One of my all-time favorite characters is Jonathan Strange from the BBC adaptation of
Susanna Clarke’s Hugo-award-winning novel.
At the beginning of the story, he cares for little but wooing the girl of his dreams,
but then he discovers that he has a natural talent for magic.
He fights for the exploration of unknown worlds and will stop at nothing to save those he loves.
He’s earnest and reckless and his passion for life is contagious.
So how do you go about creating a character like this, one who captivates your audience?
Many people use character charts like this one, but with so many lines to fill, it’s
easy to get bogged down by the details of the character’s appearance or their favorite
foods and everyday routines.
While these details can make your character feel more three-dimensional in your own mind,
they aren’t very relevant to the story itself.
Your plot takes shape around your characters’ desires.
Because of this, it is better to work from the inside out, and focus on their personality
and goals first.
The acronym ARCS is a good starting place.
A character should have an attractive quality, room for growth, clear goals,
and something to lose.
Let’s deconstruct each of those.
First, in order for characters to be interesting, they need to have attractive qualities.
Intelligence and humor are common but effective ones, as are kind-heartedness and resiliency
in times of hardship.
They may be honorable in that they stick to their moral code no matter what, or they may
be endlessly loyal to their friends.
Perhaps they have a special skill, magical or otherwise.
This doesn’t need to be a “strength” in the traditional sense; maybe they have
a knack for lying or getting into fights.
Usually a character will have multiple attractive qualities, as with Jonathan Strange, who is
not only gifted at magic but also has a strong sense of creativity, a curious mind, and a
loving heart.
When it comes to identifying attractive qualities, just ask yourself “What about this character
will intrigue readers?”
Second, your characters need room for growth.
In real life, humans are not static beings.
Our relationships, our opinions, and our feelings about life change over time.
The same should be true for the people you invent.
For example, a character may be very selfish at the beginning, but after learning to empathize
with others, he becomes more altruistic.
This change doesn’t always need to be a positive one, however.
Someone who is naïve may become more jaded as the story progresses, as in a loss of innocence
narrative.
It can also be growth in terms of beliefs rather than personality.
Maybe they hold a prejudice against a certain race, or have strong religious views that
are challenged, resulting in a shift in opinion by the end of the story.
Maybe their relationship with someone close to them changes, or they gain a new perspective
on the death of a loved one and themselves.
When thinking of room for growth, ask yourself, “How does this character change over the
course of the story?
What are their initial and end states?”
Third, a character must have clear goals.
Almost all stories are character-driven, with the protagonist’s actions creating a causal
chain of events—but it’s important to pay attention to passive vs. active goals.
With passive goals, the protagonist is merely reacting to the antagonist.
With active goals, the protagonist has agency and is making plans to change the future.
For example, imagine that a young racecar driver dreams of winning his local championship,
but someone is trying to sabotage him at every turn—stealing his uniform, messing with
his engines.
If all the driver does is try to manage these obstacles, then there’s not much of a story.
But, if our racecar driver has an idea about how to catch the saboteurs in the act and
take his revenge, then now he has agency.
He is fighting back, taking action, making his own choices, and facing the consequences
of his mistakes rather than having others force him to make those decisions.
Goals can come in many forms: survive, defeat the Big Bad, gain wealth and get the girl,
redeem oneself, find meaning and purpose in life.
Goals are tied to character growth in that they can shift as a result of a change in
perspective or motivation.
Going back to Jonathan Strange, he is at first focused on finding an occupation that will
impress his future wife, and later he aims to put his magic to good use in the war.
His goal changes again in the middle of the story, but I won’t spoil the reveal.
Developing clear goals boils down to a two-part question: “What does this character want,
and how do they plan to get it?”
In addition to goals, the character needs something to lose, or as you’ll often hear,
there need to be stakes.
In genre fiction, these stakes tend to be huge—the fate of the universe hangs in the
balance or a city could be destroyed.
The threat of a large loss can work for plot purposes, but there also need to be smaller,
more personal stakes.
Oftentimes, the stakes involve death, a damsel in distress, or the loss of a family member.
But stakes are often more relatable when they focus on everyday fears.
We’re afraid of being embarrassed in front of our peers.
Of our loved ones never granting forgiveness for our mistakes.
Of not pursuing our dreams and living a shell of a life in an office cubicle until we’re
old and gray.
We’re afraid of having regrets.
Think of George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984.
The protagonist, Winston Smith, rebels against the totalitarian regime by writing in a diary
and falling in love with fellow rebel Julia.
His goal is freedom of thought and expression, which comes at the risk of getting caught
by government officials and killed.
But the stakes are higher than that.
In addition to his life and his relationship with Julia, Winston’s humanity is on the line.
If he gives in to Big Brother’s rule, it is not only his body that will be imprisoned,
but also his mind and his values.
Think of a fear that is universal to the human experience, and let it haunt your character.
“If the character doesn’t achieve their goal, what will they lose?”
Let’s create an ARCS map for a beloved character from classic literature: Sydney Carton, of
Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
I’ll make this example as spoiler-free as possible.
As far as attractive talents, Carton proves to be a brilliant, quick-witted lawyer.
The reader also sees his devotion in his unrequited love for the beautiful and innocent Lucie
Manette.
Carton’s room for growth comes from the fact that he’s a bitter alcoholic filled
with self-loathing.
He tells another character, “I am a disappointed drudge, sir.
I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.”
Carton feels that he has wasted his life, with the only light in his days being Lucie.
Even though Lucie loves another man, Carton would do anything to preserve her happiness.
That is his goal.
If he doesn’t achieve this goal, his life will feel meaningless.
Also, his beloved Lucie will fall into despair if he doesn’t do something to save the man
she loves.
Sydney Carton displays one of the most memorable character transformations in all of literature
because he is a good-but-flawed man who wants something desperately enough to go forth and
be fulfilled.
Which characters captivate you?
Tell me all about why you love them in the comments.
Whatever you do, keep writing.