Shakuntala, Sita, Chacha Chaudhary, Heer and Ranjha, Vikram and Betal are all legendary characters that we have grown up with. These seemingly two-dimensional figures, when done right, have the potential to become larger-than-life phenomena. They move through time and space, capturing our imaginations. They become our friends, our mentors and our role models.

But what goes behind building characters that create such a lasting impact?

In this article, we will be answering this very question through a range of different ideas. Let’s dive in!

There are various types of characters in a fictional work. The protagonist. This is the central character of the novel, and – as folks on Instagram would put it – has ‘main character energy’. It is through this character that the plot unfurls. The storyline is built around the protagonist. Every other character in the text is built around this character. So, everything in the Ramayana revolves around Lord Rama. 

A second type of character is a foil character. Through their presence, they create a contrasting image of the main character and therefore, shed light on the traits of the protagonist. In other words, foil characters help connect the dots. For instance, in the text The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond, Binya and Ram Bharosa act as each other’s foil characters. 

Then, we have the antagonists. These are characters that feel the wrath of our dislike and typically create potholes for the protagonist. It is usually seen that they have darker themes in their personalities and have morally grey areas that guide their motivation. However, an antagonist is critical to any story, and a well-written antagonist is critical to the plot itself. If you look at many stories, what drives the story forward is not the protagonist as much as the antagonist. For example, in Harry Potter, it is Voldemort who keeps the plot moving forward because of his quest for power. Harry is mostly just responding by doing the right thing. Similarly, in Ramayana, it is Ravana’s actions that cause Lord Rama to take that journey to Sri Lanka and thus the great war.

However, the era of black and white characters is now passe, and we see shades of grey in all characters. The Joker (from the Batman film franchise) is a great example. The character is considered a villain at first glance. He is intense, terrifying, and mysterious, and his manic way of killing people sends shivers down the spine. But when you look deeper, he has various nuances that the reader is able to generate some empathy.  This is so because the reader understands that to stay human in a world that is inhuman to you is a difficult chore. He also acts as a foil to Batman, highlighting not just their opposing methods, but the blurred line between justice and chaos. 

Writing a character as sculpting 

The process of writing a character can be compared to that of sculpting. It’s an art you learn over time, and with each chiselling word, the character takes a shape of its own. A plot can follow a character, or a character can follow a plot. Either way, there is no hard and fast rule about this. As a writer, when one decides upon a character, one of the first things you do is probably visualise the physical traits of the character. Here you may find yourself working on the height, the weight, the colour of their eyes, the length of their hair or a scar on their body hiding a story.

These distinctive physical features help readers remember the character. Harry Potter’s lightning bolt mark is very easily identifiable. 

One of the first tricks up our sleeves is to create a physical world for the character. Establish the character’s room, the colour of their walls, the lighting, how it’s ornamented, their wardrobe, their most adored jewellery and so forth. Identity is often expressed through consumption patterns. Therefore, detailing these chronicles of your character will help you ground the character as well as visualise them in their setting.  

Through this activity, you will be able to delve into the interiority of your character’s mind. 

And now we move on to the second step, and that is creating the personality, fears and motivations of a character. A character expresses themselves through dialogues, inner monologues and actions. To develop your character’s personality, one of the building blocks is to focus on distinct traits that make them ‘them’. It is important to note here that this is just a starting point. A personality is an intricate arrangement of threads developed over a period of time. It determines how the character behaves in a situation, how they interact with other characters and how they tackle problems. Personality will give you an insight into the psyche of your character and from there on you can work on fears and motivations.

Giving a character their fear cannot be abstract. It needs to be rooted in story-based evidence, shaped by past experiences, relationships, or traumatic events that left a scar. It creates consistency, and as fear is a very strong action force in any human’s life, it can help you build character’s motivations. Motivation can be intrinsic or external. Intrinsic motivation comes from within, like yearning, love and admiration. External motivation is driven by an outcome. So, any character possessing this must have a strong reason behind their action. 

Pro tip –  Relatability is one of the aspects that can make your character stand out.

Human beings are flawed, and let your characters show that. They can have multiple dimensions, and it is this very complexity that makes a story richer and more layered. A well-crafted character mirrors real life: they contradict themselves, wrestle with insecurities, and often make the wrong choices for the right reasons and have regrets sitting in a corner of their mind.

The depth of a character is a crucial component in building this. To better explain my point, let’s first look at two characters and their moral dilemmas. 

Karna’s ethical dilemma in the Mahabharata has invited several scholars all over the globe to give their two cents on it. His character is so inviting in the sense that any reader’s curiosity will be piqued upon being faced with such a dilemma of having to choose friendship over his blood relations. Eventually, Karna places his loyalty of friendship above everything else and dies because of it. This also explores how dangerous it is to attach oneself to one singular idea. 

Another character that has layers beneath her is Bimla, from Desai’s Clear Light of Day. This post-colonial text makes the reader so invested in Bimla’s life, however nominal her day-to-day life may look. Her life is not extraordinary but has all that a human experience has to offer, starting with flawed decisions, chaos and unhappiness. Moreover, as a female character, her life is bound by patriarchal norms and structures that are beyond her control. The character of Bimla embraces all of this with open arms and eventually lets go of the baggage that was holding her down. 

Therefore, depth is the layers of a character’s lived experiences. It creates authenticity, which is what makes readers underline specific lines. Depth can also mean how many strands of ideas can be picked out from a scene or a dialogue. 

Can you say more with less? 

In literature, often the unsaid things are heard the loudest. A sentence cut off in the middle, the ache at the end of a period, the lower casing of letters, all of them manage to deliver more with fewer words. One of the ways for a character to leave an impact through their dialogue is to allow the readers to interpret subtext. This means, long after the pages have been turned, they still visit the character in their memory. On the other hand, overwriting characters can dim their impact and take that shroud of mystery away. Try to steer away from over-explaining an emotion or a situation that connects to the character. Experiment with how, in a single line, you can capture a year of your character’s life. Arundhati Roy in “The God of Small Things” does this exceptionally. “Gentle half-moons have gathered under their eyes, and they are as old as Ammu was when she died.” 

Let your imagination run amok 

While I understand these are two contradictory ideas, they are equally important to grasp while crafting a character. Characterising requires ample amounts of creativity and following loose threads of your narrative. Expand the horizon of your creativity by allowing yourself immense amounts of freedom. Take time out to stare at your ceiling, at a blank draft, to listen to the birds’ voice outside your window, or simply peel an orange slowly. Writing a character is an exercise for the creative muscle, so one must practice a lot of flexibility. You can also experiment with different creative arts, such as painting or pottery, to really stretch your creative bones. Moreover, spend time with your characters. Let them speak to you in whispers or hushed tones. 

Each character is a part of the writer. It lives in the writer’s mind, sometimes for several years on end, so it can happen that your creations are reflections of you or your fellow friends and family members. And that is completely okay. One does not have to spread themselves wide and thin in order to create the perfect or the most unique character. 

Conclusion

The art of writing a character can be imbibed over a period of time. It is a skillset that writers have to nourish as the story might end someday, but the characters live on. They are ever-expansive, infinite and immortal beings. The birth of a character is like a seed germinating in a writer’s mind. Over time, it will grow up to have its own leaves, branches, and roots. And the best part of writing a character is that it’s fruits of labour will be yours to pluck! Moreover, characters are born with a fate of their own. If you listen closely enough, they might just know more about the story than you do.