🎨 Your Characters' Motivations and Internal Conflicts: From Imagination to the Page 🌟
✨ Welcome, intrepid writer. In the previous note we saw how to create characters
. Today we are going to get inside them, give flavor and depth to our
stories. Because, let's be honest, a great plot without memorable
characters is like a flavorless ice cream. We need to create personalities that give life to our protagonists. 🍦💪
🌈 Character Description: The Key to a Coherent Story
Imagine
you're drawing a map. Your characters are the key points, and the plot
is the road that connects them. You can take any path to connect the
events of your story, but if you don't know your characters well, you
could get lost in endless narrative ramblings. And that, my friends,
doesn't serve us well. 📝✨
🕵️♂️ Who is your Protagonist?
You don't need to have every detail figured out from the start ( and you usually won't! ). But a few basic questions will help you shape it:
- Who is the main character?
- What is his greatest desire?
- What holds him back?
- How does he react to problems?
🎩 Creating New (or Familiar) Faces
Some writers draw inspiration from people around them, which is
hilarious (and potentially dangerous if someone recognizes themselves
and gets offended! 😅). Others prefer to design characters from scratch
to avoid real-world influences.
If
you have trouble imagining faces, AI can help. There are tools that
generate images of people that DON’T exist (perfect for avoiding family
lawsuits! 😉). Try sites like:
🌐 Generated Photos
🔍 The Magic of a Good Character Form
When you’re new to writing, organizing your ideas can be a lifesaver.
For that, here’s a template that will help you structure your characters
without going crazy:
📚 Download my template here
🎮 The Golden Rule: Motivation + Conflict = Memorable Character
A character without motivation is like a car without gas: it doesn’t
get anywhere. And without internal conflicts... well, it’s as if it’s on
autopilot, and we don’t care about that. We want characters who face dilemmas, who doubt, who change, who fall and get up. 🛠️
🔄 Motivations: The "Why?" of your characters
Think of your characters as friends that you need to get to know inside
and out. What drives them? What do they dream of? What do they fear?
Motivation can come from many places:
- Survival (I don't want to die! 😱)
- Revenge ("That villain will pay every penny" 🏰)
- Redemption ("I must make amends for my mistakes" 💙)
- Ambition ("I want the whole world and I want it NOW" 🌎)
- Love ("I'll do anything for him/her" 🌸)
- Knowledge ("I must discover the truth" 🔮)
🌟 Internal Conflicts: The Battle Inside Their Minds
A character without conflict is like a series without plot twists: predictable and boring. And we don't want that! 🌚
Internal conflicts arise when motivation clashes with:
- Personal beliefs (“I want justice, but will I become a monster if I get it?”)
- Contradictory emotions (“I love my enemy… but I must destroy him” 😅)
- Conflicting loyalties (“If I follow my heart, I will betray my people”)
- Fear of change (“I know I have to leave, but I don’t dare”)
In
order to realistically create a character with motives and conflicts,
we're going to break down the key points of this template so you can
easily apply them. 📝💡
|
About the Protagonists |
|
|
Name and Description |
blah, blah, blah... |
|
Your search or motivation |
blah, blah, blah... |
|
Obstacles to overcome |
blah, blah, blah... |
|
How he circumvented those obstacles |
blah, blah, blah... |
|
Antagonists of history |
blah, blah, blah... |
👁️ Key Features for a Believable Character
1. Psychology and Past:
- A psychopathic killer usually has a shady past (thanks, Hollywood! 🎬).
- A thief may have fallen into crime out of desperation.
- A person hurt in love may avoid new relationships.
2. Life Experiences:
- Someone in debt may be tempted to commit a crime.
- A lonely character may desperately seek love.
- Childhood trauma may influence their way of acting.
3. Automatisms and Reactions:
- A character with a bad temper may explode at the worst moment.
- A person with unhealthy jealousy can unleash chaos.
- An impulsive character may make dangerous decisions.
🎥 An Easy Trick to Create Characters:
Think of someone real and add a twist. Don't copy your Aunt Maria as
is, but give a character her obsessive fondness for cats and add a
mysterious personality. 🦌✨
🤖 Practical Case: Love in World War II
Let's look at an example with Helène, the protagonist of a romantic
drama, where a German soldier is persecuted, but is helped by Helène,
who prevents his death. Helène is dating a local soldier, but ends up
falling in love with the enemy soldier from her country :
1. Who is Helène:
- Woman aged 23 to 30.
- Mature enough to make difficult decisions.
- Her physical appearance is not predefined, but having it in mind helps.
2. Motivations:
- Why does she fall in love with an enemy soldier?
- She may be dissatisfied with her life or her partner.
- Maybe her current relationship is out of convenience.
- Maybe the new love awakens something she thought was lost.
3. Obstacles:
- She must overcome her own fears and social conditioning.
- Maybe her partner is violent or manipulative.
- The enemy soldier must be a charismatic and credible character.
With these elements, we can already see how a story begins to take shape. 🚀
🎉 The Golden Rule: Nothing Is Written in Stone
Until you publish, EVERYTHING is modifiable. A character can change,
evolve or even disappear if the story demands it. You are the architect
of your world! 🏰
🔍 AI to the Rescue: An Ally to Create Complex Characters
Are you stuck? Does your character look like cardboard? Fear not,
because Artificial Intelligence can be your writing partner. 🤖
AI can:
- Generate character profiles based on conflicts and motivations.
- Simulate conversations to make your dialogues more natural.
- Give you key questions to delve deeper into your character's psyche.
- Offer unexpected twists that you wouldn't have even imagined.
But beware – AI is a tool, not the creator. The soul of the story is still yours! 🌟
🚀 Your Challenge: Give Depth to a Character
Pick a character from your mind and answer yourself:
1. What do they want more than anything?
2. What’s holding them back?
3. What moral dilemma is tormenting them?
4. What would they be willing to sacrifice?
When
you answer these questions, your character will no longer be just a
name on a page: they will be SOMEONE your reader will connect with
💡 Final Tip:
Don’t be afraid to experiment. If something doesn’t work, adjust it.
Writing is a living process and so are your characters. 📚✨
🎉 Now go out and create unforgettable characters! 🚀
Do you have questions? Do you want to expand on these topics?
If you are interested in expanding on these topics, I recommend that you read my articles for writers. There you will find many interesting topics that will help you become a 21st century writer. Here are my notes for writers (use the google translate button - for no-spanish writers-) 🌌✍️
Do you have any questions? You can ask me -in english too- through a google form. Use the "Tu Consulta" button, please:
Good writing! 🚀✍️
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