Write a character with me
- Jeremy
- May 30
- 6 min read
Reading time: 8-9 min
It is vital when writing a story to create a character. Because the ‘who’ is just as important as the ‘what’ and ‘where’. Here are my steps for writing a secondary or background character.
I will go through the steps with you, sharing how I would answer the questions for one of my characters. My answers are written in yellow, so they are easy to distinguish from the prompts and questions.
Beginning
Just like when I write a setting, I always start by figuring out my concept, purpose, and theme. This might not be your actual first step but these elements are the most important parts and need to be defined early on.
I want to elaborate on Ann Louise Archer, who was mentioned in the last blog post.
Purpose: In the story you are telling, why does this character exist?
Give quest, first friendly face
Archetype: What type of character?
Quest giver and mentor
Concept: What do you want to make?
A retired adventurer who is now the leader of the adventuring guild.
It is important you think about a character you’re interested in writing about who also fits the theme and purpose.
Bones
Now that we have the core of the character, we can go about defining the character. I do this by filling out a character sheet.
Characteristics
Take the character’s purpose and think of other characteristics which would fit this character.
Sociology means their role in society. What job fits them and their purpose best? What is their role in their community?
Ann is a guild leader meaning she is the person people come to when they have an issue.
What would their economic status be? Does their job pay well? Do they know how to save money?
Ann is well off as they have a small fortune from being an adventurer and now owning an adventuring guild.
What is their gender and how does that affect their life, characteristics, sociology, etc.?
Ann being a woman means that she has always had to fight for her place, meaning she trained harder in her skill and became much more stubborn.
What would this character’s strengths and weaknesses be? These can both be physical or mental.
A weakness I gave Ann is her being farsighted, she is an archer meaning it was not an issue in her work as an adventurer but it affects her much more now that she is a guild leader.
Physiology
What does the character look like? Are they human or something else? Do they have a unique visual detail?
As leader of the adventuring guild, Ann has to look like an adventurer. She wears armour and her hair up in a ponytail.
Goals
Looking at their job and purpose, what is their goal? What are they working on achieving? This does not have to be achievable.
Make sure to take the purpose into account when creating this goal.
If you can’t think of what their goal would be, take a look at the 12 Jungian archetypes, or the Pearson 12-archetype system. These are systems to organise people and are primarily philosophical, but that does not mean they can’t be useful.
Unlike the player, Ann is very content with what she has achieved in her life. Thus she has no large goal. This does not mean she has no goals.
She is the Jungian archetype of ‘The caregiver‘. Based on that I would make their goal something very personal. I made her goal to start a family. Ann can’t achieve this because she wants to create a safe space and help young adventurers. If she starts a family she will have to put them first over the adventurers.
This thought pattern leads to me adding ‘motherly’ as one of her strengths as she cares for young adventurers as if they were her children.
Relationships and Factions
Look at the already gathered data and image who this person would surround themselves with.
What sort of people would’ve raised them?
Ann was raised by her parents, Louis and Mariana Archer, her father was a great archer and is who inspired Ann to become an archer.
Who would they be friends with?
Ann is friends with adventurers who regular her guild and the people who she used to adventure with. I will define those characters if and when they become relevant to the story.
Look at the already existing characters, are there any of them they would know? What are their relationships and dynamics like?
There are no other characters yet except the player. She would mentor the player when they start out seeing potential in them. As the player becomes stronger she grows more distance feeling like she did her job. She is still there to help but only asked.
Are they any factions that exist which they would be part of? any which do not exist yet?
Of course Ann would be part of the adventures guild as its leader. I also think Ann would be involved in the broader city and thus she would be part of the city’s council. This would mean she has a say over the policies in the city.
Name
I like names to mean something related to the character, but names are given by parents, on most occasions, and are very dependent on region and culture. These two things do not have to conflict and there can be balance. One can also be chosen over the other based on personal taste.
Ann’s name exists in three parts.
Ann, means Merciful according to babynames.com which I like for the character.
Louise, comes from Louis, Ann’s father, showing how her family puts importance on legacy which is a theme of the story.
Archer comes from the job as Archer which shares that her close ancestors likely were archers just as her, it is thus a lot like another legacy she is continuing.
Description
Take all information and write no more than 3 sentences about them. This description should inform the reader exactly who they are and why they exist.
Ann Louise Archer is leader of the adventuring guild and member of the city council. She wears her long brown hair in a ponytail and always looks ready for a fight. She longs for a family but instead puts that longing in her work protecting and helping all guild members who need it.
Speech pattern
Now that we know who the character is it is important to know what a character sounds like. This is based on all the information that you already thought of.
Is their voice thin and melodic? Low and gravelly? Surprisingly high-pitched?
Do they use slang? Technical terms? Big words?
Do they talk a lot? Are they quiet? Do they only talk a lot when with friends?
Are they prone to flowing sentences or clipped, gruff words?
Are they aggressive? Withdrawn? Dependent?
Do they have a British accent? German? Russian?
Ann is a specialist in archery and adventure so her speech uses adventuring and archery terms. She knows when to stay silent but does have a loud voice that demands attention. Her speech is aggressive, focusing on the future and taking action.
Past/Backstory (optional)
Not all characters need a backstory, if the character makes big decisions or has an important place that they come from then they do need some.
Write a character backstory of a few sentences which informs why they act the way they do.
Ann’s adventuring party slowly dissolved as members settled down, their old headquarters was left to Ann as she sought to help younger adventurers with her experience and connections. As the location became more popular it became an officially recognised guild and not soon after Ann was invited to join the council as the guild had grown to such a size that its going on’s affected the cities wellbeing.
Aesthetics
Describe
The last step of writing a character for me is using them. I do this by writing a short introduction or scene which includes them. If there are any mismatched elements in what you wrote previously, you will notice these misalignments best when using what you just wrote.
Behind the bar in the back you notice a woman drying a glass. She smiles brightly at you, “Welcome the adventuring guild. You don’t look familiar.” She nods along as you explain that you are an adventurer looking for a new quest. “No need to convince me, honey, I believe you.“
