How to Create Realistic Characters With Depth

Clustering is a simple brainstorming method you can use in a variety of ways. Its biggest benefit is that it helps you push past your analytical mind and reach into your subconscious mind for ideas that resonate on a deeper level. A single clustering session can produce dozens of great ideas.

In The New Diary, where I first encountered the technique a few years ago, author Tristine Rainer presents clustering as a journaling method for personal transformation. In the How To Think Sideways course, we used clustering to explore ourselves via a process that generated a wealth of material to mine later for story ideas.

The potential applications for clustering are numerous, but today I'm going to describe how I've been using the technique to develop realistic characters with depth.

Clustering is similar to mind-mapping. You begin with a central theme or a single idea and write it in the middle of the page. Then you branch outward, adding related words or phrases as they pop into your mind, and drawing lines to connect any related items.

How to Use This Technique for Character Development

I'll explain the process first, and then I'll walk through an example with images to demonstrate how the character cluster evolves.

I've found clustering works best if I already have a general idea of my character's occupation or have at least one or two basic personality traits in mind before I begin the exercise.

I start by placing the character's name or initials in the center of the page, and then I add branches related to any personality traits I've already decided the character should have. I also add branches related to the character's occupation or important events from his/her past.

For each item I add to the cluster, I ask myself questions: Why does the character have this trait? What event prompted him/her to be this way? How did the character end up in this occupation? How did this event from the character's past affect him/her? How did it change him/her?

As you answer your own questions, you'll add new ideas to the cluster. What you'll quickly notice is how important events from the character's past give rise to personality traits. It works in reverse as well. You'll find yourself adding new personality traits and then creating a backstory to explain how the character acquired those traits.

Let's say you've decided your character is a workaholic. Ask yourself why she's a workaholic, and add the answers to your cluster.

- Is she a workaholic because she loves her job so much she wants to spend every waking moment involved in that field? (And if so, what aspect of the field most interests her? Why? How did she get involved in it?)

- Is she a workaholic because she has difficulty making friends and turns to her job to fill her spare time instead? (And if that's the case, why does she have difficulty making friends? What events in her past prompted this difficulty?)

- Is she a workaholic because she's trying to make a name for herself in her field? (And if so, why is success so important to her? Does she have to work harder than others for recognition? Why?)

If you don't already have a few personality traits in mind, start with the basics. Is your character shy, outgoing, stubborn, patient, impatient, happy, sad, intelligent, dull, witty, lonely, needy, nurturing, loyal, protective, jealous, confident?

Add a few traits to the cluster, and then ask yourself how and why the character acquired those traits. Be sure to ask yourself whether the character is aware that he possesses a particular trait. The answer to that question can have a big impact on your character's personality.

What are your character's biggest fears? Strengths? Weaknesses?

What are your character's hobbies? How did he become interested or involved in a particular hobby? Why does he enjoy it? What does it offer him?

Does your character have any unique or unusual skills? How did he acquire them? How do they affect his daily life and his behavior?

What do you know about your character's past? His childhood? His family? His culture? Add those details to your cluster, and then ask yourself how your character's past contributed to who he is today.

With each new detail you add to your cluster, consider how that information connects to the rest of the information. You'll begin to see how your character's personality and background are tightly interwoven.

You may end up with words or concepts that don't seem at all related to the central theme. Allow one word to lead to another and let your mind follow the path those words create, regardless of where that path takes you. It doesn't matter whether or not your logical mind thinks a particular word is relevant to the character. Write it down anyway. It might become relevant later.

Character Cluster Example

Here is an example of the beginnings of a character cluster. We'll start with a character's name in the center. I'll use "Jack Smith" for this example. We'll make our character a doctor. We don't need to know yet what kind of doctor Jack is. For now, we'll just keep things simple and explore our options. Something else in our cluster might lead to ideas about a specific field of medicine.

I'll add a couple of personality traits: Jack is a workaholic, likes challenges, and has trouble connecting with women. He's also lonely. We'll throw in a hobby -- hiking/backpacking -- and then we're ready to start asking some questions about Jack.

Here's what our cluster looks like so far*:

This is where things get interesting. Pick an item from the cluster and ask yourself questions about why that item is there.

Let's take "doctor" for starters. What motivated Jack to become a doctor? Maybe his mother died of a terminal illness when he was young and he decided someday he would find the cure for whatever killed her. Now we have even more to work with, because that detail resonates with some of the other items in our cluster. Perhaps Jack has trouble connecting with women because he had no mother around during his childhood, or maybe it's because he's afraid of making a connection and then losing another woman he loves.

We can tie his loneliness to his trouble connecting with women, and to the fact that he is a workaholic and spends most of his time alone in a lab. Let's assume he hasn't found the cure yet and is still desperately searching for it even though his mother passed away long ago.

Let's add those items to our cluster and make the connections*:

Now we can take a look at some of the other items in our cluster. Jack's hobby is hiking/backpacking, and since we also know Jack likes challenges, let's assume he prefers to hike in exotic or even dangerous locales and enjoys tackling rough trails most people wouldn't dare attempt. He probably likes to push himself, to overachieve. We can use all those details to explore other aspects of Jack's life -- aspects that could potentially generate story ideas.

Maybe during his trips to other countries he also spends time volunteering his medical services as part of a program like Doctors Without Borders. Perhaps he took up backpacking as a hobby because he heard a rumor about a rare plant curing the disease that killed his mother and the plant can only be found deep in the jungle. Or maybe he simply enjoys exploring the quiet woods on his own, a hobby prompted by his difficulty connecting with other people.

The important thing is to dig deep, to delve below the surface and discover what makes him tick. Keep asking yourself those questions. You'll discover new layers of your character's personality, and in the end you'll have a realistic, three-dimensional character instead of a cardboard cutout.

* The cluster maps shown in these images were created with a free mind-mapping software program called Cayra.

Tagged as: Characters, creativity, ideas, psychology, Writing