Building your character Part 1
Personality traits
I currently rewatched Avatar and no not the one with the blue people but the one with the boy and his arrow Avatar Aang. If you are not familiar with Avatar it's an animated series about a 12-year-old boy named Aang, the current Avatar or protagonist and last survivor of his nation, the Air Nomads, along with his friends Katara, Sokka, and Toph, as they strive to end the Fire Nation's war against the other nations of the world.
While watching Avatar I noticed that in my opinion these are greatly written characters one character that had me wrapped around his finger is prince Zuko.
Prince Zuko in this animated series at one point is the antagonist of the show but later becomes one of the protagonists. In my opinion, he had the best character development in the show. His story has tugged on my heartstrings and has made me feel connected to him
As a writer to give your character the best character development within the story, it's best to start by giving your character a personality, motive, conflict and a backstory which is what Prince Zuko had.
In today's blog, we'll focus on the personality of your character. This can really be a fun part if you make it to be. Personally, with my characters, I try to think of traits that stand out. Labelling your character as nice may not be one to make your character stand out besides being nice is not a personality trait. Anyone can be nice. When it comes to personality traits it's important to actually understand what exactly is a personality trait.
According to Noba Projects, personality traits showcases one's patterns of feelings, thoughts and behaviour. Further on it's consistent. Labelling your character as just nice is not only boring but it's also not consistent. You can decide to be nice you can decide to not be nice it's not a consistent attribute.
Let's take a look at some of Prince Zuko's personality traits
Controlling
Domineering
Impatient
Passionate
Adaptable
These are some traits that this character has consistently shown within the show. He shows them as an antagonist and as a protagonist this should show you how consistent one's behaviour needs to be for it to fall under a personality trait.
Furthermore, when you are building your character you must decide what positive or negative traits do I want my character to have? And how can I showcase this consistently within the storyline? And remember make your character relatable as well as different I know that seems like a lot but a relatable character can build an emotional connection with the reader
A different character makes the character stand out.
For example, you could have a character that is
Hot-headed
Shy
curious
Humorous
And romantic
Obviously, your character will have more traits mentioned. Remember do not just stick to what's on the inside but what's on the outside as well. Physical appearance but that's for another day for now think about what interesting traits you can give your character.
Now not only does one personality consist of traits but it also consists of beliefs and interests. After all, humans have beliefs and interests why not give your character the same, especially your main character.
In Avatar Aang Prince Zuko had a deep belief that capturing the protagonist of the story (Aang would make his dreams come true. His dream was to earn his father's honour. Depending on your storyline what belief does each character have? It could be more than just a religious belief as well or it could just be a religious belief either way any belief is fine. His belief added to his making him more realistic. His interests made him more realistic as well.
So today while you thinking of a character to create think about interesting traits you can give your character. Think about the beliefs they may have as well as how it can be highlighted consistently in the story.