Character Development For Authors, Part Five: Character Personality Basics
We're finally getting into the personality aspects of your character. If you haven't been taking notes on your character already, I would encourage you to start now. If you're like me, you can and will forget it, even if you tell yourself you won't.
I'm going to use this study as the basis for our basic personality set. I'm going to start with the Big Five personality traits (for an article on those, you can go here), and next week we'll add the six basic emotions. We're going to be spending at least three weeks on personality, so be prepared!
You might find it easy to go through and rate your character on a scale of one to ten for these. In my own descriptions I'm going to be using this method. As an example, the first of the Big Five is extraversion. Ten would be very extraverted, zero would be not at all. I'm just using the Big Five as a starting point, and will be altering them to fit the development of a character, rather than a classifying of a real personality.
Extraversion
According to the article linked above, extraversion is levels of talkativeness, sociability, and assertiveness, as well as a few other factors. For our purposes, let's call it extraversion versus introversion.
Most of us have an image of the complete extravert. The person that talks all the time, has tons of friends, maybe throws parties regularly, has no problems striking up conversations with strangers or going new places. On the other end of the spectrum are introverts. Whereas extraverts get energy from being around people, introverts get energy from being alone. That's the simplest definition of it. Introverts are not necessarily shy people, just people that get their energy from being alone as opposed to getting it from social interaction.
If you have an extraverted character, you may choose to show this by having them see out constant social interaction. If they are introverted, you might choose to show this by having them spend a good portion of time alone, or being uncomfortable in social situations.
Agreeableness
The article defines agreeableness as things like trust, altruism, and kindness. Most of us have had experiences with agreeable people and their opposite. The opposite of an agreeable person is a disagreeable person, or, someone who is distrustful, selfish, and unkind.
If your character is very agreeable, they are likely to be easily taken advantage of. If they are trusting and altruistic, for example, they may do something nice for someone who was manipulating them. If they are disagreeable, then they are also likely to be cynical and have a hard time believing in the good in people. You can show either in a number of ways.
Perhaps your trusting character believes someone, and then discover they were lied to. Maybe your cynical character doesn't trust someone they should, and they find out later that their mistrust hurt that person deeply.
Conscientiousness
This includes good impulse control and high levels of thoughtfulness. Being highly conscientious usually comes with organization and goal-oriented behaviors, as well as attention to detail.
If your character has a high level of conscientiousness (a ten on our scale) then they probably have a larger picture in mind when they do things. As an example, when they organize their desk, they know that being aware of where everything is will increase productivity, therefore increasing their chances of a promotion.
A character with a low level of conscientiousness (a one on our scale) may be impulsive and thoughtless. They might, for example, say things without thinking on a regular basis, or have an issue with something like impulse shopping. They may be disorganized, and have no real goals in life.
Neuroticism
To quote the article: "Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness." A character with a high level of neuroticism might be moody and depressed, or have emotional instabilities. They might, for instance, be an adult that throws temper tantrums when they feel they've been insulted.
A character with low levels of neuroticism will probably be on the happier, more stable side. They would most likely react to a situation in which they feel they've been insulted with more decorum than the person with a higher level. They may even be able to brush it off. They are probably happier people, who are less sensitive to irritation.
It's relatively easy to show a character that has a high level of neuroticism. Just put them in a normal, albeit frustrating or angering, circumstance, and show them overreacting in some way. For a character that has low levels, maybe they don't react at all. They're more likely to be calm in those kinds of situations.
Openness
Openness is associated with imagination and insight, and people with high scores tend to have a broad range of interests as well.
A character that scores a ten in this area will likely be imaginative, have a good intuition, possibly be able to easily step into another person's shoes, and have many things they're interested in. A character who scores low may not have a good imagination, and may be unobservant. They may also have a very rigid idea of how things should be, and not be understanding of others that don't meet their standards.
An open character can be presented by having them engage in some activity that involves imagination, such as art of some kind. They can also be shown by giving them a good intuition, like guessing what's going on with someone before they're told. A character that scores low on openness can be portrayed by lower levels of imagination, a talent for mathematics, or low art skills as well as a difficulty understanding the plights of others.
Each of these represent a range going from one extreme to another. You can pick a point between either of the two extremes and have it be believable. The thing to keep in mind with these is that you make sure your character's behavior is consistent with what you choose. An introverted character, for example, would probably not go to two parties in a row on the same night. If you're going to have them do that, or need them to do it for the sake of your plot, then there has to be an explanation for why they're doing it. To get an introverted character to be very social at two loud parties on the same night they would usually need a compelling reason to do so, and would also likely be uncomfortable.
As always, when designing your character, you need to remember that what you need them to do needs to be consistent with the personality you give them, or you need to be willing to manipulate the circumstances around them to force them into it.
I'm going to use this study as the basis for our basic personality set. I'm going to start with the Big Five personality traits (for an article on those, you can go here), and next week we'll add the six basic emotions. We're going to be spending at least three weeks on personality, so be prepared!
You might find it easy to go through and rate your character on a scale of one to ten for these. In my own descriptions I'm going to be using this method. As an example, the first of the Big Five is extraversion. Ten would be very extraverted, zero would be not at all. I'm just using the Big Five as a starting point, and will be altering them to fit the development of a character, rather than a classifying of a real personality.
Extraversion
According to the article linked above, extraversion is levels of talkativeness, sociability, and assertiveness, as well as a few other factors. For our purposes, let's call it extraversion versus introversion.
Most of us have an image of the complete extravert. The person that talks all the time, has tons of friends, maybe throws parties regularly, has no problems striking up conversations with strangers or going new places. On the other end of the spectrum are introverts. Whereas extraverts get energy from being around people, introverts get energy from being alone. That's the simplest definition of it. Introverts are not necessarily shy people, just people that get their energy from being alone as opposed to getting it from social interaction.
If you have an extraverted character, you may choose to show this by having them see out constant social interaction. If they are introverted, you might choose to show this by having them spend a good portion of time alone, or being uncomfortable in social situations.
Agreeableness
The article defines agreeableness as things like trust, altruism, and kindness. Most of us have had experiences with agreeable people and their opposite. The opposite of an agreeable person is a disagreeable person, or, someone who is distrustful, selfish, and unkind.
If your character is very agreeable, they are likely to be easily taken advantage of. If they are trusting and altruistic, for example, they may do something nice for someone who was manipulating them. If they are disagreeable, then they are also likely to be cynical and have a hard time believing in the good in people. You can show either in a number of ways.
Perhaps your trusting character believes someone, and then discover they were lied to. Maybe your cynical character doesn't trust someone they should, and they find out later that their mistrust hurt that person deeply.
Conscientiousness
This includes good impulse control and high levels of thoughtfulness. Being highly conscientious usually comes with organization and goal-oriented behaviors, as well as attention to detail.
If your character has a high level of conscientiousness (a ten on our scale) then they probably have a larger picture in mind when they do things. As an example, when they organize their desk, they know that being aware of where everything is will increase productivity, therefore increasing their chances of a promotion.
A character with a low level of conscientiousness (a one on our scale) may be impulsive and thoughtless. They might, for example, say things without thinking on a regular basis, or have an issue with something like impulse shopping. They may be disorganized, and have no real goals in life.
Neuroticism
To quote the article: "Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness." A character with a high level of neuroticism might be moody and depressed, or have emotional instabilities. They might, for instance, be an adult that throws temper tantrums when they feel they've been insulted.
A character with low levels of neuroticism will probably be on the happier, more stable side. They would most likely react to a situation in which they feel they've been insulted with more decorum than the person with a higher level. They may even be able to brush it off. They are probably happier people, who are less sensitive to irritation.
It's relatively easy to show a character that has a high level of neuroticism. Just put them in a normal, albeit frustrating or angering, circumstance, and show them overreacting in some way. For a character that has low levels, maybe they don't react at all. They're more likely to be calm in those kinds of situations.
Openness
Openness is associated with imagination and insight, and people with high scores tend to have a broad range of interests as well.
A character that scores a ten in this area will likely be imaginative, have a good intuition, possibly be able to easily step into another person's shoes, and have many things they're interested in. A character who scores low may not have a good imagination, and may be unobservant. They may also have a very rigid idea of how things should be, and not be understanding of others that don't meet their standards.
An open character can be presented by having them engage in some activity that involves imagination, such as art of some kind. They can also be shown by giving them a good intuition, like guessing what's going on with someone before they're told. A character that scores low on openness can be portrayed by lower levels of imagination, a talent for mathematics, or low art skills as well as a difficulty understanding the plights of others.
Each of these represent a range going from one extreme to another. You can pick a point between either of the two extremes and have it be believable. The thing to keep in mind with these is that you make sure your character's behavior is consistent with what you choose. An introverted character, for example, would probably not go to two parties in a row on the same night. If you're going to have them do that, or need them to do it for the sake of your plot, then there has to be an explanation for why they're doing it. To get an introverted character to be very social at two loud parties on the same night they would usually need a compelling reason to do so, and would also likely be uncomfortable.
As always, when designing your character, you need to remember that what you need them to do needs to be consistent with the personality you give them, or you need to be willing to manipulate the circumstances around them to force them into it.
No comments have been added yet.
