I’m so happy! School is out and it’s time to get back to writing! I’m debating right now between picking up a previously started project or starting something new. While I ponder, here are some of my favorite character building tools:
Enneagrams – A lot of personality tests are really complicated. The strength of enneagrams is that they are simple, but not restrictive. You figure out which of the 9 quadrants your character is in, and then pick and choose the stuff you want from that quadrant and the two right next to it. This one gives possible strengths and weaknesses, too, so you can also use it for your villains.
Myers-Briggs – This one’s a little complicated, but it’s very thorough. I recommend Just Your Type: Create the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted Using the Secrets of Personality Type
Tarot – All you need for this one is a Tarot deck, really. You don’t even have to know what the cards mean. Just pull out some cards and use your intuition as you look at the pictures. Now, of course, you can learn the symbology first. I recommend Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners
Astrology – I have to admit, I’m not a big believer in astrology. I have a twin sister who was born a minute earlier than me, which means we pretty much have the same astrological profile, and I have to say, I think we’re fairly different. But anyway, astrology does make for pretty good character sketches. If you’re interested, check out The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need
Based on someone you know – This one’s risky, especially if that certain someone will someday read your book, but I’ve taken people I know and turned them into characters I love. I usually tend to supplement with one of the above pieces, just because I have to know my characters better than most of the people I know in my real life, but you can start with someone you know, and see where they fit in one of the above schemes and go from there.
So what do you do to build your characters?
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