What should you know about your main character?

[fantastic]

There are many different advices about what you should know about your main character. What is your opinion?

 

[Noma Galway]

When I start writing, I have a general idea of my main character's attitudes toward certain things, what lines he or she will not cross, what he or she loves, etc. Anything that is relevant to how he or she would react to events and the world around him or her. I also have a physical description in case I need it. Otherwise, I let the main character build himself or herself through his or her actions.

 

[MineOwnKing]

As a reader, I should know enough about them to eventually care if they are challenged or hurt.

 

[X Equestris]

You need to know your character's goals and motivations. A general feel for their personality as well. Knowing their beliefs and moral compass is also important.

 

[Feo Takahari]

What are they good at handling? What stresses them out? What do they refuse to tolerate? What sorts of goals do they have?

 

[Penpilot]

The very basics of what I need to know to get started are as follows.

1- What does the character want physically, meaning what task do they want to achieve, throw the ring into the volcano, destroy the ultimate space battle station, etc. It's the most obvious task with clear, definable steps to achieve it. The success or failure affects the most people.

2- What does the character want emotionally. It's a goal that means something to a few people. This is often the love story. Like Luke rescuing the princess. For Frodo it's save the shire. For Sam it's protect Frodo. As mentioned, this is the emotional desire and as such is the emotional foundation for your character and their story.

3- What does the character want spiritually. It's a personal goal which success is only meaningful to the character. For Luke Skywalker it's to become a jedi like his father. For Frodo it's to prove he's has the courage to achieve the task of carrying the ring to Mt. Doom. For Sam it's to become someone worthy of Rosie. This is the goal of personal change.

Each of these three goals have the question WHY? attached to it. Why does Luke want to fight the empire? Why does Frodo want to destroy the ring? The answers should have a significant and specific connection to the character, not be something vague like because they're a good person, or they want to do good.

For Luke's physical goal, it's because the Empire killed his Uncle and Aunt.

For Luke's emotional goal, well, he's sweet on the princess.

For Luke's spiritual goal, it's because he didn't know his father, and becoming a Jedi bring's him closer to him.

For Frodo physical goal, this one is tougher to suss out, but I think it's because of his uncle. His uncle can no longer bear the ring so Frodo takes up that job. He grew up hearing stories of his uncle's adventures, and now it's his turn to carve out his own story.

For Frodo's emotional goal, Frodo cares for Sam and his friends. He wants to save the Shire for them.

For Frodo's spiritual goal, he wants this because he wants to be like his uncle in the stories he's heard.

 

[WooHooMan]

I always see writers who insist on knowing dumb, trivial things about their characters like birthdays or favorite foods or some nonsense. It's nice to see that everyone here have been giving really useful answers.

I think the big things you need to know are goal, motivation, strengths and weaknesses. Beyond that, you just need a general idea of their worldview and how the tend to react to things like opposition or fortune.

 

[X Equestris]

Oh, you should really should know your character's flaws, too.

 

[Vilya]

I agree with everyone here, and would seriously caution against "over-forming" your character. I find that even when I do spend a lot of time creating a character that I have to tweak their personality as I write, or even have to go back and change some things. So I would try to give yourself the room to do that.

 

[Ophiucha]

The extremely general answer: know what they are doing in the story, and know the details for them to fulfill those roles. There's nothing else I'd regard as always necessary -- even a character's goals are just shy of being universal (there are counter-examples in stories with more passive protagonists). Here are a few things that I've had to think about for most of my protagonists:

• What they contribute to the story. This could be a lot of different things, often at the same time. Are they the narrator? Are they an active protagonist, whose motivation leads us from point A to point B? Are they a skilled swordsman or mage who will use that skill to defeat the Big Bad? Are they a reluctant hero with some prophesied or blood-given power, dragged along on the journey by those who need what only the main character has? Are they an 'Alice' character, being passed along through a world and voicing the questions the audience has about the strange things they encounter? No matter the answer, it will lead to a new branch of questions (if they are the active protagonist, what is their motivation?), but this is basically the starting point to the specific details that I will have to flesh out.
• Speech patterns. As long as your character speaks to somebody, this is pretty essential - and overlooked by many writers, to the detriment of the narrative more often than not. Doubly essential if the character is also the narrator of the story. Even if it's something small, I think every character in a novel should 'sound' a little different. Brevity vs. loquaciousness, formality, how broad their vocabulary is, a hint of an accent, pauses to describe 'hand talking' or excessive body language, grammatical quirks, etc..
• Personality. Not so broadly as to write a psychological profile on the character, perhaps, but expanding on the ideas above - are they shy or boisterous? Aggressive, passive aggressive, or genuinely polite? If this novel has romance, then how they act around a crush (or a lover, if they are past that). Their enthusiasm and investment in the conflict of the story, and the degree to which they express that around others. More would be needed for a 1st person POV, but these questions and any further ones needed for the specific plots of my stories usually do well for me in 3rd person.
• Relevant flaw. Everyone has flaws, but they often don't need to be stated or confronted in the story. But a scene where the character must do so can be powerful if it connects to the rest of the story in a meaningful way. The culmination of a character's hubris at a story's climax is the foundation of 90% of Greek stories, and it works. The revelation of a serious flaw in the character's fighting technique, or a crippling detail of their backstory, makes for a great mid-story turning point. If that's not something you want to explore in the story, though... I don't think you need to know that they're rude in the morning or terrible cooks to feel like you've got a fully fleshed out character.

 

[Russ]

I think the answer is different for different writers. I think you need to know some very basics and their desire in the context of the plot, beyond that you need to know what you think you n eed to write them effectively.

 

[WooHooMan]

• Relevant flaw.

You forgot "relevant strengths". Those are the things that will, in theory, allow the protagonist to overcome whatever obstacles they face. They're as important, if not more important, than flaws.

I think the answer is different for different writers. I think you need to know some very basics and their desire in the context of the plot, beyond that you need to know what you think you n eed to write them effectively.

I disagree. A lot of writers tend to mistake quantity for quality and start adding really trivial details or focusing on the wrong aspects. As Vilya put it, "over-forming" your character can be harmful to how you write them.

 

[Russ]

I disagree. A lot of writers tend to mistake quantity for quality and start adding really trivial details or focusing on the wrong aspects. As Vilya put it, "over-forming" your character can be harmful to how you write them.

I don't think on this issue that there is "one true way." I think being "too thick or too thin" on background material both have the potential to cause trouble.

I know very successful writers that barely know anything about their character when they start, and others that have page after page of heavy detail on their characters before they will type a word. They don't put that in their work but they do it and then operate with the iceberg principle.

And sometimes, something will spring out of one of those odd details that takes flight and takes your character to a whole new level.

Without knowing the specific writer, and how the character background development is interacting with their work I would be very reluctant to make suggestions on "how much" any writer should know about their MC before commencing the project.

 

[WooHooMan]

Without knowing the specific writer, and how the character background development is interacting with their work I would be very reluctant to make suggestions on "how much" any writer should know about their MC before commencing the project.

I disagreed because fantastic asked for advice and saying "it depends" is useless advice.
We're not trying to tell fantastic "the one true way", we're trying to explain the "safest bet we know of on how to write characters"

I think a reason why there are so many not-great writers out there is because so rarely do they get any advice other than "do whatever you feel like doing". There's nothing harmful about setting-up guidelines.

 

[Ophiucha]

You forgot "relevant strengths". Those are the things that will, in theory, allow the protagonist to overcome whatever obstacles they face. They're as important, if not more important, than flaws.

I more or less just lumped it in with my first bullet point. More important, I agree (although for some protagonists, their most relevant strength is more their basic ability to breathe and walk and communicate than anything I'd regard as a real 'strength'), but I tend to find it a less interesting trait to explore with a character.

 

[Russ]

I disagreed because fantastic asked for advice and saying "it depends" is useless advice.
We're not trying to tell fantastic "the one true way", we're trying to explain the "safest bet we know of on how to write characters"

I think a reason why there are so many not-great writers out there is because so rarely do they get any advice other than "do whatever you feel like doing". There's nothing harmful about setting-up guidelines.

Actually the OP said he knew that there was advice on the subject all over the map, and asked for personal opinion.

There are some things that just really are personal to the writer, like whether they are a panster or a plotter. I believe this is one of them. If someone is not sure I would suggest they try it both ways and see what works for them.

As you may have noticed I am not a fence sitter in general, but on some things you really just have to try it yourself and see what works. I used to coach high level cyclists. There are three ways to do a long climb and each way works for different people, but to find out what works for each cyclist you need to go out to a big hill, give it your all and track the data to see what works. I would suggest this is one of those areas where you have to give it a go and find out.

The OP didn't give us any guidance on what he had tried and what had worked or not. All he said is that he knows that the advise varies in this area. There is probably a reason there is no "conventional wisdom" on the subject.

 

[WooHooMan]

(although for some protagonists, their most relevant strength is more their basic ability to breathe and walk and communicate than anything I'd regard as a real 'strength').

That's the worse. That's how you get characters who get what they want just by being at the right place at the right time. Instead of actually earning anything.
Personally, i think strengths are more interesting than flaws but hey, different strokes.

Actually the OP said he knew that there was advice on the subject all over the map, and asked for personal opinion.

My mistake. Your opinion is as valid as anyone's. Sorry if it sounded like a I was trying to devalue your opinion or something. I think I just phrased my response poorly.

I still insist that saying "it varies, do whatever" is bad advice to give a writer and doesn't add anything to writing discussions. I also insist that there is, as you put it, conventional wisdom on what aspects of a character should the writer know.

 

[Russ]

I still insist that saying "it varies, do whatever" is bad advice to give a writer and doesn't add anything to writing discussions. I also insist that there is, as you put it, conventional wisdom on what aspects of a character should the writer know.

It's funny, I find that these days writers are loaded with advice from all angles just like the OP was. I don't see many threads here or discussions elsewhere where there is a shortage of advice.

I also should note that I didn't suggest that "it varies, do whatever", what I said was that after a few key basics, including motivation, there is a huge variation on how much character background a successful writer will develop before writing their work and you need to find what works for you by trying it.

 

[SeverinR]

IMHO the writer should know more about the main characters then you will ever use in any story. Every bit of information may influence the way they look at a particular situation. It also supports their actions in the story, even if it never comes out.

I try to answer the questionnaires and then add some other info to all main characters and main villains.

 

[WooHooMan]

I also should note that I didn't suggest that "it varies, do whatever", what I said was that after a few key basics, including motivation, there is a huge variation on how much character background a successful writer will develop before writing their work and you need to find what works for you by trying it.

Sorry, I guess I misinterpreted what you were getting at.
Actually, I think I may have been projecting a bit. Now I feel like a jerk.