming affair. It is emotionally demanding, heavily introspective, and laborious, requiring a lot of trial and error, editing & realignment.
But how does one develop a character?
Well, if you have already created interesting characters for your write-ups, you would know that there are two distinct stages in any character development process à
- The process through which you create/introduce characters you will write about;
- The arc, that is, the events, trials, & tribulations that a character goes through during the narrative;
The first relates to the writer’s ideas about the character, and the second relates how the writer wants to showcase the character (and, subsequently, the narrative) to the reader.
Let’s have a look at both stages closely.
Creating and Developing an Interesting Character
Creating a solid character from scratch takes time. You want your characters to possess real and recognizable traits. You must add stand-out features, skills, abilities, or quirks that set their personality and/or mannerisms apart. At the same time, a unique character needs some compelling goals and motivations.
As a writer, you will have to envision all of these aspects of a character early on during the brainstorming session. As you develop and start writing the narrative, you need to build upon everything you envision about a character. Don’t fret if you can’t picture the entire arc or all the aspects of your characters early on; many writers find their characters come to life while writing and across many drafts.
Here are some expert tips to help you design interesting personas for your story à
- Think of major character archetypes. While you might consider this approach to be generic & counterintuitive, this is a great starting point for developing unique & memorable characters.
Character archetypes can spark your imagination and provide the basic framework for further development.
- With a tentative persona in mind, think of how to build and make that persona more diverse. You can also conjure characters that are opposites of generic archetypes. Ensure that they are believable and that your readers can relate to them somehow.
- Some typical archetypes to think about include:
- The Age-Old Archetypes (A child facing unimaginable adversities, A Victim of unfortunate circumstances,
- Television and Cinema Tropes (The All-Loving and all-powerful Hero, The Conniving Antagonist, The Silent Protagonist, The Anti-Hero, The Deuteragonist with a Major Role later on, The Chosen One, The Femme Fatale, The Wise Elder, etc.)
- Archetypes from Famous Literary Works (The Damsel in Distress, The Martyr, A Bunch of Scheming Conspirators, The Devil in Disguise, The Tyrant, The Ever-Enduring Warrior, etc.)
- Psychoanalytical archetypes that represent specific aspects of the human psyche or epistemology;
When looking into psychoanalytical archetypes, pay particular attention to Jungian Archetypesand the major Cardinal Orientations. Jungian archetypes (as investigated by Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist, and psychoanalyst) are innate personalities that reveal themselves when a character goes through trials & tribulations and/or is put under duress. Every archetype aligns with one of the four cardinal orientations – ego, order, social, and freedom.
- Archetypes can provide you with the perfect basis for further character development. But that’s just the starting point. Your characters will become a seamless aspect of your story when you use them to present crucial aspects of the narrative & make them relatable. That’s the essence of character development.
A profound & interesting arc for prominent characters of your narrative must be captivating enough for readers to become fully invested. The common character arc patterns found in literary & cinematic works are à:
- The Transformational Arc: This is where a character undergoes a major transformation throughout the story. A typical example is the titular character from the Harry Potter series.
- The Positive Change Arc: A journey that any reader can engage with till the end involves a negative, selfish, or particularly flawed persona becoming better. It’s best not to subtly present these kinds of transformations and point them through dialogues & actions.
Redemption arcs are also another positive change arcs. Vegeta from the Dragonball franchise is a great example of a bad guy turned good. So is Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, who changes after finding out about his son Luke.
- The Negative Change Arc: Remember Michael Corleone from The Godfather? Walter White from Breaking Bad? Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Star Wars? Explore these arcs and note the events, experiences, traumas, & psychological factors that trigger the downfall.
And that’s all the space we have for today. Hope this write-up helps you in creating and developing amazingly diverse & deep characters for your narrative essay, novel, story, etc. Work on different kinds of essays, practice writing often, and if need be, connect with the experts of AllEssayWriter.com for timely expert aid.