Unveiling Character Development: A Guide for Writers

Character development is a fundamental aspect of storytelling, enabling writers to create dynamic, relatable, and believable characters that captivate and engage readers. This process involves the intricate crafting of a story’s cast, from their backgrounds and motivations to their growth and interactions with others. In this article, we will explore various aspects of character development, focusing on effective methods to reveal your characters to your audience and the stages of their development over the course of your narrative.

Character Development: The Two-Fold Process

Character development encompasses two separate but interconnected aspects:

Revealing your character to your audience: This involves presenting the character to the reader, allowing them to understand the character's motivations, fears, desires, and strengths and weaknesses. Character change as a person: This relates to the evolution of the character, often as a result of challenges and conflicts faced within the story, leading to personal growth or regression.

While both aspects are crucial, the first, revealing the character, is easier to teach and explain. In this essay, we will focus on the first aspect and introduce an effective method known as the ldquo;8Ws of Character Developmentrdquo;.

The 8Ws of Character Development

My students, who range from 12 to 17 years old, have found the ldquo;8Wsrdquo; framework incredibly useful. This method helps them understand how to effectively reveal their characters to the audience. Here’s a breakdown:

Plot

WANT: Your character should have a desire or goal that they cannot easily achieve. This sets up stakes and tension in your story. World (Setting): While the setting is important, it is equally crucial to establish what makes your character special, unique, and engaging. WORSE: The more challenging it becomes for the character to achieve their goal, the more the story becomes compelling. This can often be due to a mistake made by the character. Wrap-up: The resolution of the story should conclusively address the character’s journey, providing three possibilities: getting their goal, never getting it, or losing interest.

The Next 5Ws

The remaining five Ws are just as important and can be revealed in any order, as they contribute significantly to the development of a engaging and multi-dimensional character. These include:

Wounds: This reveals the character’s vulnerabilities and can evoke sympathy from the audience. Wickedness: This adds depth and relatability, showing the character's flaws or dark side. Wonderfulness: This highlights the character’s admirable qualities, fostering admiration in the reader. Weirdness: This can add intrigue and unique appeal, making the character stand out. Weakeness: A subcategory of wounds, this is crucial for avoiding the character seeming one-dimensional or predictable.

Examples of Character Development in Literature

Let’s examine some character development in famous literature to illustrate these principles:

Romeo

Romeo, from Romeo and Juliet, is wounded by his rejection of Rosaline, wonderful in his language and ability, wicked for crashing his enemy’s private party, and weirdly obsessed with dreams and unusual interests. His weakness is his lack of self-control, particularly his impulsive actions.

Billy from Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy is a compelling example with no evident wickedness. He is weirdly driven to own expensive hunting dogs, wounded by his poverty, wonderful in his resourcefulness, wicked in his desire to kill raccoons, and his weakness is his single-minded focus, which can be seen as a form of unwavering determination.

Luke Skywalker

At first, Luke is an orphan, a classic wound. His weirdness includes his interest in farming while dreaming of being a fighter pilot. His weakness is his lack of awareness of his roots and family background. Luke’s wickedness lies in his theft of droids and his wonderful powers, such as telekinesis.

Stephanie Meyer’s Carrie

Carrie is a disjointed orphan, her weirdness in being religious, and her wonderful and wicked abilities to control objects and seek revenge.

These examples demonstrate the multifaceted nature of character development, where each element contributes to the character’s depth and relatability. The ldquo;8Wsrdquo; framework is particularly useful for young writers, as it streamlines the process of character creation and ensures a rich, engaging narrative.

Feel free to share your thoughts or examples in the comments below, and let’s continue to explore the art of character development.