I'm revising an already existing story for a class and would like some help. The story about a bad-ass woman and her well-developed character who falls in love with this cocky smart-ass temperamental dude with no obvious character traits (he gradually bec

What if, instead of making him a ‘better’ person, the combination of your badass lady getting to know snarky guy better and him warming up to her reveals more of his personality in a way that rounds him out and makes his appeal clearer?

(I’m going to call the lady character A and the sir character B after this to make the explanation clearer). 

It’s possible that some of the things that A initially thought were true about B were actually misjudgments. For example, consider what they thought of each other when they met. Maybe B’s behavior made A decide that he was cocky. Later, when she knows him better, A reevaluates and decides that B is actually just self-assured, and justifiably so. 

It’s also possible that A enjoys B being cocky, smart-assed and temperamental. In that case B is absolutely mercurial, but A admires him for it, because she struggles with feeling connected to and expressing her emotions. 

So that’s my suggestion as to why A might decide that she likes B in that sort of way. As for B seeming ‘better’– I think it’s pretty normal to warm up to people that we care about and seem gentler, more patient, more invested. If B goes from meeting A, to sort of knowing A, to knowing A very well and then falling in love, it would make perfect sense that he would behave in a more appealing way towards her- and that’s not really changing in personality or as a person, that’s showing a different aspect of him under different circumstances. 

What I’m saying is: as A unlocks higher and higher levels of character interaction and familiarity with B, it stands to reason that she would unlock material on level 10 that simply isn’t available at level 1.  

It’s totally awesome and a good idea to have B show growth as a character and have his own character arc, too. However, I’d be careful with or steer clear of his arc consisting of him ‘being made a better person’ by the person he’s in love with, because I feel like that’s often sticky territory. 

With all that said, let’s get to rounding out B! 

If you’re stumped on character traits, here’s a chart I found:

(I got it from here which has a collection of more of these types of charts). 

A fun thing to do with these is to use a random method (number them and use a random number generator, draw circle with your eyes shut, cut them up and toss them at a wall to see which bounce the furthest) and select three traits. Then, design a rough character around the idea that those are the most dominant aspects of their personality. The randomization helps keep you out of cliches/stereotypes (we like grouping things, so we tend to pick out items that are similar), and works your creative muscles. 

In addition to thinking about his character traits, consider his 

motivation (is he here to make friends, or become america’s next top model?)
backstory (where did this child spring from? what’s his life been like before your story’s curtain lifted?)design (what does he look like? how does he move around and dress? in what ways does his personality affect these things?)limitations (what can’t he do? what trips him up? what, in story, is he not allowed or not able to accomplish?)conflict (what’s his problem?)

Aight! That’s what I’ve got for you, buddy. Good luck out there!

-Evvy