Useful technique to develop characters

[chocoberrie]

Hello again!

I came across yet another book while at my local library called "Shut up & Write" by Judy Bridges. Although it's meant for writing fiction rather than visual or kinetic novels, I found the chapter about character development to be particularly helpful. (There's also a great chapter for coming up with scenes as well as another for plot!)

For character development, the author shares a technique called a "Character Wheel," where you use the 5 senses to come up with things associated with the character.

Here's an example of a wheel for a character:

The general kinds of questions to ask when developing a Character Wheel are:

Sight:
1. What do you see when you imagine the character?
2. What does the character like to look at?
3. Anything else related to sight or the character's eyes?

Sound:
1. What do you hear when you listen to the character? (i.e. How do they speak?)
2. What does the character like the sound of?
3. Anything else related to sound or the character's ears?

Touch:
1. What does the character feel like? (Note: This is tactile, not emotional.)
2. What does the character like to touch?
3. Anything else related to touch or the character's hands?

Taste:
1. What does the character taste like? (Yes, this one caught me off guard a bit, but it is somewhat interesting...?)
2. What does the character like the taste of?
3. Anything else related to taste or the character's mouth?

Smell:
1. What does the character smell like?
2. What does the character like the smell of?
3. Anything else related to smell or the character's nose?

Then, the author suggests finding details within the wheel that stand out, and that if there aren't any, to make them up. This helps make your character fresh and interesting (and not stereotypical). For the character in the example, the fact that she has a missing thumb can become a key element to the story as well as her personality.

This method can be used for major and minor characters alike -- though major characters should be more developed/detailed than minor ones.

I hope this proves helpful!

[Greeny]

I find that, for Visual Novels, it's best to leave 'sight' as open as possible (as far as what the character looks like), at least if you're not your own artist. That way, when the artist (inevitably) presents you with something that conflicts with your vision, you can judge it on its own merit, rather than how it compares to what you had in mind.

Similarly, if you plan to have voice acting, it's wise to leave what they sound like a bit open.

Otherwise, good advice!
If only I could keep to something like it. Trying to structurize information on characters according to any 'format' always bores me far too quickly, so all my characters are fickle bits of information floating around in my brain. ;_;

[Semienigma]

This actually sounds really fun! I ended up thinking of all my characters and wanted to draw all of them "answering" the questions!

One of them apparently tastes like gumdrops but i'm not sure how that came about.