by Lori Domingo @LoriDomingo22
It’s safe to say that regardless of your chosen genre, when you write your story, someone’s life
will be completely upended. Something will happen that will lead to change in this person –
usually for the better, but sometimes possibly not so much. Some event, person, relationship –
whatever it may be – will be what motivates this person to act. The questions that come into
play here are: How did this person get to the point into which he/she is introduced into the story?
What happened in this person’s past to make them into the person they are when this life-
changing event occurs? In short, who is this person when he/she is introduced to the reader for
the first time?
Just because it would be impractical to try to fit all this background information into the
beginning of the story doesn’t make it any less important during the process a writer goes
through when creating the character. I believe it’s crucial to the success of the story to get to
know your main character’s backstory – what makes him or her the person they are. Part of the
fun for me when developing my characters is to put to use something I was required to study
during my online writing teaching certificate class – the Myers-Briggs Personality Types quiz.
We did this to determine our own personality strengths and weakness in effort to construct our
approach to working with various types of online students. I was skeptical at first, but it did
open my eyes to a lot of things about myself. But I digress.
In another class, we were required to use these personality quizzes to help us figure out who our
main character (and the protagonist and some secondary characters as well) truly was – how their
personality traits effected the way they see things and interact with others. I found that taking
time to do this guided me in the process of determining the characters’ motivations based on who
they were underneath whatever disguise they’d chosen to use to present themselves to the world.
This, in turn, helped me to expand on the emotional impact the event that turned their world
upside down and forced them into action had on both the character and the reader. Sometimes
their reactions made sense. Other times, it would feel completely out of character. After all, not
one of us is perfect. Not one. So, why would our characters be?
I will add that I also spent time on creating the character’s past – Where did they grow up? What
kind relationship did they have with their parents? What were their dreams and goals? What
bumps did they hit along the road to becoming who they are when they are introduced to the
reader for the first time? I used a single subject notebook for this. By the time I actually began
writing the story, I knew these people pretty well.
My point is – although I know that this just sounds like more work to do, I think it’s worthwhile
to spend the time getting to know your characters before you place them in front of your readers.
For me, it proved to be a tool that helped me to move the story forward. I also found it kind of a
fun way to get those creative juices flowing.
Lori Domingo is a multiple award-winning Christian/Inspirational Fiction author, whose most recent devotional piece, “Seen,” received an Honorable Mention in the 91st Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition’s Inspirational Category. Lori earned my MFA in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University in April, 2023. Lori currently resides in the Tampa, Florida area with her spunky eighty-four-year-old dad. Visit Lori at: https://loridomingo.com/ , on Twitter @loridomingo22 , or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LoriADomingo